Oscar Piastri conquers the lowest step of the podium at Singapore. After a Saturday not in top form, the young Australian driver managed to recover to third place. Although distant from his teammate, Piastri contributed to the great orange day, gaining precious points in the constructors' championship.
Piastri in Singapore has shown that it still has to grow
A year and a half has passed since Oscar Piastri made his debut in Formula 1. Eight podiums, two victories and a sprint race, in Qatar in 2023: this is his balance so far. What has struck fans and insiders most is the coolness with which he faces both sporting pressure and public relations off the track. Many have compared him in terms of character to Kimi Raikkonen, exaggerating quite a bit as the Finn has shown himself to be unique several times. What was striking about the former Ferrari driver, however, in a negative way, was too often his inconsistency in results. Piastri, still very young, seems to be getting closer to the 2007 world champion in this. So many inaccuracies and so many days below par. In Belgium, Zandvoort and Singapore are proof of this, especially if we count the second place he achieved in Monza and the victory obtained in Baku. A contrast not to be underestimated.
An important point, as too many times the experts have struggled to qualify Norris as overrated and Piastri as a worthy first driver of the McLaren team. The Singapore weekend should instead make us reflect. Yesterday, in qualifying, despite driving the same car as his English teammate, Piastri was unable to go beyond fifth position, completely botching the performance on the single lap. Today, then, in Departure time, he let himself be passed by Nico Hulkenberg's Haas, only to regain the position almost immediately. In short, Piastri is a driver of notable talent, but to aspire to be the new point of reference for McLaren and to compete for the world championship he still has a long way to go. The only thing that remains to be seen is how long it will take him to do so.
Piastri summarizes his weekend: “Good race today. Yesterday was not my day”
Saturday and Sunday were contrasting for Oscar Piastri. In fact, the Australian driver had to run a comeback race to make up for his poor qualifying performance. McLaren number 81, chased the Mercedes of Russell and Hamilton for a good part of the race and, after a good strategy, managed to overtake them both, thus crossing the finish line in third position.It was a good race and a nice comeback after qualifying. In fact, yesterday was not my day, so to get on the podium today is a great result. We achieved a good strategy to overtake the Mercedes and thanks to the team the car was exceptional this weekend. We brought home a nice haul of points".
A race run uphill with determination, but without taking risks, unlike Norris who twice left his mark on the barriers of Marina Bay. "This time I kept it away from the wall, I don't think I ever hit them. I had a difficult moment with George in the first corner, but in the end I tried to stay calm because we have a huge gap to cover. So I didn't want to take too many risks.".
