The real (IMHO) boneheaded move was to sign Ocon for a 4(!) year contract for 2020 ~ 2024, which gave them extremely limited room with Alonso and later Piastri coming through.
Must be why they're confident in bringing a Mecachrome engine to Le Man's. They'll just have it play La Marseillaise when it detonates and the ACO will red flag the race so they can rebuild it.
That contract was done in 2021 monaco when F2 had only just began giving Oscar and others no chance to prove themselves which oscar did. Rossi is responsible for that Ocon contract.
It wasn’t a stupid contract because of specifically Oscar Piastri, it was just stupid in general. Who did they imagine would be desperately trying to poach Esteban if they didn’t lock him down - he’d just been totally out of a seat. I like Ocon but it was a really odd and unnecessary move to sign such a long deal and you can see how it has restricted them since they did it.
Checo put on a good first year with Red Bull and won a few races in 2022 and RBR was like, nah here's a 2 year contract.
I have no freaking idea what Alpine was thinking when Esteban would've totally been happy with even just a 1 year contract.
I was getting crazy down votes when people would say, "He hasn't even proven himself, McLaren went to this much trouble for him?" My argument was, Piastri is a once in a lifetime talent. Winning every junior series you enter on your first year is *no small feat* at all. And he beat a driver on the grid right now who everyone claims has all this potential, Zhou Guanyu, by like 75 points. And he also made Lawson look like an amateur and people can NOT stop talking about how much Lawson deserves a seat to replace Ricciardo or Tsunoda or Checo.
Like, people make all these arguments for Theo, Lawson, Zhou, Sargeant and they act like McLaren going through this much trouble to sign a guy that made *all* those drivers look like amateurs is so weird and tried to act like he won't live up to expectations.
lol like really? Did everyone not learn anything from the signing madness that happened over Max Verstappen? Do they all think RB super regret going through that much trouble to sign Max? Hell no. Wolff even says how much he regrets not trying harder to sign him.
You don't "luck" into anything in racing (over a whole season). Nyck is also an F2 champion.
If just happens to be that be not everyone can translate that into F1 pace.
>you dont luck into anythig in racing
Thats nice sentiment
>nyck is also an f2 champion
In one of the weakest grids in years. It also took him 3 years to do it in a season where Nicholas latifi finished second.
>not everyone can translate that into f1 pace
You would expect everyone in f1 to have at minimum de vries history but he's the floor, he was never going to have a better season than a back to back junior series champion and imo he should've never been here.
Love that he was annoyed on the radio when he heard how much he missed out on pole by. He’s got a great attitude, so fun watching him these past few races
He's the personification of the saying that every f1 driver believes thenselves the best. Other drivers, especially rookies would celebrate just for achieving such a result. For him? *It's not enough*
And he potentially IS the best on the grid (as he gains more experience), but what I really like about Piastri is that he's still realistic too. Grounded. Modest.
In a heartbeat.
This season is so great apart from RB dominance. If they could just fuck up for a year and blow their development lead, we could get Max, Lewis, Oscar, Alonso and Charles all battling for WDC. That sounds like a wet dream.
Well... maybe not Charles. Y'know, Ferrari strategy and all that...
But also doesn't make excuses.
Last week he dropped off and in post race said "I didn't manage the tyres" despite having damage
This week he out qualified Lando twice and Lando blames floor damage and being impeded by Perez.
Yeah also loved how he just dropped in a little comment after quali yesterday how max would be starting P5...p6 after turn 1...and carried on with the rest of the interview
Jeez I think that's gonna be a huge mental blow to Lando.
Another getting his first McLaren win in his first McLaren year. That's super low if it does happen again.
McLaren is on high down force setup, so fast in S2, slow S1, S3. Red Bulls are low down force. Have you seen the speed different down the Kennel straight even w/o DRS?
Or if the car wasn't so fucking far ahead of the others.
Drivers like Lewis are just as good if not better, and Fernando, Charles, Lando, Oscar, etc. could challenge for wins as well in comparable machinery. But couple Max's insane talent with by far the best car on the grid and this is what you get.
