Former Formula 1 driver Nelson Piquet Jr has delivered a harsh comparison between Oscar Piastri and Lewis Hamilton, saying the Australian’s debut season “wasn’t anything special” compared to the seven-time World Champion’s.
Piastri came agonisingly close to the title last year, leading the standings for much of the season, but ultimately lost out to teammate Lando Norris.
The McLaren driver did impress, however, given it was only his third season in the sport, showing on a consistent basis he was a worthy match for Norris.
It showed some considerable progress, finishing behind Norris in his first two seasons with the Woking-based squad, finishing over 100 points behind him in his debut campaign in 2023.
Lewis Hamilton narrowly lost out on the F1 title in his debut season in 2007. Oscar Piastri finished ninth in his debut campaign in 2023, but claimed a maiden victory in the Qatar Sprint
Piquet Jr, who battled Hamilton in the Brit’s victorious GP2 campaign in 2006, believes that his debut campaign a year later with McLaren showed where there is a gulf in class between the two drivers.
“[Hamilton’s] first season was much more significant than the championships he won with his hands tied behind his back, with a very good car,” he told the Pelas Pistas podcast.
“And that’s what really matters, because we see nowadays what Oscar Piastri did in his first season against Lando, which wasn’t anything special, he got a relatively big beating.
“[Look at] what Kimi Antonelli [did] against Russell in his first season. Then you take what Lewis did in his first season against Alonso.
“I think only we, the people who are in the business, will be able to analyse that, right? The confidence he had in his first year was crazy.”
It’s fair to say, however, that Piastri has certainly caught up to his teammate at quite a rate, and it will be interesting to see, regardless of McLaren’s extremely unlikely chances of recapturing both titles this year, how Piastri fares against Norris this year.
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