McLaren driver Oscar Piastri has had an impressive start to his Formula 1 career.
The young Australian has achieved his first Grand Prix victory faster than the likes of George Russell, Carlos Sainz and even McLaren teammate Lando Norris.
Oscar Piastri rose through the junior ranks with a near-faultless record, copying the achievements of the likes of Charles Leclerc and Russell.
Winning back-to-back Formula 3 and Formula 2 championships tends to get the attention of the teams in the paddock, as Gabriel Bortoleto can attest to after being poached from McLaren’s academy to drive for Sauber this year.
McLaren played a similar role in Piastri’s debut, signing him from Alpine before the Anglo-French team could offer him a race seat.
Insiders at McLaren believe Piastri is a future world champion and not only that, but he could be the fastest driver on the grid one day.
McLaren impressed during pre-season so the 23-year-old might not have to wait long to be challenging for the drivers’ championship.
Norris is going to be his biggest rival and while they never clashed on track last year, their battles at the Hungaroring and Monza highlighted their competitiveness.
Former F1 driver and commentator Karun Chandhok was speaking on his Instagram after pre-season testing about McLaren.
He made an exciting prediction about Piastri and believes he could make history at the Australian Grand Prix.
Karun Chandhok backs Oscar Piastri to have a ‘firm shot’ of winning the Australian Grand Prix
Reviewing the three days of testing in Bahrain and looking ahead to the 2025 season, Chandhok explained: “I’ve been looking through various bits of information that we had in the commentary box and time sheets and things like that.
“It does look like McLaren have come out of the blocks very, very strong.
“We suspected that would be the case after the back end of last season and Bahrain is a circuit where they’ve not traditionally or historically been particularly strong at.
READ MORE: McLaren driver Oscar Piastri’s life outside F1 from height to girlfriend
“So, to see them so competitive in Bahrain really bodes well for the rest of the season and underlines the point that some of you may have read in my column about the big questions going into the season that Lando Norris heads into this year as the absolute favourite.
“But, Oscar Piastri is going to be heading to Australia, his home country, the opening race, also with a firm shot of winning the Australian Grand Prix, something that hasn’t happened before.
“So, that’ll be pretty amazing to see!”
McLaren face team order dilemma with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri
No Australian driver has ever won their home race as Chandhok alluded to and Piastri looks to be in a good position to break that curse this year.
Norris and Piastri were playing down McLaren’s fantastic start to the season during testing as they look to temper expectations heading into the season.
However, both drivers will be well aware that they could be the favourites for the championship if the first few Grand Prix go as smoothly as many expect.
This leaves team principal Andrea Stella and CEO Zak Brown with a potential dilemma on their hands.
READ MORE: All you need to know about McLaren F1 Team from team principal to engine
McLaren introduced their papaya rules last year with Norris chasing down Max Verstappen in the championship and Piastri further back in the standings.
They didn’t always go to plan – as the race in Monza showed – but if both drivers are in with a chance of winning the 2025 championship, they may need team orders to avoid both of their campaigns being derailed.
Verstappen and Russell at Red Bull and Mercedes respectively may not have the fastest car, but they’ll be the clear number-one drivers alongside the youngsters in their teams.
If Piastri and Norris take too many points off one another, then both of their seasons might end up being ruined.
Leave feedback about this