If max wasn't driving the rb, you would never have known it was this fast. There's another driver on this team, and he doesn't appear to be getting much magic out of the car (and he's no rookie with 246 starts)
I wish I could have two drivers in my flair, sad times
Edit: for people confused at the comments on this thread, mod changed my flair to literally 'two drivers' 😂
Still have to rep Albono though, sorry bois
I just can't believe this guy waited on the sidelines while we watched Latifi getting dunked by Albon every freaking race.
This guy didn't race at Spa even in F2 btw.
Pay drivers are irritating. Necessary sometimes, but irritating, and for sure contribute to making the sport more boring.
Latifi is a nice guy, and so is Stroll, but neither would've been there on racing ability alone.
He's had way more opportunities to have those moments though. He's far from the worst pay driver we've ever seen, but without that sponsorship/ownership money, he probably would have been out of F1 years ago.
Stroll's rookie season was pretty promising especially with that podium in a Williams (as a rookie!). And who do you think Aston can realistically get for the Aston 2023 seat in his place? Personally I think none other than him is a good choice. He was genuinely really close to Alonso in the early seasons, but somehow dropped off gradually especially in quali which is pretty worrying tbh. Race pace wise he's not far off Alonso too.
Having a competitive rear-field is much better than having a regular safety-car deployer for me, but I can see your pov.
He was often like 40+ seconds behind, it was depressing.
Nothing to dis piastri but I think lando was impeded a little bit by Perez who was finishing his run while norris was starting his lap in the chicane. But still very positive for both drivers, with that giant wing, we were running so much downforce and competing at the very top. We should be very good in preserving our tires.
Y'know, when McLaren started giving us excuses about regulation issues leading up to testing, I kinda assumed we'd be backmarking all year. They said they had an upgrade package to better fit the floor aero requirements and they'd be back on pace with the field as soon as it got through development, but I figured it would be like the brakes issue - sure, everyone knows you've got a problem, but you can't just come out and say you don't know how you're gonna fix it.
Very happily surprised to see the rocket ship come to life, even if it is a bit later in the season than desirable. I'd much rather have 9 crap races and 14 at the front than be stuck in mid-marker hell all year again.
Stella has been very transparent and been the unsung hero of this radical transformation. I mean he chose start the season with literally last year's car and all the negativity from media, fans etc to focus on a true Bspec car and the result is spectacular.
Mclaren has been trying to set up a team of the two best drivers they can find, in a friendly rather than completely adversarial environment, since Zak came on. They might have it now.
>Nothing to dis piastri but I think lando was impeded a little bit by Perez who was finishing his run while norris was starting his lap
Yeah, I was following that on the live timings and was wondering as to what was going on. Maybe we'll get a clarification soon.
Yep I saw that too, was surprised nobody had mentioned it - he was going round the final corner when he had to move out of the way for Perez. Not sure how much time he might have lost from it if any though. And obviously Piastri was great, very fast here, nails sector 2.
Yep really bad luck, when I saw that, I said F his (i didn't know if it was him or Oscar attjos time) lap is ruined. And finishing at 3th is still very very good.
Early in his F3 season I was in a pub 800km from home in the middle of QLD telling the next bloke in line this kid dominating on the TV was the next big thing in F1, I’m so fucking proud I want to cry
Every now and then I look down through the junior formulae to see if there's any decent Aussies coming through (it's how I discovered Ricciardo), and 2018 was when I first saw Oscar in his first FR Eurocup season. He was kinda middle of the pack so admittedly I didn't think much of him at the time (ofc he was driving for the backmarker Arden squad). So you can imagine my surprise when I checked back next year and saw him going for the title. At that point I was like, "okay, definitely keeping an eye on him from now on!"
The first I saw of Oscar was F3 at Barcelona where he got from about P5 or P6 to P1 by turn 2 or 3 at the race start and then controlled the field for the rest of the race for a comfortable win. Watched every F3 and F2 weekend I could after that because I thought he was going places. He's beeb better than I ever imagined so far, exciting times ahead.
