Oscar Piastri claims he’s a better driver than F1 legend who scored 19 pole positions

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McLaren star Oscar Piastri says he’s better than a driver with nine Grand Prix victories under his belt.

Piastri is only in his second season in F1 after a successful rookie campaign last year.

But speaking to Sky Sports F1, he’s already declared himself better than a legend of the sport.

Piastri was one of only two drivers outside Red Bull, alongside Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, to take the chequered flag in 2022.

He won the Sprint Race in Qatar, and went on to finish second behind Max Verstappen on race day.

At the previous event in Japan, he’d come home third to secure his first-ever F1 podium.

Piastri’s eventual haul of 97 points was the second-best for a debutant in the sport’s history.

Only Lewis Hamilton, who arrived in F1 with the same team in 2007, has scored more (109).

The 22-year-old has started year two strongly with 28 points from the first three races, enough to rank fifth in the championship.

He out-qualified and out-raced teammate Lando Norris at the second event of the season in Saudi Arabia but lost out on home soil in Australia.

Piastri, who started fifth on the grid, was running third after Verstappen retired and McLaren called him into the pits first.

However, the team then decided to swap their drivers around later in the race, and he eventually crossed the line in fourth.

Oscar Piastri says he’s better than Mark Webber

Piastri already believes he’s a better driver than former Red Bull man Mark Webber, who’s currently his manager.

In a ‘Lie Detector’ interview, Sky Sports F1’s Simon Lazenby posed that very question.

After hesitating for a moment, Piastri answered: “Yes.”

Webber didn’t win a title during an F1 career that spanned 12 seasons and 215 race starts.

However, he finished inside the top three in the standings on three occasions – 2010, 2011 and 2012 – as teammate Sebastian Vettel rattled off four straight championships.

Webber came closest to glory in 2010 when he finished just 14 points adrift of Vettel in the final table.

In addition to his nine wins, he also scored 19 poles, 42 podiums and 19 fastest laps before he retired in 2013.

Only five drivers in the sport’s history have scored more points without becoming world champion (1,047.5).

Will Piastri win be an F1 world champion?

Piastri says his F1 career and his life changed when he qualified third and finished fourth, both career-best showings at the time, at the 2023 British Grand Prix.

That was the moment when the F2 champion announced himself at the highest level.

He’s still hunting his first win, but already some regard him as future world champion material.

Alan Jones, his fellow Australian who was triumphant in 1980, thinks he has ‘absolutely’ has the potential to end his country’s long drought.

McLaren haven’t provided a championship-winning car since 2008, when Hamilton claimed his first crown, so it’s conceivable that Piastri may need to change teams to achieve his ultimate goal.

Significantly, Red Bull are apparently keen on signing F1’s youngest driver if world champion Verstappen makes a shock exit.

Piastri is under contract with McLaren until the end of the 2026 season after signing an extension last autumn.