Australian former F1 world champion Alan Jones now believes that McLaren star Oscar Piastri could follow in his footsteps one day.
The 22-year-old is only two races into his second Formula 1 season but has already impressed the vast majority of the paddock.
Speaking to the Herald Sun, Jones suggested that the £90,000-a-week driver could one day compete against the likes of Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton.
Alan Jones backs Oscar Piastri to be future F1 world champion
It’s a rare occurrence in Formula 1 when a title challenge goes right down to the wire and in those examples, the season finale tends to be filled with drama.
Max Verstappen’s 2021 last-lap victory in Abu Dhabi, Nico Rosberg’s mic-drop moment in 2016 retiring moments after taking the chequered flag or the infamous final corner overtake by Lewis Hamilton on Timo Glock in 2008.
Even going back to Michael Schumacher’s collision with Damon Hill in 1994 or his clumsy defence of Jacques Villeneuve in 1997 that saw him get disqualified from the drivers’ standings altogether.
All this shows is that F1 has too often been dominated by one driver for years at a time before a tipping point is reached, and then two drivers are going down to the wire, those emotions can flare.
While it already looks like Verstappen might be world champion again in 2024 after just two races, Alan Jones believes Oscar Piastri will one day join him in earning that prestigious title.
The 22-year-old is only in the infancy of his Formula 1 career but has shown immense racecraft and a level of consistency that has seen him compare himself to Alain Prost.
If and when Piastri is ready to race for a title of his own, it’ll be interesting to see if he’s able to run away with the championship like so many others before him, or if he’ll race a final race shootout like the examples shared above.
Piastri destined for greatness in Formula 1
Jones admitted that Oscar Piastri was “absolutely” a future Formula 1 world champion and said: “There is no question about that.
“I think if you put him in a Red Bull or a Ferrari – but that’s not to say the McLaren is not a good car, I think that they are making good headwind.
“For sure, he has got the talent to be able to go on and be a world champion.”
Piastri will hope Jones is right and he can go on to win a world championship of his own.
Time is on his side and with him and Lando Norris signed up to long-term deals at McLaren, the team know exactly what direction they’re going in for years to come.
That’s unless Red Bull continue to look with intrigue at the young Aussie and decide to make their move if the unthinkable happens and Max Verstappen departs.
The post ‘Got the talent’: Alan Jones says £90k-a-week star ‘absolutely’ has the potential to become F1 world champion appeared first on F1 Oversteer.