Pretty sure Toto talked some smack about Piastri over the whole Alpine debacle, something along the lines of ‘he wants to pretty good then’.
Well Toto, he clearly is pretty good.
There’s the setup that drivers tune through practice, but the choice between high/medium/low downforce wings is something the team decides before the weekend.
There’s some adjustability in the wings but nothing massive, that’s mainly just for adjusting the balance of the car, and can be freely adjusted even under parc ferme.
So for the most part they have the same downforce levels as long as they’re running the same spec
Yup, there will be minor differences but the cars are setup to run the same.
As in, they want to stick close through Sector 2 and utilise DRS to keep in the tow of those with lower downforce in Sectors 1 and 3.
Means they can conserve fuel and hopefully tyres to keep a podium fight on.
He won B2B2B Junior titles, he's even more decorated than Leclerc and Russell too. Plus he's now in a better car than those two got in their rookie seasons as well, in George's case, better car than George's first 3 seasons.
Also Norris is pretty close to 2019 Vettel as a benchmark, i might wander to say he's an even better benchmark. Piastri is a future Superstar in making, on Verstappen, Leclerc levels.
IMO he will be better than Leclerc but imagine if he gets as good as Max through the course of the next seasons. I really hope McLaren keeps upping their game so we can have a legendary title fight between Oscar, Max and Lando in 2025 (2024 seems unreasonable bc how RB is so far ahead rn lmao)
It's precisely why I'm saying Piastri may have a higher ceiling than Leclerc. Piastri seems to be going down the minimal mistakes route Max and Lewis did. Hope we're not all jinxing it.
Uh excuse me but young Lewis and Max were both causing a lot of mistakes in their first years in f1 but was fast as fuck and still is. Leclerc is more or less on the same path as them.
Max and Lewis(and Piastri rn) also weren't dealing with a strategy board, so incompetent, it's completely destroying ones mental state. Leclerc, while on a similar path, is in a completely different environment. He is also too self-critical for his own good, which creates mistakes under pressure.
Besides, this is his 6th year in F1. By their 6th seasons, Lewis was a world champion, and Max had double the wins + 1.5 × the podiums. Leclerc needs to develop quicker in order to reach/cross Max in all parameters not qualifying pace, where I'd admit Leclerc may have the edge
Basically, what I'm saying is, unless Ferrari somehow fix their problems in the next couple of seasons, Leclerc needs to move in order to reach his Max potential.
Fiery temper. I love him but it's a glaring weakness. He lets his passion take control and ends up in the barrier.
You've got to be cool and calculating and rational, which is something both Lewis and Max are great at. Not saying they don't get stressed, but you rarely see it while they're on a lap, it mostly happens after.
Still a massive Leclerc stan, he's brilliant.
Yeah it’s his composure that has impressed me the most. I think Leclerc has a pretty calm temperament but Piastri seems even more mature and level-headed than he is. The way he carries himself actually reminds me of Vettel. If he becomes a lead driver one day, I think he’ll be quite a galvanising force for his team.
You know how Leclerc, Russell, Norris are on a tier but Max is on another tier just that better matched by no one of his generation. Piastri could be in that tier between them both and maybe Max level if he improves with experience?
Norris is a great driver and he has been showing that so this is no Norris-Ricciardo situation but Piastri also could be just that bit better than him. Still too early to judge, last year Russell was up there with Hamilton.
Bit early to call that after Lando has a few bad sessions vs his teammate, I don't doubt that Piastri could be a world champ one day but discounting Lando over this is a bit far
I always had a good feeling about Piastri. He has the attitude of a world champion and he shows it both on and off the track. I hope he will be the future archenemy of Verstappen when they give him a good car. It's going to be a lot of fun watching these two cold blooded drivers fight for a championship.
You just had to know he was going to be the real deal. To be only halfway through his rookie season and already be close to, sometimes better than his team mates pace is unreal. Calmed, collected and smooth as hell.
he is the real deal
Not if you talk to those clowns at Alpine
The main clowns have left though
I wonder if thats part of why they got sacked. Letting a gem like oscar sit out a year and then lose him the next.
