Oscar Piastri: How McLaren's rookie has justified the hype in his debut F1 campaign

After making perhaps the most controversial arrival on the grid that Formula 1 has ever seen, Oscar Piastri is unquestionably living up to the hype.

In the summer of 2022, the Australian shunned the Alpine team that had helped fund his career in junior categories, to join one of motorsport's grandest names in McLaren.

Something of a furore followed, with Piastri's decision to announce his rejection of Alpine's contract offer on social media only enflaming the situation.

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After an FIA tribunal cleared Piastri and McLaren of any wrongdoing, attention turned to the prospect of the former F2 and F3 champion finally making his debut at the top level.

In what has been an extraordinary campaign - for various reasons - Piastri has already justified McLaren's decision to insert him into the seat fellow Australian Daniel Ricciardo had occupied.

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Flying under the radar

Piastri's decision to join McLaren initially looked questionable, as the team started the season with a shocking lack of pace.

An abysmal first race in Bahrain saw Piastri retire with an electronic issue and his team-mate Lando Norris end the Grand Prix last among those who finished after also experiencing technical problems.

McLaren had issued a warning ahead of the season that the car was not where they had hoped it would be, but few could have imagined a start quite this bad.

While far from ideal, McLaren's early-season struggles somewhat took the pressure off Piastri, as he was left to acclimatise to F1 in a car that was quite simply incapable of scoring points.

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That hadn't really changed by the time the third race of the season in Australia came around, but Piastri was in the right place at the right time to pick up his first points in F1 after a chaotic crash in the closing stages bumped him up to eighth.

Aside from Albert Park, Piastri's only other point-scoring finish in his first nine Grands Prix would come at Monaco, as he came 10th.

While that sounds like an underwhelming return for a supposed wonderkid, the fact that Norris was faring little better meant that judgement would need to be reserved on Piastri's performances.

Upgrades bring instant progression

Just as McLaren's promise of improvement was beginning to appear unlikely to come to fruition, the team delivered an upgrade package that began one of most spectacular mid-season turnarounds ever seen in F1.

As the team's junior driver, Piastri was forced to wait a race longer than Norris to get the upgrades on his car, and would have been buoyed and frustrated in equal measure as the Brit took an impressive fourth in Austria in his first outing in the updated MCL60.

However, finally given a chance to shine in a competitive package at the British Grand Prix, Piastri used one of the showcase events of the season to truly announce his arrival in F1 by qualifying third and taking fourth in the race.

Piastri would show further promise as he jumped from fourth on the grid to second, going past Norris, in the opening stages of the Hungarian Grand Prix.

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To the surprise of some, McLaren gave Norris priority at the first round of pit stops despite his inferior track position, which allowed the Brit to leapfrog Piastri.

Admittedly, at this stage of the season, Piastri was still very clearly learning how to manage his tyres over a full race distance, and fell away to finish fifth, but the maturity with which he handled post-race questions about the team's approach was an example of his apparent unflappable nature.

Significant weekend in Spa

Piastri would achieve another notable success in the Spa Sprint Shootout, comfortably outperforming Norris and coming up just 0.011 short of a maiden Sprint pole.

In hugely challenging wet conditions, he would back it up by finishing the Sprint in second behind Max Verstappen, and four places clear of Norris - making quite the statement.

A rare blunder followed in Sunday's Grand Prix as a bold first-corner lunge up the inside of Carlos Sainz took both cars out of the race.

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While there were bound to be learning moments during his rookie campaign, Piastri's defiance in his post-race interview provided some insight to the steely and competitive mentality that any elite F1 driver needs to compete at the top.

While Piastri was calm after the incident, his dismissal of Sainz's suggestion the incident was a result of "inexperience" showed further signs that the 22-year-old has no intention of being pushed around.

Statement success in Qatar

A couple of challenging races followed as the MCL60 struggled to maintain its strong performance in Zandvoort and Monza, before some misfortune in Singapore qualifying consigned Piastri to a 17th-place start, from which he did well to claim seventh.

Piastri would offer more evidence to suggest that he is on Norris' level over one lap by once more topping his team-mate to take a season's-best second behind Verstappen in Japanese Grand Prix qualifying.

Once more Norris' superior ability to manage his tyres would be on show during the race as he took second, but Piastri comfortably held onto third to secure a first Grand Prix podium.

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However, the crowning moment - to this point - of Piastri's rookie campaign was still to come in Qatar.

At a track where he had never previously raced, Piastri beat Norris - and Verstappen - to Sprint pole, before landing a major psychological blow to claim a maiden F1 victory before his team-mate.

The calmness with which Piastri held off a charging Verstappen in the closing stages, along with his reserved celebrations after taking the chequered flag, offered a reminder that this is a driver used to winning.

While the Sprint victory might have been more eye-catching, Piastri's second place on Sunday was at least equally significant, as he was able to hold Norris off in the closing stages, showing progression from previous occasions when he has been hauled in by his team-mate.

What does Piastri need to do next?

Piastri's cause in the Qatar Grand Prix was aided by a one-off change of rules, which put an upper-limit on the maximum length of each stint, meaning the area in which Norris usually holds an advantage over him was likely tilted in his favour.

The final step the Australian needs to take is to be able to match Norris over a full race distance, which there would be no disgrace in failing to do over the closing five races of the campaign.

Aside from Verstappen, who has been in a league of his own, Norris could lay claim - along with a couple of others - to having been the next best driver on the grid this season.

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The fact that Piastri is already matching him over one lap confirms that the Australian is a world-class talent, and like Norris, a sure-fire championship contender in the right car.

McLaren are clearly in no doubt about this, having already moved to add two further years to the contract they initially signed Piastri to, now tying him down until 2026.

With a competitive car, and two drivers appearing to become more evenly matched with every passing week, the dynamic between McLaren's hugely talented pairing promises to offer up huge entertainment as long as they both remain with the team.

When to watch the US GP and F1 Academy finale live only on Sky Sports F1

Thursday October 19

• 8pm: Drivers' Press Conference

Friday October 20

• 2.15pm: F1 Academy Practice One
• 6pm: US GP Practice One (Session starts 6.30pm)
• 7.55pm: F1 Academy Practice Two
• 9pm: US GP Qualifying build-up
• 10pm: US GP Qualifying (also on Sky Sports Main Event)
• 11.30pm: F1 Academy Qualifying
• (Saturday) 12.30am: Ted's Qualifying Notebook

Saturday October 21

• 3.30pm: F1 Academy Race One
• 6pm: US GP Sprint Shootout build-up
• 6:30pm: US GP Sprint Shootout
• 9.15pm: F1 Academy Race Two
• 10pm: US GP Sprint build-up
• 11pm: US GP SPRINT (also on Sky Sports Main Event)
• (Sunday) 12.30am: Ted's Sprint Notebook

Sunday October 22

• 3.30pm: F1 Academy Race Three
• 6.30pm: Grand Prix Sunday: US GP build-up
• 8pm: THE UNITED STATES GRAND PRIX (also on Sky Sports Main Event)
• 10pm: Chequered Flag: US GP reaction
• 11pm: Ted's Notebook

Watch Formula 1 return to Texas for the United States Grand Prix and another Sprint weekend live on Sky Sports F1 from October 20-22. Stream F1 on Sky Sports with NOW