McLaren boss Zak Brown brands Aussie F1 star Oscar Piastri a ‘future world champion’ – as the 22-year-old reveals his most embarrassing moment and funniest racing prank
- Piastri is in his debut Formula One season
- Has struggled in the driver’s standings
- But has shown enough to suggest he will be a big name
McLaren fans may have been starved of success in recent years, but CEO Zak Brown believes better times lie ahead as he declared Aussie driver Oscar Piastri a future world champion.
The highly publicised split between McLaren and Australian Daniel Ricciardo last year put Piastri in the hot seat from the get-go, with the Melbourne-born driver coming into Formula One under the weight of enormous expectations.
To date, McLaren Piastri sits in 14th place on the driver standings while teammate Lando Norris is sitting in ninth.
While McLaren is still struggling to get their car right, Brown has no issue with the form of Piastri in his debut season.
‘We’re very impressed with him,’ Brown said.
‘He’s very focused. He’s not really made any big mistakes. [Just the] typical exploring of the limits, so the odd lock of a wheel here and there.
‘He’s not been to all these [circuits used so far in 2023] so early indications are we’ve got a future world champion on our hands.
‘We just have to work to give him a faster car now.’
While the results aren’t on the board yet for young McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, he has impressed boss Dan Brown in the early stages of his career
McLaren is working hard to fix their car so Piastri and teammate Lando Norris can finally live up to their potential
McLaren boss Zak Brown believes that Oscar Piastri will become a world champion in Formula One one day
Brown said that Piastri had displayed wisdom beyond his years in his early days in F1 and was also excited about the combination that he is forging with Norris.
‘Oscar has been impressive since we’ve had him in the car. He’s very mature. He’s very focused and he’s very technical,’ Brown said.
‘The combination of Lando and Oscar, I couldn’t think of a better combination of drivers … Oscar has done a fantastic job and he’s trading lap times with Lando now and that’s what you want.’
Racing has been in Piastri’s blood ever since he was a small child and he recently spoke about his passion for F1 and keeping tabs on the sport while at school.
‘Whenever there was racing on, I would be glued to it. From an early age, I kept fully updated with it all and it was part of my routine,’ he said.
‘There’s an interest in motorsport and the automotive industry more generally on both sides of my family so it was just a natural progression for me to follow it all.
‘Because of the time difference out in Australia, I watched a lot of the F1 races on record the next day after school.
‘Of them all, I’d say one that stands out is Jenson Button’s win in Canada in 2011. I managed to avoid learning the result until I sat down to watch it and it was amazing to watch him fight through the field.
‘My other most vivid memories are of watching the V8s on TV and then running into the backyard and hearing them going around. That sound stays with you.’
Racing has always been a big part of Piastri’s life and he would rush home from school to watch recordings of F1 races that had run overnight
While Piastri is a highly focused and driven person, he did reveal the lighter side of his personality recently
While Piastri cuts a very serious figure, he also revealed the lighter side of working with McLaren including a recent prank that had him in stitches.
‘The funniest thing I’ve heard [and it did not involve me] was one of the teams filling up the shower head in the bathroom of one of their engineers with salt and pepper which meant he got rather a shock,’ he said.
‘I think my most embarrassing moment was ages ago in junior racing. My teammate and I assumed we would have a ride organised to the track but an hour before the session we were still at the hotel sat in reception. We ended up having to get a taxi but got there just in time.’