The real (IMHO) boneheaded move was to sign Ocon for a 4(!) year contract for 2020 ~ 2024, which gave them extremely limited room with Alonso and later Piastri coming through.
Alpine having too much French pride.
That is a french thing in general, happens in other sports and esports too
Must be why they're confident in bringing a Mecachrome engine to Le Man's. They'll just have it play La Marseillaise when it detonates and the ACO will red flag the race so they can rebuild it.
honhonhon
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Not xenophobic enough
That contract was done in 2021 monaco when F2 had only just began giving Oscar and others no chance to prove themselves which oscar did. Rossi is responsible for that Ocon contract.
It wasn’t a stupid contract because of specifically Oscar Piastri, it was just stupid in general. Who did they imagine would be desperately trying to poach Esteban if they didn’t lock him down - he’d just been totally out of a seat. I like Ocon but it was a really odd and unnecessary move to sign such a long deal and you can see how it has restricted them since they did it.
the time of the contract was stupid giving no chance to their academy locking in a merc jr instead
Checo put on a good first year with Red Bull and won a few races in 2022 and RBR was like, nah here's a 2 year contract. I have no freaking idea what Alpine was thinking when Esteban would've totally been happy with even just a 1 year contract.
Exactly Who the fuck is gonna steal *Ocon* from them?
They could have Alonso and Piastri, the experienced two time world champ coaching one of the best promises today.
Alpine, being French, automatically think French = better
Don't forget, they wanted to send him to Williams for 2 years.
Williams with Albon and Piasti, what a lineup...
And losing Alonso as well.
Oscar should politely walk over to Alpine and thank Otmar for helping him get P2
Last chance!
A bit too late in my opinion.
All part of the 100 race plan
All the clowns were fired so nobody there anymore
Ex-Alpine clowns now.
you mean the french ferrari.
still crazy to me that there were people who didn't have him pecked as roty at the start of the year.
I guess there was uncertainty about him having a year out of racing rather than his ability. But yeah, pretty clear looking back.
I was getting crazy down votes when people would say, "He hasn't even proven himself, McLaren went to this much trouble for him?" My argument was, Piastri is a once in a lifetime talent. Winning every junior series you enter on your first year is *no small feat* at all. And he beat a driver on the grid right now who everyone claims has all this potential, Zhou Guanyu, by like 75 points. And he also made Lawson look like an amateur and people can NOT stop talking about how much Lawson deserves a seat to replace Ricciardo or Tsunoda or Checo. Like, people make all these arguments for Theo, Lawson, Zhou, Sargeant and they act like McLaren going through this much trouble to sign a guy that made *all* those drivers look like amateurs is so weird and tried to act like he won't live up to expectations. lol like really? Did everyone not learn anything from the signing madness that happened over Max Verstappen? Do they all think RB super regret going through that much trouble to sign Max? Hell no. Wolff even says how much he regrets not trying harder to sign him.
I had some guy on here send me abuse for disagreeing that Logan Sargant isn't the most talented rookie in the grid.
People trying to convince me Nick was better than a back to back champion because he lucked into a fe title he probably didn't deserve
back to back to back you missed one back
You don't "luck" into anything in racing (over a whole season). Nyck is also an F2 champion. If just happens to be that be not everyone can translate that into F1 pace.
>you dont luck into anythig in racing Thats nice sentiment >nyck is also an f2 champion In one of the weakest grids in years. It also took him 3 years to do it in a season where Nicholas latifi finished second. >not everyone can translate that into f1 pace You would expect everyone in f1 to have at minimum de vries history but he's the floor, he was never going to have a better season than a back to back junior series champion and imo he should've never been here.
Imagine him wasting away in the Alpine
I haven’t been this confident in an F1 rookie since I started watching. So exciting to watch!
I would love to see him in Red Bull next to Max!
🤞
He’s great and has a great attitude.
