Oscar Piastri: the champion without a racing car. Will we see a talented driver in the next Formula 1 season?

More and more often there are rumours that Oscar Piastri, who is the champion of Formula 3 in 2020 and the champion of Formula 2 in 2021, is quite close to making his debut in Formula 1. At first, it was assumed that he could take the place of Canadian racer Nicholas Latifi already during this year’s season. But a little later, the French Alpine team, whose reserve driver is Piastri, expressed confidence that he would make his debut in F1 in 2023. Let’s see which team he can get a seat with.

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Oscar Piastri is a young 21-year-old driver from Australia, whose manager and mentor is his compatriot Mark Webber, a former Formula 1 racer. In 2021, Piastri put together a stunning rookie season of the FIA Formula 2 Championship with PREMA Racing to be crowned F2 Champion. In 2020, he also won his debut Formula 3 Championship with the Italian PREMA as well. And in 2019, the Aussie became the winner of the Formula Renault Eurocup. Thus, he is the winner of three consecutive championships. How did it happen that after all these achievements, it left Piastri without a seat in Formula 1?

Almost at the end of the F2 season last year, it was already announced that Guanyu Zhou would have competed in Alfa Romeo, and his teammate would have been Valtteri Bottas, who moved from Mercedes. George Russell replaced him at Williams, and Alexander Albon came in his seat in the British team. All the other drivers had already had their contracts extended and the starting grid for the 2022 season was obvious: and, unfortunately, there was no place in the peloton for Piastri.

According to the rules of Formula 2, if a driver wins the championship, he loses the opportunity to compete in the series the following year. And this means that a racer needs to leave to perform in another category of racing and look for ways to preserve the practical racing experience. For example, the 2019 Formula 2 champion Nyck de Vries did and left for Formula E, where he also became world champion in the 2020/2021 season!

But in this case, Piastri decided to be more focused on Formula 1. And now he is a reserve driver of the F1 Alpine team in the current season, as well as a member of their Academy (formerly the Renault Sport Academy), which he joined in 2020. The Aussie also races as a reserve driver for McLaren. He has already tested Formula 1 cars on various tracks and also took part in youth tests in Abu Dhabi last year. By the way, Piastri made his debut in an F1 free practice session as part of Alpine during the French Grand Prix of 2022.

Recently, rumours appeared that Piastri could replace Nicholas Latifi in Williams already during the season. This is not so often practised in the championship right now, but such a scenario of events occurs. But, Jost Capito, current CEO and team principal of Williams, said that Latifi and Albon will reach the end of this season.

Soon after, Otmar Szafnauer, team principal of Alpine, confirmed other rumours, answering a question at Saturday’s press conference ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix about whether the Australian driver will compete in the 2023 F1 season. He said: “We don’t talk about the details of our contracts we have with the drivers, that is something we never do. So as much as I would like to tell you, I don’t think I can, but what I say is yes, that’s the plan.”

Nicholas Latifi

Prior to that, Laurent Rossi, CEO of Alpine, said to Motorsport. com that he highly appreciates Piastri’s talent: “I want to develop Oscar. I don’t want to leave him sitting on the bench waiting forever. He needs to be ready when the day comes. And the day will come because he’s very talented. He’s very worthy of one of the top 20 seats here. And I believe he has the potential of being a future world champion, I’m persuaded of that. So he needs to be trained as much as he can in the meantime.”

So then which team can Piastri join next season?

Alpine. Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso are currently performing there. The French driver has extended his contract with the team until the end of 2024. The Spaniard’s contract expires this year, but according to rumours, he is negotiating a new contract with Alpine. In recent weeks, it is assumed that the team will agree to a two-year contract with Alonso for 2023 and 2024. If everything turns out that way, then there is no seat for Piastri.

McLaren. Will Piastri be able to become the new teammate of Lando Norris, who has a long-term contract? Again, according to rumours, Andreas Seidl, team principal of McLaren, may be interested in the driver. Although, formally, the other place in the team for the next season is occupied, because Daniel Ricciardo has a contract until the end of 2023.

Williams. This British team is interested in the candidacy of the Australian driver for a seat in the squad. This is more or less a really likely option for Piastri. Latifi himself claims he does not have a contract for next season, and his current one ends this year. “All I know is that I will drive the car until the end of the season. I have nothing else to say about this topic. It is quite obvious that I have to improve my results. I’d be lying if I said I was guaranteed a seat in the team. I know I have to make a difference. Do I risk losing my place in Formula 1? No more than all the other drivers whose contract expires at the end of the season,” said the Canadian racer.

As for Albon, he is more likely to stay and become Piastri’s teammate next year. We often find this information in various sources, where it is also said that perhaps Williams has already signed a contract with the Aussie.

Oscar Piastri

And what does Piastri himself think about this? “The plan is to race soon. Next year, I hope it will happen. I don’t want to be a reserve driver forever and, to be honest, I’d rather not be one now. I’m thinking about next season. Of course, I don’t mind being a reserve driver, but only this year. Of course, I want to race next season [in F1] and I think I deserve it,” he told Sky Sports.

So, as far as we can see, these are the 3 most popular scenarios at the moment. But the second half of the season is just around the corner, and this is the traditional time to announce new contracts. It means that official information about Piastri’s future in Formula 1 is not long to wait.

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