Fernando Alonso’s surprise announcement to join Aston Martin meant Alpine had to look for a driver to replace the F1 legend. Reserve driver, Oscar Piastri, was the obvious choice to move up the ladder for the 2023 season. But, Alpine was nosed out by McLaren in signing the 2021 F2 champion. The Australian will be driving for the Woking-based team alongside Lando Norris next year.

The 21-year-old has impressed one and all with his talent and the ability to deliver under pressure. Oscar Piastri might be making his F1 debut with McLaren, but as it turns out, he was not a McLaren fan growing up.

Oscar Piastri was Red Bull’s Mark Webber fan growing up

The young Australian started watching F1 in 2009 when Red Bull was highly dominant. Oscar confirmed that he was a huge Mark Webber fan in his childhood.

“When I started watching F1, Brawn entered the scene and quite frankly wiped the floor with everyone. For the rest of those years, I don’t want to say I was a Red Bull fan, I was a Mark Webber fan.”

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“I wasn’t a McLaren fan. I was obviously following Mark. And he was obviously having a lot of success with Red Bull.”

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From being an F1 fanboy to becoming an F1 driver, Oscar has come a long way. Let’s look at his journey to the top of the ladder.

Oscar Piastri: The road to Formula 1

It’s a dream for any driver in F2 and F3 to be able to drive for an F1 team. Oscar Piastri made his racing debut in 2016. The young Australian had to wait for 3 years to win his first-ever championship when he lifted the Formula Renault Eurocup. This allowed him to make the step up to F3. He won the championship in his rookie year and topped it by becoming the F2 champion in his very first year.

Reflecting on his journey, he said, “There are a lot of things to think about in those few weeks or few months before that. There were a lot of feelings going on. Everything I have done so far in my career has been preparation for this point.”

“So, I guess a bit of reflection on the journey here, but also very much aware that the journey doesn’t stop here. It’s the start of the real journey.”

“So, this is the main part I wanted to achieve, becoming a professional. And when I first started, I wanted to become a professional in any kind of racing and just race cars for a living. But to be able to do that in F1, I think it’s pretty hard to find a better day job than that.”

“So, I’m super excited,” he added.

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Oscar Piastri was brilliant last year in F2. But, we have seen a lot of drivers make the jump and fail miserably. It will be interesting to see how Oscar adapts to it.