Jack Doohan now shares what he’s noticed has changed with Oscar Piastri this season

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Alpine reserve driver Jack Doohan has shared the change he’s noticed in Oscar Piastri this season after a brilliant debut Formula 1 campaign.

Oscar Piastri was the rookie of the year in 2023 and has started this season in a similar manner.

Speaking on the F1 Nation Podcast, Jack Doohan admitted the 22-year-old seemed different as soon as he arrived in Bahrain for the opening race of 2024.

Doohan shares the change he’s seen in Piastri this year

The excitement surrounding Oscar Piastri heading into last season was duly matched by his fantastic performances.

Although he didn’t match teammate Lando Norris’s points tally, once he received the team’s season-changing upgrades he more than held his own at the sharp end of the grid.

His Sprint Race win in Qatar was superb and followed by a podium in the main Grand Prix and the previous race in Japan.

Piastri has been hailed for being ‘more mature’ this year and Jack Doohan has noticed a change in the 22-year-old as well.

He got the most out of his McLaren in Saudi Arabia and while he was never in contention for a podium, he’ll be satisfied that he was the best of the rest.

Piastri continues to go from strength to strength

Podcast host Tom Clarkson asked: “Can we just give a shoutout to Oscar Piastri as well and the weekend that he’s had because he out-qualified Lando Norris, he drove a very good race, a very controlled race I thought today.

“Are we seeing a slightly different Oscar, do we feel he’s wintered well and reflected on what happened in year one and has he come back stronger this year?”

Doohan responded: “I completely agree. The first moment I noticed it was actually in the driver’s briefing in Bahrain.

“The first year, he sat there quietly, he listened to everything going on, no questions, no real answers and in Bahrain, all of a sudden, arm up, he changed from rookie conserve to second-year driver, now I’m here, I’m bold, I’m coming to do a job.

“And not that he didn’t do that last year, but you can just see the tides have changed a little bit and it is big.

“And yes he out-qualified Lando, but Lando’s probably thinking, ‘Oh, the numbers of times I out-qualified my teammate, this one time’, but Oscar is very, very fast and it was around a track like Jeddah, which is a very good job.

“He did an amazing race as well.”

Doohan already noticing a change in Piastri’s confidence off the track is a good sign and is undoubtedly affecting his on-track performances.

Karun Chandhok hailed the ‘defensive masterclass’ Lewis Hamilton had to produce to keep Piastri behind him in Saudi Arabia.

It was the shortfalls of his McLaren that prevented the Australian from overtaking the seven-time world champion rather than his ability.

Piastri looks ready to challenge Norris in both qualifying and the races this season and it would be a huge statement if he could finish above him in the Drivers’ Championship.