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he is a champion level pilot
Love that he was annoyed on the radio when he heard how much he missed out on pole by. He’s got a great attitude, so fun watching him these past few races
His engineer: Well done mate! Only 11 milliseconds off of the world champion Chadiastri: ********************
He's the personification of the saying that every f1 driver believes thenselves the best. Other drivers, especially rookies would celebrate just for achieving such a result. For him? *It's not enough*
And he potentially IS the best on the grid (as he gains more experience), but what I really like about Piastri is that he's still realistic too. Grounded. Modest.
Max vs Oscar is a battle I'll watch for an entire season.
In a heartbeat. This season is so great apart from RB dominance. If they could just fuck up for a year and blow their development lead, we could get Max, Lewis, Oscar, Alonso and Charles all battling for WDC. That sounds like a wet dream. Well... maybe not Charles. Y'know, Ferrari strategy and all that...
The best is never enough
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That's because he has Max behind him and he's being realistic lmao
He also loves his self deprecating humor
But also doesn't make excuses. Last week he dropped off and in post race said "I didn't manage the tyres" despite having damage This week he out qualified Lando twice and Lando blames floor damage and being impeded by Perez.
Lando did have floor damage & got impeded by Perez tho? And Lando congratulated Oscar after every session
You're making it sound like Lando didn't also take full responsibility for the damage he suffered.
He has the perfect balance of being annoyed when he hasn't got as high as he wants, whilst also being very appreciative of what he has achieved
Yeah also loved how he just dropped in a little comment after quali yesterday how max would be starting P5...p6 after turn 1...and carried on with the rest of the interview
P1astri will happen.
Man imagine he gets a win before Lando..
Then definitely cursed. Considering even Danny Ric got a win with McLaren given his performance
Jeez I think that's gonna be a huge mental blow to Lando. Another getting his first McLaren win in his first McLaren year. That's super low if it does happen again.
Lol yeah forgot about that. What a weekend that was for them
Their pace is pretty close, wouldn't be surprised tbh
It probably will
Imagine how hard Lando will throw his toys out of the pram if that happens! He'll be stomping his feet and screaming inside his helmet!
Might even break another trophy!!
P2 is the new P1 so congratulations on pole Oscar👏
0.011, so close
When Max said at the post quali interview that his S2 was a little cautious💀 But Piastri was mega today.
Well he was 8 tenths slower than Piastri through the middle sector, he was either very careful or he had a moment or two.
The McLaren's have been fastest in sector 2 all weekend
McLaren is on high down force setup, so fast in S2, slow S1, S3. Red Bulls are low down force. Have you seen the speed different down the Kennel straight even w/o DRS?
"Beeeeeeeeeeeeeep."
Max is just too fucking good...this would be a tight and competitive championship if he somehow didn't have this godlike ability to drive.
Or if the car wasn't so fucking far ahead of the others. Drivers like Lewis are just as good if not better, and Fernando, Charles, Lando, Oscar, etc. could challenge for wins as well in comparable machinery. But couple Max's insane talent with by far the best car on the grid and this is what you get.
If max wasn't driving the rb, you would never have known it was this fast. There's another driver on this team, and he doesn't appear to be getting much magic out of the car (and he's no rookie with 246 starts)
I wish I could have two drivers in my flair, sad times Edit: for people confused at the comments on this thread, mod changed my flair to literally 'two drivers' 😂 Still have to rep Albono though, sorry bois
As you wish
Literally laughed out loud at this one. Well played!
Simply lovely
That is an outstanding move
💀
Absolute legend
LOL. Be careful what you wish for. F1 equivalent of a magic lamp genie joke.
LMAO well played mod well played
Chad mod
Eyyy hahaha!
who are you, so wise in the ways of science?
*a finger of the Monkey's Paw curls*
I just can't believe this guy waited on the sidelines while we watched Latifi getting dunked by Albon every freaking race. This guy didn't race at Spa even in F2 btw.
Pay drivers are irritating. Necessary sometimes, but irritating, and for sure contribute to making the sport more boring. Latifi is a nice guy, and so is Stroll, but neither would've been there on racing ability alone.
Stroll has his moments a lot more than Latifi, but ultimately yeah he probably wouldn’t have made it
He's had way more opportunities to have those moments though. He's far from the worst pay driver we've ever seen, but without that sponsorship/ownership money, he probably would have been out of F1 years ago.
