Why is Oscar Piastri F1's most sought-after rookie?

The Australian rising star is fast, consistent, confident, adaptable and has shown excellent racecraft, but there’s already a taint to his reputation. That hasn’t stopped him becoming the hottest property in this year’s F1 driver market and why McLaren moved fast to snap up the 21-year-old

Alex Kalinauckas Sep 30, 2022, 10:02 AM

Upd: Sep 30, 2022, 10:22 AM

Remember Nico Hulkenberg winning the GP2 Series title at the first attempt in 2009? After that triumph, seven seasons went by without a rookie claiming honours in Formula 1’s top junior category. Since then, three have done it in five seasons of the rebranded FIA Formula 2 Championship.

Charles Leclerc ended that wait with his searing streak to the 2017 F2 title with Prema Racing. A year later, George Russell’s efforts with ART Grand Prix brought him to F1 with the F2 crown ahead of fellow rookie Lando Norris and second-year racer Alex Albon. And we all know what they have achieved in the top tier.

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Author Alex Kalinauckas

Alex Kalinauckas is Autosport's Grand Prix Editor, covering every Formula 1 race since the start of 2020. After completing a master's degree in journalism at Goldsmiths College University of London in 2014, he worked for a range of motorsport and technology publications while covering national racing as an Autosport freelancer.

A lifelong motorsport fan - no one in his family can explain quite how or why such a development first occurred - Alex joined the Autosport staff in April 2017 as the magazine’s Assistant Editor covering Formula 2 and GP3, before being made Formula E correspondent and Autosport.com’s Plus Editor in March 2018. He lives in north-east London and is constantly frustrated by the Central Line.