Oscar Piastri has bypassed McLaren teammate Lando Norris in favor of naming Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso as the two Formula One drivers he finds’very exceptional’ to race against.
Last year, the 22-year-old had a fantastic rookie season at the pinnacle of motorsport alongside Norris at McLaren. He became the first Formula One rookie to achieve multiple podium finishes since Hamilton in 2007. Piastri also won the Sprint race from pole position at the Qatar Grand Prix.
Piastri made his debut on the podium with McLaren, finishing third in Japan before taking second in Qatar. The Australian even placed second in the Belgian GP Sprint and briefly led at Spa-Francorchamps. He also came close to a podium finish on his debut at the British GP.
As a rookie, McLaren driver Oscar Piastri attempted to learn from Lewis Hamilton.
Piastri is also taking advantage of his time in Formula One to absorb everything he can from Hamilton. The 39-year-old is the most successful driver in series history, having won a joint-record seven drivers’ championships, 103 Grand Prix victories, 104 pole positions, and 197 podiums.
During their closest battle of the 2023 season, Hamilton and Piastri even came to blows. The Mercedes driver also apologized to the Melbourne native for causing contact into the Variante della Roggia chicane during the Italian Grand Prix as he pressed Piastri during braking.
Oscar Piastri talks about racing Fernando Alonso and backing Mark Webber.
Piastri has now informed the official F1 website that racing against Hamilton is’very, very special’ for him. He also enjoys his confrontations with Aston Martin driver Fernando Alonso, whom he grew up watching, as well as Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel.
Piastri, however, was a fan of fellow Australian racer Mark Webber during his Red Bull days. From 2002 until 2013, the 47-year-old raced in Formula One for 12 seasons with Minardi, Jaguar, Williams, and Red Bull. In addition, he won nine Grand Prix out of 217 entries.
“Mark was racing with Red Bull at the time,” stated Piastri. “So, for the next few years, as I was getting older and understanding the sport more, I was following Mark because he was usually finishing first or second.”
“And he was also Australian.” He was the one I backed, and now I’m driving alongside individuals like Lewis and Fernando, and I grew up watching Seb, and now to have spoken to those people and race against them is very, very amazing.”
