Oscar Piastri’s junior team could never understand why ‘fantastic’ driver didn’t make it to F1

Oscar Piastri had quite a turbulent path to Formula 1 before he eventually made his debut with McLaren in 2023.

The Aussie established himself as a top junior talent, winning the F3 and F2 titles back-to-back with PREMA in 2020 and 2021. Serving as a test driver for Alpine during his F2 campaign, he was not afforded a chance to step up to F1.

In 2022, the team believed they had secured his future as he supported them during his junior days, and announced Piastri as an Alpine F1 driver for 2023. However, the 24-year-old ditched the team for McLaren, leaving them with just one driver after losing Fernando Alonso.

Otmar Szafnauer says Alpine made a huge mistake with Piastri as they did not renew his contract in time, giving him the freedom to explore other options. It would prove to be the right decision as the Aussie has gone on leaps and bounds with McLaren.

Winning five of the opening nine races, the 24-year-old leads the championship over teammate Lando Norris. Manager Mark Webber says Piastri’s cool mindset gives him an advantage, as he does not care about what people think about him, whereas Norris is known for being highly self-critical.

With Piastri a strong contender for the F1 title, the Aussie proves that PREMA can produce some amazing talents from within their ranks. But there is one driver who did not make it to the pinnacle of motorsport that the team still think about today.

READ MORE: McLaren driver Oscar Piastri’s life outside F1 from height to girlfriend

PREMA could ‘never understand’ why Robert Shwartzman didn’t make it to F1

Piastri’s teammate in F2 in 2021 was Robert Shwartzman. While the Aussie dominated the title, the Israeli driver, who previously raced under a Russian licence, picked up the scraps and finished second ahead of Zhou Guanyu, who did make it to F1 with Sauber.

Like Piastri, Shwartzman served as a test driver in 2022. A product of the Ferrari academy, he helped the Maranello outfit behind the scenes, as well as acting as a reserve driver in Formula E.

The 25-year-old moved to sports car racing in 2023, and in 2024, he raced for Ferrari in the World Endurance Championship alongside Yifei Ye and Robert Kubica. Continuing to serve as an F1 test and reserve driver, he returned to PREMA in 2025 to partner with Callum Illot in IndyCar.

While Shwartzman has gone on to have a successful racing career, the team have always felt he should have made it to F1. Journalist Samuel Coop says insiders within PREMA feel he was the driver who ‘got away.

Talking about Shwartzman and drivers who he would like to see in F1, he said via RacingNews365: “The Robert Shwartzman pick is a very interesting one, because someone I know at PREMA was saying that, within the team, Robert Shwartzman was the driver they could never understand not breaking through.

“He was the one that they were like: ‘He’s the one who got away’ and think of the talent that PREMA have had go through that system over the last decade.

“So that is a real kind of show of Robert’s abilities.”

Robert Shwartzman’s F1 chances are likely over as he commits to IndyCar with PREMA

Labelled as ‘fantastic’ by Mattia Binotto at Monza in 2022, the Sauber CTO felt Shwartzman deserved a seat in F1. However, that chance was never afforded to the Israeli driver.

The 25-year-old competed in several FP1 sessions for Ferrari in 2022 and 2023, before making two appearances for Sauber in 2024 at Zandvoort and Mexico City.

F1 fans were impressed by Shwartzman’s pace at Zandvoort on the intermediate tyre. In Mexico City, he picked up a five-place grid penalty for overtaking under double yellow flags.

The Israeli driver left Ferrari in 2025 to pursue his IndyCar career with PREMA, likely spelling the end of his F1 career. Shwartzman has made history this season in North America, becoming the first rookie to take pole position for the Indianapolis 500.