MELBOURNE (Askume) – Oscar Piastri’s victory at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix was “world class” and showed the youngster’s potential, his mentor and manager Mark Webb said, adding that the Australian has earned his place in Formula One.
The 23-year-old McLaren driver took his second championship win in Baku on Sunday when he overtook Charles Leclerc and then held off the Ferrari driver until a virtual safety car ended the race.
“This is one of the best services I’ve ever seen from them,” Webb said in the Baku City Circuit paddock.
“Charles is absolutely magical here (Baku), so to beat him here is a big thing. At least it’s world class.”
“He’s here and he’s going to keep his feet on the ground and keep working hard.”
Piastri’s maiden win at the Hungarian Grand Prix in July was overshadowed by a team order controversy when Lando Norris reluctantly gave up the lead to allow his Melbourne-born teammate to overtake the car first.
Team orders were also given in Baku, with Norris being told to help Piastri hold off Red Bull’s Sergio Perez to ensure victory.
This allowed the Australian team to get fresh tyres and stay ahead of the pack.
Nevertheless, Norris was happy to play his part and could not take away from Piastri’s victory, which put McLaren 20 points ahead of Red Bull at the top of the Constructors’ Championship with seven grands prix and three sprint races to go.
After taking podium finishes in Italy and Belgium in the last three races, Piastri moved into fourth place in the drivers’ championship, tied with Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen on points, just 32 points behind Norris.
Piastri has come a long way since his first season at McLaren and finished ninth in the championship last year, more than 100 points behind Briton Norris.
Former F1 driver and Sky analyst Karun Chandhok said: “He is no longer the next best star coming into F1. The star is here.”
“There were some people who thought he didn’t deserve (the first win). There was no doubt in anybody’s mind that he deserved to win today.”
Piastri’s rise has excited Australian fans who were indifferent to Daniel Ricciardo’s continued struggles at RB.
Under pressure to retain his race seat, Ricciardo only managed 13th due to a tyre particle problem which significantly reduced his lap pace.
The F1 championship continues this weekend with the Singapore Grand Prix.
