In his second year in Formula 1, Oscar Piastri clinched his first Grand Prix win. This was surprising given McLaren’s struggles earlier in the season.
Alpine had a gem with Piastri, who won titles in Formula 3 and Formula 2, but they didn’t give him a seat for 2022. So, he left for McLaren, putting Alpine behind him.
Piastri felt welcome at McLaren
Piastri shared why he chose McLaren, highlighting their future plans and ambitions laid out by Zak Brown. “There’s always the plan to try and get back to the front. Every team has a plan to get back to the front. I think for me, I knew there was a lot of things technically that were in the pipeline for the team [McLaren], with the wind tunnel and the new simulator and stuff like that. I knew that there were things that were going to help along the way.”
When Piastri joined McLaren in 2023, they were struggling at the back of the grid. “I wasn’t expecting us to be as far back as we were. I was expecting to sort of come into a midfield team, roughly. We kind of went from one end straight through the midfield back to the other end. So I wouldn’t really say Zak [Brown] had to sell me much. I think just the welcoming nature. Giving me the opportunity in F1 was very appreciated, regardless of the competitiveness of the team.”
“Of course, I felt like the team had potential. I maybe didn’t expect this much potential so quickly. But just the welcomingness and giving me the actual opportunity to race in F1 was by far the biggest thing. And I guess this success so early is really a bonus to that,” Piastri said.
Fans might think it’s amazing how fast he’s succeeded.
Piastri’s decision seems wise now as he enjoys early success with McLaren .
What do you think about Piastri’s journey so far?