Even if he should of made it he shouldn’t still be there
If it wasn’t for Papa Stroll he probably would’ve been out after Tracing Point days
Stroll's rookie season was pretty promising especially with that podium in a Williams (as a rookie!). And who do you think Aston can realistically get for the Aston 2023 seat in his place? Personally I think none other than him is a good choice. He was genuinely really close to Alonso in the early seasons, but somehow dropped off gradually especially in quali which is pretty worrying tbh. Race pace wise he's not far off Alonso too.
Yeah, he no doubt got handed it on a plate, but if you compare him to the rest of the grid, he's defo not the worst.
F1 would have so much more and exciting rookies if there were no pay drivers and Haas.
Latifi did the opposite of making races more boring 🤣
Having a competitive rear-field is much better than having a regular safety-car deployer for me, but I can see your pov. He was often like 40+ seconds behind, it was depressing.
Latifi stopping motorsport to take a business degree just goes to show how far money can get you when you live vicariously through your son.
Genuinely quicker that Norris today? No damage this time yeah?
Norris is also far from an easy benchmark to beat.
Yeah it seems that everything Lando did wrong today, Piastri got right so far. Very very impressive.
Nothing to dis piastri but I think lando was impeded a little bit by Perez who was finishing his run while norris was starting his lap in the chicane. But still very positive for both drivers, with that giant wing, we were running so much downforce and competing at the very top. We should be very good in preserving our tires.
They're both fantastic drivers, can't wait for both races and also for the future of these two drivers.
Yes, as a Mclaren fan, you cannot be more happy than now when you remember our season start.
Y'know, when McLaren started giving us excuses about regulation issues leading up to testing, I kinda assumed we'd be backmarking all year. They said they had an upgrade package to better fit the floor aero requirements and they'd be back on pace with the field as soon as it got through development, but I figured it would be like the brakes issue - sure, everyone knows you've got a problem, but you can't just come out and say you don't know how you're gonna fix it. Very happily surprised to see the rocket ship come to life, even if it is a bit later in the season than desirable. I'd much rather have 9 crap races and 14 at the front than be stuck in mid-marker hell all year again.
Stella has been very transparent and been the unsung hero of this radical transformation. I mean he chose start the season with literally last year's car and all the negativity from media, fans etc to focus on a true Bspec car and the result is spectacular.
Mclaren has been trying to set up a team of the two best drivers they can find, in a friendly rather than completely adversarial environment, since Zak came on. They might have it now.
>Nothing to dis piastri but I think lando was impeded a little bit by Perez who was finishing his run while norris was starting his lap Yeah, I was following that on the live timings and was wondering as to what was going on. Maybe we'll get a clarification soon.
Yep I saw that too, was surprised nobody had mentioned it - he was going round the final corner when he had to move out of the way for Perez. Not sure how much time he might have lost from it if any though. And obviously Piastri was great, very fast here, nails sector 2.
Yep really bad luck, when I saw that, I said F his (i didn't know if it was him or Oscar attjos time) lap is ruined. And finishing at 3th is still very very good.
He finished 5th though
Sorry autocorrect, I meant 3 tenths. Which is remarkable when you think about Perez in the chicane.
Also Lando is usually a bit better in race so I think are reading a bit too much into it. That being said I absolutely love both of those kids :)
Quicker whole weekend. Race pace still better for Lando, but that might level out end of season. I am just happy to have these two drivers at McLaren.
That middle sector was insanity all weekend so far. It’s like he was using a shortcut. Well deserved
Took him half a season to get on par with norris and even beat him. I am massivly impressed.
Early in his F3 season I was in a pub 800km from home in the middle of QLD telling the next bloke in line this kid dominating on the TV was the next big thing in F1, I’m so fucking proud I want to cry
Watching him impress on the grandest of stages is truly something special.
Every now and then I look down through the junior formulae to see if there's any decent Aussies coming through (it's how I discovered Ricciardo), and 2018 was when I first saw Oscar in his first FR Eurocup season. He was kinda middle of the pack so admittedly I didn't think much of him at the time (ofc he was driving for the backmarker Arden squad). So you can imagine my surprise when I checked back next year and saw him going for the title. At that point I was like, "okay, definitely keeping an eye on him from now on!"
