The young alpine driver has won the Formula Renault and Formula 3 championship titles in a row as a rookie and in his rookie F2 season with Prema leads the overall standings by five points after the first of three races this weekend in Monza .
Piastri has only won one race so far, the second sprint in Bahrain, but was a prime example of consistency and scored points in all but two races this season.
The Australian could miss a move to F1, however, with significant competition for the last vacant seat on the affiliated Alfa Romeo team that Valtteri Bottas has signed to replace the retiring Kimi Raikkonen.
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Alfa team boss Frederic Vasseur told Autosport in July that the Switzerland-based team will have free choice of drivers next year, and Piastri’s F2 rival Theo Pourchaire will be backed by the Sauber team, which leads the Alfa Romeo squad.
Piastri, who qualified in pole position for the main race at Monza this weekend, says his connections with Alpine would make such an Alfa Romeo operation unconventional, but wants to “still make a statement on the track”, to impress the team bosses.
When asked about his chances for the seat and his plans for the next season, he said, “I really don’t know, is the honest answer. There’s one place left, there’s a hell of a lot of people trying to get it.
“Of course I’m with Alpine, there is no engine connection, so not the most conventional way to get there.
“I’ll be honest, the chances are very slim, but I don’t want to give up my hope yet. I would like to make another statement on the route.
“It’s been a tough couple of weeks, to be honest, watching all these seats fill up, but this one is still left and Alfa has all the time in the world to decide who to use. So who knows? I have no idea.”
Oscar Piastri, Prema Racing, Juri Vips, Hitech Grand Prix
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Piastri added that he “really has nothing to lose” and that the slim prospect of joining Alfa put no extra pressure on his shoulders with three F2 rounds in Sochi, Jeddah and Yas Marina pending.
“I’ve won two championships in a row and led a third, but we’re only halfway through this Formula 2 year, so a lot could change,” he said.
“All of the F1 moves are happening now or have already happened so it’s a bit disappointing how it turned out because I really don’t know what else I could have done today [securing pole] was nice to make a statement and I’m still here.
“I think it’s probably just a case of bad timing, but of course I still want to try to win this championship.
“I had a couple of suggestions about deliberately not winning it in order to do another year, but that’s just silly.
“I want to win the championship and I think if I win the championship I would be pretty pissed off if something didn’t come out of it at some point in the future.”
Alpine Academy member Guanyu Zhou, who is second overall, says he has not yet made a final decision about his future.
But the Chinese, who is contesting his third season in Formula 2, expects that “this will be my last season in Formula 2”.
Guanyu Zhou, UNI virtuoso
Photo by: Formula Motorsport Ltd
“As for myself, I don’t have a final decision about my future yet, but as I said at the beginning of the year, I think this will be more or less my last season in Formula 2,” he said.
“It depends on what the future brings, there is still a question mark.
“I mainly focus on this championship and try not to make the mistakes that could allow me to lose the championship, so my main goal at the moment is the championship, but of course I think we will know later who it is Has a chance of being in the seat. “
“Of course so many drivers fight for it.”
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