Oscar Piastri has the best chance of winning a Formula 1 championship of any Australian since Alan Jones, according to Pit Talk co-host Mat Coch.
Australian rookie Piastri made his first big splash in F1 at the weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix, where he comfortably had a handle on teammate Lando Norris on his way to second in the sprint race behind only Max Verstappen.
Piastri had been only 0.011 seconds slower than Verstappen in the sprint shootout, earning himself his first front-row start in the top category.
His productive weekend came off the back of strong results in the British and Hungarian grands prix, heaving been in podium contention in the former and finishing a damage-affected fifth at the latter.
The upturn in results coincides with the 22-year-old receiving McLaren’s staged major upgrade package, which has catapulted the team into the top half of the field.
According to Coch, it’s given the sport an insight into the Piastri that had been hidden in the substandard machinery earlier in the year.
“There are some really, really positive signs there,” he said on Fox Sports podcast Pit Talk. “Everything he’s doing is the right thing.
“I don’t see anything there that makes me think this guy doesn’t deserve to be there. Give him the machinery and I’m pretty confident in saying that he’ll deliver.
“Of all Australians that have raced in Formula 1 since Alan Jones — and this is a massive statement, and I know exactly what I’m saying here — I think he’s the one who’s got the best chance of being a world champion.”
It’s a potential McLaren was banking on when signing the multiple junior champion for his debut this season, with CEO Zak Brown having described him as a “future world champion” just five races into his career.
“Speaking to Andrea Stella, McLaren’s team principal, the growth of Oscar, he says, has been rapid,” Coch said. “But it’s in line with expectations.
“The Belgian Grand Prix didn’t come as a shock to McLaren in terms of Oscar qualifying at the front and then getting a podium in the sprint. That’s sort of in line with where they’d expect him to be based on what they’ve seen since Bahrain.
“Which begs the question: just how good is this guy? If that’s where they expect him to be 10 races in, where’s he going to be 20 races in?
“He’s sort of knocking on the door of really posing a serious headache for Lando — and Lando is a guy who’s rated pretty highly himself.”
While Piastri’s pace has turned paddock heads this season, his cool and easy temperament has been more notable considering his rookie status and the circumstances of his arrival.
The Melburnian is one of the most anticipated rookies in years thanks to his title-winning junior pedigree and the way McLaren pinched the former Alpine protégé from the French team’s grasp halfway through last season.
But the pressure of his long-awaited debut season and McLaren’s difficult first few races has failed to throw the 22-year-old off his stride.
“I think what for me is really pleasing — and it’s something we’ve remarked on about Oscar Piastri’s junior career up to this month, when McLaren’s become much more competitive — is how collected he is, how unawed he is, by the Formula 1 experience,” Pit Talk host Michael Lamonato said.
“I think Mark Webber as his manager can take credit for that; that seems to be probably the biggest role he’s playing in terms of Oscar’s transition into Formula 1.
“I think that that’s still impressive now that McLaren is fighting at the front. It’s one thing for him not to be overawed by the struggle of battling in the lower half of the grid and sometimes trying to get into Q3 and occasionally trying to score a point and just keeping his nose clean in the chaotic Australian Grand Prix.
“It’s different when you are racing Max Verstappen or Lewis Hamilton. That is completely different.
“There are so many young drivers you can imagine — talented young drivers — who would see that as an opportunity to make a big statement and then do something silly.
“The fact that he’s maintained that composure is what is most impressive to me.
“It’s an extension of what we’ve already seen, but now we’re seeing it in more contexts and it’s holding true, and I think that is really promising.”
It’s a fact not lost on Verstappen, who had to pass Piastri to win Saturday’s sprint.
“Oscar is having a very strong season,” the reigning champion said. “I think also this weekend he has been really on it.
“It’s always nice to — for the first time basically — race.”
Coch said it was a sign that the title leader already holds Piastri in high regard.
“At one point I walked past Max just after the sprint and I said, ‘You could’ve let our boy win, couldn’t you?’ And he said, ‘He’ll have enough chances’.
“So Oscar has got the respect of Max Verstappen already.”