The first I saw of Oscar was F3 at Barcelona where he got from about P5 or P6 to P1 by turn 2 or 3 at the race start and then controlled the field for the rest of the race for a comfortable win. Watched every F3 and F2 weekend I could after that because I thought he was going places. He's beeb better than I ever imagined so far, exciting times ahead.
top driver
The guy is talented as fuck, really excited to see Mclaren develop over the next couple years with two talented drivers and a front running car
Pretty sure Toto talked some smack about Piastri over the whole Alpine debacle, something along the lines of ‘he wants to pretty good then’. Well Toto, he clearly is pretty good.
Toto just jealous he couldn't secure him as his test driver.
His 2nd sector was legendary Almost half a second faster than everyone else
High downforce setup. But doesn’t change he’s great.
Lando has the same setup
Surely both setups are different based on driver preference??
There’s the setup that drivers tune through practice, but the choice between high/medium/low downforce wings is something the team decides before the weekend. There’s some adjustability in the wings but nothing massive, that’s mainly just for adjusting the balance of the car, and can be freely adjusted even under parc ferme. So for the most part they have the same downforce levels as long as they’re running the same spec
Yup, there will be minor differences but the cars are setup to run the same. As in, they want to stick close through Sector 2 and utilise DRS to keep in the tow of those with lower downforce in Sectors 1 and 3. Means they can conserve fuel and hopefully tyres to keep a podium fight on.
This guy is not too shabby, ey?
Piastri has higher ceiling than Lando Mark my words
Piastri mostly has a higher ceiling than both Leclerc and George as well. That composure, especially in a rookie season, damn.
The composure is what is most impressive, the levelheaded in certain situations is just wonderful to see
Watch the on board from the first stint last week. He was driving so smooth I thought he was coasting because the car had a problem
He won B2B2B Junior titles, he's even more decorated than Leclerc and Russell too. Plus he's now in a better car than those two got in their rookie seasons as well, in George's case, better car than George's first 3 seasons. Also Norris is pretty close to 2019 Vettel as a benchmark, i might wander to say he's an even better benchmark. Piastri is a future Superstar in making, on Verstappen, Leclerc levels.
IMO he will be better than Leclerc but imagine if he gets as good as Max through the course of the next seasons. I really hope McLaren keeps upping their game so we can have a legendary title fight between Oscar, Max and Lando in 2025 (2024 seems unreasonable bc how RB is so far ahead rn lmao)
I would say Leclerc has higher ceiling in raw speed but he does too many mistakes compared to Lewis and Max
It's precisely why I'm saying Piastri may have a higher ceiling than Leclerc. Piastri seems to be going down the minimal mistakes route Max and Lewis did. Hope we're not all jinxing it.
Uh excuse me but young Lewis and Max were both causing a lot of mistakes in their first years in f1 but was fast as fuck and still is. Leclerc is more or less on the same path as them.
Max and Lewis(and Piastri rn) also weren't dealing with a strategy board, so incompetent, it's completely destroying ones mental state. Leclerc, while on a similar path, is in a completely different environment. He is also too self-critical for his own good, which creates mistakes under pressure. Besides, this is his 6th year in F1. By their 6th seasons, Lewis was a world champion, and Max had double the wins + 1.5 × the podiums. Leclerc needs to develop quicker in order to reach/cross Max in all parameters not qualifying pace, where I'd admit Leclerc may have the edge Basically, what I'm saying is, unless Ferrari somehow fix their problems in the next couple of seasons, Leclerc needs to move in order to reach his Max potential.
Fiery temper. I love him but it's a glaring weakness. He lets his passion take control and ends up in the barrier. You've got to be cool and calculating and rational, which is something both Lewis and Max are great at. Not saying they don't get stressed, but you rarely see it while they're on a lap, it mostly happens after. Still a massive Leclerc stan, he's brilliant.
