How Piastri has justified the hype in debut F1 campaign

Oscar Piastri: How McLaren's rookie has justified the hype in his debut F1 campaign Oscar Piastri is delivering an impressive debut campaign in Formula 1 after making a controversial entrance to the sport; watch the United States GP live on Sky Sports F1 all weekend, with the Sprint at 11pm on Saturday, and the race at 8pm on Sunday Last Updated: 16/10/23 10:35pm Oscar Piastri backed up a maiden Sprint victory by taking second in the Qatar Grand Prix 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. 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. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player Speaking on the Sky Sports F1 Podcast, Karun Chandhok explains why he believes McLaren have been enjoying plenty of success this season with drivers Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris Speaking on the Sky Sports F1 Podcast, Karun Chandhok explains why he believes McLaren have been enjoying plenty of success this season with drivers Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris Flying under the radarPiastri'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. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player Anthony Davidson analyses what went wrong for Oscar Piastri and Carlos Sainz after the two collided on Turn One at the Belgian GP Anthony Davidson analyses what went wrong for Oscar Piastri and Carlos Sainz after the two collided on Turn One at the Belgian GP 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 progressionJust 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. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player Lewis Hamilton ends up in fourth place after the first lap, with Max Verstappen in the lead and Oscar Piastri in second at the start of the Hungarian GP Lewis Hamilton ends up in fourth place after the first lap, with Max Verstappen in the lead and Oscar Piastri in second at the start of the Hungarian GP 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