Oscar Piastri will come home to Melbourne in April for his first home race as an F1 driver and the Aussie already has some big fans.
The McLaren driver has caught the eye of Sky Sports F1 lead commentator David Croft, who believes the 21-year-old is a future race winner.
Piastri was signed by McLaren in the off-season, fresh off securing the F2 Driver's Championship in 2021.
However, the start to his F1 career hasn't been as successful, with his first two races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia being hampered by a poorly performing car.
Despite this, Croft believes Piastri will be star long-term.
“Let’s put this into context, Oscar Piastri was born a month after Fernando Alonso made his F1 debut in the same city,” Croft told SEN’s Sportsday.
“He is the real deal. I like Oscar Piastri. As a human being I think he is fantastic, he’s really approachable, very chatty – a really easy going guy.
“As a racing driver, he is absolutely the real deal. Like Charles Leclerc and George Russell, he won the two main feeder systems in F3 and F2 in consecutive years.
“He has come into a McLaren team at not a great time for McLaren. They’re last in the Constructers Championship. They haven’t scored any points yet.
“His debut lasted only 13 laps because the car broke down on him, but I think we saw in Jeddah some real fight and some real spirit from Piastri. A great battle he was having with his teammate Lando Norris and with Logan Sargeant, another rookie.
“He will only get better. He has really impressed the McLaren team in the way he has knuckled down, the way he’s learnt, the way he’s adapted to the strains and stresses of being an F1 driver.
“In the years to come we will see some fine performances from this man. He looks a champion in the making to be honest and has done for some time now.”
The Melbourne race will take place on April 2nd, with Red Bull looming as the clear favourite after dominant performances to start the season.
LISTEN TO THE FULL CHAT WITH DRAVID CROFT ON SEN BELOW
