McLaren boss Andrea Stella has predicted that Oscar Piastri will win several World Championships during his Formula 1 career, despite missing out on the 2025 title.
Piastri concluded the campaign in third place, 13 points behind eventual champion Lando Norris, even though he led the standings at more races than his team-mate.
The Australian looked destined to be the McLaren driver who would be crowned when a win at Zandvoort saw him boast a 34-point advantage with nine rounds to go.
However, that preceded a six-race run without a podium, where crashes in Baku and lacklustre showings in Austin and Mexico allowed Norris to seize the upper hand.
To his credit, Piastri headed his team-mate in the final two races in Qatar and Abu Dhabi, but back-to-back second-place finishes were not enough to overturn the gap.
But like McLaren CEO Zak Brown, Stella believes the strides Piastri made in his third season in the sport proved that he is poised to become champion at some stage.
“Effectively, we could have had two champions this year,” Stella told Sky F1.
“The gap between the two was so small and I said after [Abu Dhabi] qualifying, I think [the gap] was 30 milliseconds, that was the whole story of a season.
“30 milliseconds in qualifying, always so close on track, very close on lap one. As you said, some tense situations from that point of view, but always resolved for the best.
“Oscar was a worthwhile champion and he was [a] worthwhile champion [in his] third season in Formula 1.
“He learned so rapidly, he had a couple of races where he struggled a bit in the famous low grip tracks. He learned very rapidly what to do. He became immediately competitive again.
“His trajectory is phenomenal and, definitely, we have a future multiple World Champion in Oscar.”
The lessons Piastri obtained during title-deciding dip
Piastri has insisted that the setbacks that unravelled his title ambitions provided valuable learnings that will guarantee he is a stronger driver in the upcoming season.
“There’ve definitely been lessons directly to do with how I drive the car, how I can be better in different conditions, and just become a better all-round driver,” he told media including Motorsport Week post-race in Abu Dhabi.
“There have also been lessons outside the car – dealing with adversity, dealing with difficult moments. I’ve learned a lot about myself in those kinds of things.
“So, there have been lessons both in and out of the car that will definitely help me for the future.”
READ MORE – Oscar Piastri vows F1 title hasn’t made Lando Norris ‘Superman’
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