Max is champion for the third time, but everyone is talking about Oscar. PETER COSTER reports on the Qatar Grand Prix:
It was a slow Aussie wink from behind the visor of Oscar Piastri’s helmet that revealed the emerging character of F1’s newest and youngest talent.
The 22-year-old from Melbourne was on pole for the sprint race before the Qatar Grand Prix. Max Verstappen finished behind Piastri, but picked up the three points he needed to be crowned world champion for the third time, putting him among the greats in Formula One.
It was expected with five races remaining in the season, the Red Bull superstar having won 10 races in succession.
But it was Piastri’s performance over the weekend in the Arabian Gulf state that caused more comment.
Not that he is an emerging star, but that he is already a star in his rookie year in motor racing’s elite formula.
This follows a year on the sidelines when he didn’t drive because of a contract dispute with Alpine, the former Renault works team, where he was a reserve driver.
Te team tried to hold him in spite of a contract he had signed with McLaren.
That led to McLaren sacking fellow Australian Daniel Ricciardo, who never came to grips with the McLaren, which has now become a front runner.
Piastri, who began racing go-karts in Melbourne and was guided into a Formula One career by former Australian Red Bull winner Mark Webber, was third on the podium at the previous Grand Prix in Japan, reversed the order by finishing ahead of teammate Lando Norris in the Qatar Grand Prix on Sunday.
Norris attempted to swap positions with Piastri by asking for team orders to let him past. The McLaren pit crew didn’t take up the suggestion.
At least after the race he said the rookie had driven a faultless race. “He didn’t make a mistake.”
Enough said.
Piastri is now acting like a winner and showed his confidence with that wink to the millions who watch Formula One on television.
Why not?
Humility doesn’t win a Grand Prix, not that Piastri is arrogant. He is the opposite and has already won the F2 and F3 titles.
There’s humour in Oscar’s genes. His mother back in Melbourne joked when he signed an early contract extension with McLaren that she had to face another couple of years of late nights watching him race.
When he won the sprint race at Qatar on Saturday, his mum said it made her miss her Pilates class.
The fans want to know all about Oscar. Sky television F1 commentator and former driver Karen Chandhok enthusiastically declared that Piastri was already a star.
It doesn’t do to get ahead of yourself in the world’s most expensive sport but it doesn’t hurt to get ahead of everyone else on the track, which is what Piastri is doing.
Who will become McLaren’s next GP winner in the famous team’s remarkable resurgence, Piasrri or Norris?
At the same time, it’s worth remembering that Daniel Ricciardo, who won seven races with Red Bull won an eighth at McLaren in a one-off at Monza in 2021.
Once among the top five drivers on the grid, Ricciardo could return to Red Bull in 2025 after a year with junior team AlphaTauri next year.
Back in the driver’s seat at AlphaTauri after breaking his hand at Zandvoort is a possibility in a fortnight at the United States Grand Prix, the first of a triple header before another US Grand Prix in Las Vegas next month.
Twenty three GPs this year and 24 next year, with a growing number of sprint races on Saturdays, shows a preference for profit on the part of Formula One owners Liberty Media.
Triple crown winner Max Verstappen has criticised the crowded schedule and says he is unlikely to drive into his 30s and 40 like Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton, who both made mistakes at Qatar.
Alonso could have caused a serious accident when rejoining the circuit after sliding into the gravel.
Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari passed at high speed. A collision would have been a catastrophe. In the case of Hamilton, the Mercedes driver crashed into teammate George Hamilton when trying to overtake on the outside of a corner on the first lap.
Hamilton at first blamed Russell, who had nowhere to go in a sandwich with Verstappen on the inside, but later admitted it was his fault.
The seven times world champion avoided a penalty, but was fined 50,000 euro (with 25,000 suspended unless he does it again) for walking across a live track after losing a wheel on his car. Russell was able to continue and finished fourth behind Verstappen, Piastri and Norris.
An unfortunate aspect of the Qatar weekend was the confusion caused by track limits.
Piastri and Norris lost places on the grid after stewards deleted their lap times for going over the white line.
Pisastri was told while being interviewed on television after finishing third in Grand Prix qualifying.
After winning pole later in the sprint race, he said he said laconically that he “might just give the FIA five minutes to make sure I’m absolutely on pole.”
Another bit of Aussie humour.
Other drivers including Hamilton,. Verstappen, Alonso, Leclerc and Perez also had lap times deleted over infringing on track limits.
This led to the painted white line on corners 12 and 13 being repainted 80cm inwards to discourage drivers from going over raised kerb edges.
Cars were restricted from exceeding more than 20 laps at a time during the 57-lap race in the interests of safety.
Another problem that manifested itself in the latter stages of the race was the stifling heat in the F1 cockpits.
Williams driver Logan Sergeant was forced to retire after saying he was “passing out” on high-speed corners and teammate Alexander Albon vomited in his helmet, although this happened early in the race.
Aston Martin driver Lance Stroll also said he was “passing out at times.” The son of billionaire team owner Lawrence Stroll, who is reportedly
considering selling his majority interest in Aston Martin, including the road car division, was showing his frustration before the race, pushing his personal retainer out of his way when he got out of the car.
Stroll had failed to get out of qualy one for the fourth successive time and threw his high-tech steering yoke onto the front of the Aston Martin, scratching the paint before storming out the back of the garage.
The FIA is now investigating the incident with a fine and grid penalties at the US Grand Prix more than likely.
There is also a rumour that the young Canadian is planning to take up professional tennis
PETER COSTER is a former editor and foreign correspondent who has covered a range of international sports, including world championship fights and the Olympic Games.
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