Oscar Piastri told he’s got Max Verstappen trait that’s ‘hardly’ seen in Formula 1 drivers

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Oscar Piastri has impressed in just his second full season in Formula 1 at McLaren, beating teammate Lando Norris in two of the last three Grands Prix.

Piastri enjoyed impressive runs in Azerbaijan and Monza, winning the former after producing an overtake on Charles Leclerc which former F1 driver Karun Chandhok said had ‘tremendous confidence’ midway through the race.

The Australian recently finished in third at the Singapore GP after recovering from fifth on the grid, owing to a poor qualifying session that put him behind both Mercedes drivers on the grid.

Qualifying has been somewhat of a weakness for Piastri throughout the 2024 season, with Peter Windsor highlighting it as a key area Norris excels.

Former F1 driver Giedo van der Garde has explained one trait the Piastri has which is ‘hardly’ seen in F1 since Max Verstappen joined the grid when speaking on the DRS: De Show podcast.

Oscar Piastri has ‘killer instinct’ in driver according to Giedo van der Garde

Piastri was lauded for his overtake on Leclerc and received even more praise for his defence amid a lot of pressure from the Ferrari driver in the closing stages of the race.

After also showing his impressive overtaking skills on Norris at Monza and Hungary throughout the season, Van Der Garde highlighted a similarity between Piastri and Verstappen.

“Piastri is just fully committed. He’s put it past Hulkenberg comfortably, Norris before, the guy just knows exactly what he’s doing,” said Van Der Garde.

“He’s really got the killer instinct, Max has always had it and you hardly see it with other drivers.”

Tiff Needell highlights the ‘frustrating thing’ about Oscar Piastri

Piastri’s was off the pace compared to teammate Norris in Singapore which enabled Verstappen to take advantage and finish in second to limit the damage done to his lead in the Drivers’ Championship.

Former F1 driver Tiff Needell highlighted how the weekend was ‘frustrating’ for Piastri as he could have achieved a one-two with Norris and enabled the Briton to take more points away, after Daniel Ricciardo denied him of the fastest lap bonus point.

McLaren has told Piastri that he must support Norris in the Drivers’ Championship, after holding discussions after the Italian GP when both came close to colliding on track.

Piastri admitted that he was not willing to give up a race win for Norris, but is happy to help him where necessary in the final six races of the season.