The Australian won his third consecutive individual title with two races left after finishing third in the opening race of the Formula 2 sprint on Saturday at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
The F2 title completes an impressive triple of championships after last year’s run for the FIA Formula 3 crown in his rookie year after winning the Formula Renault Eurocup championship for the second time in 2019.
Despite his meteoric rise in the junior categories, the Alpine Academy driver was unable to secure an F1 race spot for next year as Alpine could only offer him a reserve driver role, which means he will spend a season on the sidelines from a racing perspective.
Alpine currently has Esteban Ocon under a long-term contract and the two-time world champion Fernando Alonso until the end of next year and has no affiliated F1 team to put Piastri on a drive.
Piastri is now in illustrious company alongside Ferrari F1 driver Charles Leclerc and future Mercedes racing driver George Russell as consecutive F3 / GP3 and F2 championship winners and admitted that he would be frustrated not to be on the F1 grid in 2023 .
“I have certainly done everything in my power to present my case for an F1 circuit,” said Piastri, a winner of five F2 races this year.
“I think I said at the beginning of last year or this year that I thought the results might push me into an F1 circuit somewhere, that clearly didn’t work.
“Of course it’s a bit of a disappointment that I won’t make the jump straight away and I really hope I’ll be on the starting grid in 2023.
Oscar Piastri, Prema Racing, Theo Pourchaire, ART Grand Prix
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
“I would be pretty upset with a PG version of my comments if I wasn’t on the starting grid in 2023 because I’ve run out of things to prove myself with.
“I think next year I will have a very good opportunity with Alpine to switch to the F1 world, without driving, of course.
“But I’ll go to all of the flyaway races and experience the hectic calendar of the F1 world and a lot of simulation work, so I won’t be spending that much time on the couch.
“But it’s going to be a busy year and it’s a fantastic opportunity, of course it’s not quite the ultimate goal I wanted for next year.
“Throughout my racing career, I’ve done well at controlling the things that I can control and that’s something I can’t control.
“I’ll do my best for Alpine to prove why I should be on the starting grid and hopefully lead to a seat.”
Oscar Piastri, Prema Racing
Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images
When he won the title to join Russell and Leclerc as consecutive F3 and F2 winners, he added, “It’s a great honor to be on this list with them to have made it my rookie year.
“I said before that at the beginning of the year I didn’t expect to race F3 and F2 one after the other and also win the Eurocup the year before. I think it exceeded all of my expectations.
“I hope it shows that I’m a pretty skilful helmsman.”
Piastri will be doing an extensive F1 test program with Alpine next year, driving a 2021 car and hoping his face will stay in the paddock so he won’t be forgotten and overlooked for drives in 2023.
“I’ll still be driving a decent amount – it won’t be races,” he said.
“I want to keep my focus on Formula 1 and make sure my face is in the paddock so people don’t forget me, to be honest.
“I think driving an F1 car, there is no substitute for it, you can’t race in something else and expect it to prepare you for F1.
“It’s such an advance on everything, even the F2. I want to make sure my focus is on that even if I can’t drive in F1 or anywhere next year.
“F1 is my ultimate goal and, realistically, it’s a goal, not a dream.”
The post Piastri would be “pretty annoyed” if he didn’t land an F1 drive after winning the triple title in 2023 first appeared on monter-une-startup.
