F1 Insider Wants Oscar Piastri Move To Red Bull: "Big Star Quality"
McLaren driver Oscar Piastri has been the talk of the town as the budding driver has been finishing in the top five in consecutive races. At the Hungaroring, he secured the fifth position which is quite amazing for a first-timer.
Piastri started 4th on the grid but very soon, he made it to the second spot, thereby challenging race leader Max Verstappen for the lead. However, McLaren prioritized Lando Norris at the first stop which made Piastri lose his position.
The 22-year-old racer received high praise from former F1 team owner Eddie Jordan who was "blown away" by his performance. He told talkSPORT:
“The thing that caught my interest yesterday was this guy, Piastri.
"He’d never been to this track before, maybe once in the junior formulas, and for him to come out and qualify on the second row and race like he did, and race against Max…
"Be careful where he’s going to go because I think there is big star quality in there, I’m actually blown away with this young kid, so he’d be one of the drivers I’d be looking at to challenge Max in the future."
Former F1 driver Mark Webber, who is also Piastri's manager, played a key role in pushing him into McLaren after joining the Renault Sport Academy in 2020 and later Alpine as a reserve driver in 2022.
Jordan revealed that Piastri's relationship with his manager could play a vital role if he wanted to race for Red Bull. And he says this with confidence because he has partnered with Webber earlier, who won't hesitate to put across Piastri's name to the Milton Keynes outfit if Sergio Perez continues to underperform.
It is Red Bull's "forward vision" that won't make them go back to Daniel Ricciardo either, as Jordan describes:
“He’s [Piastri is] managed by my old partner Mark Webber and we saw how he got him into McLaren.
"Do not be surprised if there’s a seat available at Red Bull, of course where Mark used to be, don’t be surprised if he [Piastri] is named in front of the public eye in the future.
“I don’t see it [Ricciardo], they had that chance before and Red Bull don’t usually go back in time, they have a very forward vision.
"If there’s a change at Red Bull, Mark Webber has brought this kid (Piastri) on, brought him over from Australia, and what a revelation he’s turned out to be.”
Jordan's words come at a time when the Red Bull team seems to be hunting for a Perez replacement after considering their past record of sudden driver replacements. Is something already cooking?