Oscar Piastri raves about ‘incredibly impressive’ F1 driver he’s trying to learn so much from

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McLaren driver Oscar Piastri has admitted that he’s been very impressed by the career of Mercedes legend Lewis Hamilton during his time in Formula 1.

Piastri was speaking on the Eff Won with DRS Podcast and reflecting on how he broke into F1 and his first season in the sport.

Every kid that starts go-karting dreams of one day driving a Formula 1 car.

It’s an incredibly difficult task given how few seats there are on the grid and how many talented racers are determined to get there.

The last two Formula 2 champions are now waiting in the wings for a spot on the grid to open up and even if it does there’s no guarantee they’ll be given their opportunity.

However, the 2021 F2 champion was Oscar Piastri and teams were lining up to give him his chance.

Alpine missed out to McLaren in the end and they’ve benefitted from taking a gamble on the young Australian.

Piastri is young enough that he watched many of the more experienced drivers on the grid while he was growing up.

Asked who he’s been impressed by on the grid, Piastri named Lewis Hamilton and admitted his seven world titles is a phenomenal achievement.

Mercedes have fallen off slightly in the past two years, denying F1 fans the chance to see Hamilton and Max Verstappen fight for another championship.

At 38, he shows no signs of giving up on overtaking Michael Schumacher’s championship record.

He may have to wait until the next set of major rule changes in 2026 for Mercedes to have a chance to compete with Red Bull

Piastri admits being impressed with Hamilton’s F1 record

Asked if he had any idols in the sport, Piastri said: “I don’t really have like one specific one. I think what Lewis [Hamilton] has been able to do in terms of getting to seven world championships was incredibly impressive.

“What Max [Verstappen] is doing now is also very impressive even if I have to try and beat both of them.

“I can still try and learn as much as I can from them, especially at this point in my career. So that’s been impressive to watch.”

Piastri isn’t the first driver and won’t be the last to admit they’ve been impressed by Hamilton’s achievements.

There are plenty of young drivers on the grid who would have idolised the likes of Hamilton and Fernando Alonso growing up.

Their longevity is extremely impressive and highlights just how committed they are to the sport.

Formula 1 can be extremely frustrating especially as the margins are so small and so much hinges on the development done by teams during the off-season.

The fact that Hamilton ended up being the closest challenger to the Red Bulls despite the Mercedes rarely being the second-quickest car on the grid shows just how fast he really is.