Karun Chandhok says F1 driver in ‘tricky position’ has actually performed really well

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Karun Chandhok has showered praise on McLaren driver Oscar Piastri after his first five races in Formula 1.

Chandhok was speaking about the young Australian on the Sky Sports F1 podcast.

It’s not been the start to life in F1 that the 22-year-old would have hoped for.

Plenty of brilliant drivers have made their debut in the sport for the British team.

Lewis Hamilton famously started his career with McLaren, as did World Champions Gilles Villeneuve and Alain Prost.

More recently, Kevin Magnussen, Stoffel Vandoorne and Lando Norris also made their F1 debuts in McLarens.

After winning Formula 2 in 2021, Oscar Piastri had to bide his time to enter the sport.

He was originally on the books at Alpine, however, McLaren quickly realised his potential and made their move.

The French team weren’t pleased to lose Piastri, especially with Fernando Alonso set to leave.

The gamble from Piastri to join McLaren hasn’t paid off yet, but Chandhok believes he’s doing a great job so far.

He’s not been too far off Norris’s pace and already has his first World Championship points.

Chandhok praises McLaren rookie Piastri

Speaking about the current woes at McLaren, Chandhok said: “I think we’ve got to mention Oscar [Piastri] as I think he’s actually in a tricky position.

“When you arrive in F1 you want to make an impact, you want to make a name for yourself and straight away you think of when Lewis [Hamilton] arrived in 2007.

“Car at the forefront, nine podiums in a row to start his career.

“Oscar’s not got that opportunity, but he’s actually doing a great job.

“Miami, nine hundredths off [Lando] Norris in qualifying, in Baku 32 thousandths off Norris in qualifying.

“So, he’s actually doing a cracking job I think.”

Martin Brundle later suggested that he thinks Lando Norris might look for a way out of McLaren sooner rather than later.

The team may still be in fifth in the Constructors Championship, but they’re well off the pace of the top four teams.

Given they finished 17^th and 19^th in Miami, that position might also be false.

Chandhok has praised Piastri for how close he’s got to his McLaren teammate thus far.

It’s hard to judge the young Australian when he’s been handed a very average machine.

He’ll be hoping the team can improve their offering over the course of the season going into next year.