James Hinchcliffe ranks Oscar Piastri in his top five 2026 drivers after just one race start

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James Hinchcliffe has included Oscar Piastri in his top five most impressive drivers so far in the 2026 Formula 1 season despite the McLaren star completing just one race.

Piastri has endured a tough start to the season, having crashed on his reconnaissance lap in Melbourne before an electrical issue prevented him from taking part in the Chinese Grand Prix.

The Australian eventually completed his first race of the season in Japan, coming home second behind Mercedes star Kimi Antonelli.

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Although he managed to finish the race, Piastri was negatively impacted by the safety car during the Japanese Grand Prix.

When Oliver Bearman crashed, Piastri had already pitted and was further down the grid when the safety car was brought out, which came at the perfect time for Antonelli to do a cheap stop en route to winning the race.

James Hinchcliffe names his top five most impressive drivers of 2026

Despite Piastri’s tough start, Hinchcliffe has decided that the Australian deserves a place in his top five most impressive drivers of the season so far.

In his latest piece for the F1 Official Website, Hinchcliffe picked out the five drivers who have caught his eye.

Along with Piastri, the F1 TV analyst selected championship leader Antonelli, Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, Haas driver Bearman and seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton.

However, there was no place for the likes of George Russell and Charles Leclerc.

Explaining his decision to include Piastri, Hinchcliffe stated: “When you consider that we’ve not seen much of Piastri in the races this year, what we have seen has been pretty solid.

“Japan marked his first time off the line on a Sunday and he delivered a stellar performance.”

He continued: “Coming into the race he had a massive disadvantage to the rest of the field in not having two races worth of experience battling it out with others on track.

“These new regs have created a completely different way of going racing, and while you can simulate all you want nothing really compares to the real thing.”

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Hinchcliffe went on to claim that if McLaren manage to squeeze more performance from the car, Piastri could disrupt the likes of Antonelli and Russell at the front of the grid.

He added: “He led early and convincingly until the Safety Car intervention and brought home his and the team’s first silverware of the year.

“If McLaren find a bit more pace in their car, Piastri could continue to make life hard on the Mercedes duo.”