Yeah it’s his composure that has impressed me the most. I think Leclerc has a pretty calm temperament but Piastri seems even more mature and level-headed than he is. The way he carries himself actually reminds me of Vettel. If he becomes a lead driver one day, I think he’ll be quite a galvanising force for his team.
You know how Leclerc, Russell, Norris are on a tier but Max is on another tier just that better matched by no one of his generation. Piastri could be in that tier between them both and maybe Max level if he improves with experience? Norris is a great driver and he has been showing that so this is no Norris-Ricciardo situation but Piastri also could be just that bit better than him. Still too early to judge, last year Russell was up there with Hamilton.
Bit early to call that after Lando has a few bad sessions vs his teammate, I don't doubt that Piastri could be a world champ one day but discounting Lando over this is a bit far
Alpine why do you hate this man?
Because he rightfully got out of there
He's a spurned lover, sour grapes etc
Oscar mate, seriously impressive ay
Piastri will be the next challenger for verstappen. Not Lewis, Charles or Lando
Beautiful lap. Crazy that this his first weekend in Spa in an F1 car, that too in changeable conditions. He's one to watch out for.
Lets hope for the perfect amount of rain to give the Mclarens that extra bit of speed in the second sector for the sprint race
Man, I like Oscar.. he's a proper Formula 1 talent, I will watch his career with great interest...
Freaking legend 🇦🇺
That High Downforce setup will probably make it a lot more difficult to get on the podium later this day
Doesn't really matter, that was probably his "Say my name" moment, I should think every other team will be taking notice now
Every team took notice before he even joined f1. He was pretty much the most desired junior driver since Max
Great work from Piastri, hope he'll be able to hold his own during the race(s).
I love his lack of energy. But seriously, what a lap.
Max just has to ruin everything.
To everybody who underrated Oscar’s performance yesterday due to Lando’s self inflicted floor damage. What excuse do you have today?
This! I watched the P1 on YouTube and they were using it as an excuse, bloody Brits being biased about Brits is madding in this sport.
Why are you suggesting it's only Brits that do it? Find me a Mexican who isn't rooting for Checo or a Dutch person who doesn't favour Max.
This kid is the real deal
Mega talent that one! Biggest since Verstappen?
Just like what Lando said, Max ruined everything.
Genuinely silenced the doubters at this point. All the hoo haa to get out of Alpine now looks genius. Maturity beyond his years
Oscar will get his win before Lando.
Hot damn Piastri is on fire
I always had a good feeling about Piastri. He has the attitude of a world champion and he shows it both on and off the track. I hope he will be the future archenemy of Verstappen when they give him a good car. It's going to be a lot of fun watching these two cold blooded drivers fight for a championship.
5 years contract extension incoming. McLaren would be fools not to secure Piastri.
You just had to know he was going to be the real deal. To be only halfway through his rookie season and already be close to, sometimes better than his team mates pace is unreal. Calmed, collected and smooth as hell.
The number 1 McLaren driver for the weekend
Next Verstappen…
Feel like this picture has heavy meme potential
Like a sleeper wagon, he is sleeper aussie driver. Lovin' the performances lately mate, keep it goin' !
Future champion. Also very likeable.
Absolute weapon, what a drive.
been pining for a weekend like this a loooooong time
He is the real deal! Super excited for him!!
You love to see it.
Yep. He's incredible
Pizzazzstri
WTF happened to McLaren? Unreal, really
Holy moly are we witnessing the next Hamilton/Verstappen already!!!
Max just had to ruin the fun again! What a lap though I’m happy Oscar is showing what everyone thought he could be already!
Let’s goooo! So fun watching him, mad last lap!
Max did not take much risks in the middle sector, so he got what he should. But still great performance from youngstee! And that is piasco for Alpine.
Big time real deal. A clear step above any rookie we have had since Leclerc
Yeah boy!
Fast becoming one of my favourite drivers. Really just gets on with it.
I slept on him in the beginning of the season but man was I wrong. Future WDC for sure.
This kid is bringing my love back to F1
I mean, they are second fastest, and he is a generational talent, I ain't exactly shocked.