MOTORSPORT: Piastri for Formula 1

Oscar Piastri is on track for Formula 1 in 2022 as the reserve driver with the Alpine team, in a move that will have him perfectly placed to race with the French team when Fernando Alonso retires.

As the Aussie youngster powers towards the FIA Formula 2 championship, off the back of his prestigious F3 title last year in his rookie season, Piastri is already doing simulator work for Alpine on the team’s all-new grand prix contender for next year.

He also contributed to the team’s breakthrough first win this year, with Esteban Ocon in Hungary, when he did overnight SIM work at the Alpine race base in the UK to improve the car.

“I’m going to say I’m their lucky charm,” Piastri joked.

But he is totally serious about his prospects for Formula 1, despite ruling out any chance of taking the one race seat still open for 2022.

“The Alfa Romeo seat is very unlikely,” he said.

So the target for Piastri is an early extension of his deal with Alpine and it could come within weeks.

“The most logical path is to try and get reserve driver at Alpine next year, and I’m hoping Alpine reciprocates that,” Piastri revealed to carsales.

“I think my results have deserved that. That’s what we’re working towards.

“I think Alpine has been great for my career so far, and we’ve had a very good relationship for the past two years. These next few weeks will be very much about trying to sort out plans for next year.”

If he becomes the reserve driver, Piastri is certain to get track laps during practice sessions at grands prix in 2022 as well as plenty of simulator time. And if Ocon or Alonso have a health scare, or a positive COVID-19 test…

But that’s deeply into the future and Piastri is laser-focused on wrapping up the F2 championship.

He has starred in recent races, getting stronger in his approach and his racecraft, and has a clear break of 36 points over second-placed Chinese driver Guang Zhou heading to Saudi Arabia and then Abu Dhabi.

“I would say success has come a lot faster than I expected. I’ve exceeded my own expectations,” said Piastri.

“I wasn’t expecting to win the championship in my first year. I was probably even more sceptical than I was in F3.”

Most drivers take two years to win a major single-seater title, using the first to learn and the second to contend, so Piastri’s rapid rise has surprised everyone including Alpine and his manager, Mark Webber.

“I think the general consensus, even in my own thoughts, is this is going better than I expected. If I’m saying that, and I know my capability, then most other people are being surprised,” Piastri said.

With a break in his F2 program, Piastri has plenty of time to think – as well as a holiday break with his British girlfriend, Millie – about F1.

“I think … it’s pretty much about 2022. It’s very much on the future and what happens,” he said.

He’s been hailed by Laurent Rossi, the head of Alpine F1, who invited him into the team garage for the Russian Grand Prix and captioned an Instagram post of Piastri with the words “F1 behold: the future generation of champions is rising”.

But F2 comes first and Piastri, who scores himself as 9/10 for his recent performances including a run of three feature race victories, is clear.

“I definitely think I can win it. We’ve just been getting strong and stronger. [But] it would have been nice to have some more rounds now, to finish the year off now and not wait two months,” he said.