The 2023 Belgian Grand Prix weekend is set to be remembered mostly for the stunning performance of young Australian Oscar Piastri.
The Melbourne-born driver started his rookie season with a car that was disappointingly slow and well off the pace. But since McLaren made big improvements to the MCL60, the Aussie has shown why two teams wanted him after making a huge impression in the junior categories.
P3 and P4 on Saturdays in the updated package, plus P4 and P5 (with damage) on the Sundays at Silverstone and the Hungaroring proved he belongs in a quick car.
However, this weekend he has taken it to another level. On Friday and Saturday, he has outperformed the incredibly talented Lando Norris in the same machinery.
On Sprint Saturday, he qualified P2 and finished the race itself in P2. Piastri has moved up to P10 in the Drivers’ Championship thanks to those 7 points earned in the Sprint. For tomorrow’s main event, he’ll start in 5th, just in front of Max Verstappen.
Piastri pitting to change to inters before the rolling start allowed him to lead during the F1 Sprint. Verstappen ultimately prevailed, though. The Dutchman breezed by on the Kemmel straight on lap 6 to reclaim top spot and cruised to the victory.
In the post-sprint press conference, Verstappen was asked about going racing against Piastri for the first time.
“It’s always good. I mean, I’ve been in that position as well, where the younger guy comes in. It’s nice, and it’s great also.
“I think Oscar is having a very strong season in general, but I think also this weekend he has been really on it. It’s always nice to, for the first time, basically, race.”
Verstappen would go on to discuss Piastri even further in another interview. The two-time World Champion is very impressed by the lack of mistakes the McLaren rookie makes.
“So far he’s had a great season. I think on pure pace, for sure he does well.
“But what I really think is the most important is to see how consistent he is, and he doesn’t make any mistakes either. I think that’s very impressive in your first season.”
Photo credit: Red Bull Content Pool
