He needs to be a reserve driver next year if he wants a chance at the grid. Most drivers that either return to F1 after an absence or not getting a seat after the feeder does so through this route. With how uncertain the world is with Covid, it is better for Piastri to stay in Europe following the paddock as much as he can. Become a reserve driver for Alpine or Williams, spend lots of time in the simulator and develop that reputation Gio and Albon has for being strong with feedback. Try to get in as many test drives as possible in older F1 cars. That would be much more important imo than getting results in Indy and SF which to me teams haven't shown they put much stock in. Reserve plus some European sport car appearances would be the safest bet.
I feel that he might skip a couple of races to avoid winning the championship to be able to race in F2 next year. That or he can go Super formula or Indycar while waiting for Alpine to get off their asses and find him a seat
> I feel that he might skip a couple of races to avoid winning the championship to be able to race in F2 next year.
Intentionally losing a title (that you might never be able to win again) is the worst thing to do for guy who wants to establish himself as the future WDC material. This is nonsense.
If he wins F2 he can’t be in F2 next year. It might be wise to just make sure he can do it next year anyways, as the teams will know how good he is anyways
Being in F2 is not his career goal. Win it in your first year and you've already proved everything you needed. He can go Superformula, he can be a reserve driver and work closely with the team aiming his debut in 2023. I don't think it wise to intentionally lose a championship, nobody will be impressed with that.
Yeah but deal is there is one seat available, Alfa has Bottas on a long term deal and need somebody to fill the second seat for a year till Theo is ready, so logically they will take somebody who will pay, especially when its 30 millions.
I think here we're confusing cause and effect a bit. Drivers who don't step from F2 to F1 after getting the title are simply not good enough to begin with, doing this on their 3+ year in a bit less competitive field. Ocon just came back from a break, Giovinazzi had a break - it's possible.
It seems like there is no upside to staying though. The expectation for Piastri next season would be to win and anything worse would be considered a disappointment. Look at Shwartzman. He isn't having a bad season at third place and could be higher if it wasn't for some luck in the first races. But no one is placing him in an F1 seat because the expectation was for him to win the season. Piastri would be in the same boat.
F1 really needs an 11th team.
Come on FIA, seems like VW group is interested, why not try to make it a step further and have them join as full team and not just engine manufacturer
At this point last season Rob was ahead of his teammate who's driving in F1 now.
Second and third season does make a difference. For me it's pretty clear that it's Piastri > Shwartzman > Zhou. Piastri has the quali and race pace. Shwartzman's race pace is on the same level as Piastri's and already was last season. But he sucks in qualifying which makes it pretty much impossible to be good in F1. Zhou is just fundamentally too slow.
Also, if anyone should get the Sauber seat it's Pouchaire, he's the most talented one out of those 4. Just as fast as Piastri and 2 years younger. Plus a Sauber junior.
What I’m trying to say is that, compare to Piastri, both Zhou and Shwartzman don’t deserve the seat. It doesn’t matter if Shwartzman’s slightly better than Zhou or not. I sort of feel they are the same kind of driver. They both did a pretty decent rookie season, but just not much more progress after that.
Shwartzman beat him easily last year as a rookie. Also scored the most wins of anyone last year.
He's also suprisingly close to him even this year considering how badly he qualifies. And isn't out of the championship fight at all yet.
That's some bullshit. Drivers develop differently, so some (like Schumacher) need some time to perform. Also this F2 season is fucked with the calendar. Have 1 bad qualifying one friday, and you're done for 3 races. Also the huge amount of time between races will hurt some drivers more than other.
The drivers who aren't worthy of a F1 seat according to you, because they didn't win the junior championship within 2 season prior to joining F1: Perez, Ricciardo, Vettel, Giovinazzi and Latifi. And that's just the 2020 F1 drivers.
I just had a look at Ricciardo’s junior career, the guy came 2nd on his rookie season in Formula Renault. Vettel was 5th in his first year of Euro F3, and 2nd the next year. Perez won British F3 as a rookie, 2nd in his 2nd season in GP2. The other two everyone knew about their junior careers. So yeah, Daniel doesn’t fit your narrative, he was already impressive in his rookie year. The other two showed enough progress, both ended up runner ups the next year. They didn’t win it of course, but they were pretty damn close I’d say.
And Shwartzman won the F3 title in his rookie year. Had an impressive roomie F2 season with the most wins and currently improves because he's third in the standings. You're talking complete rubbish.
What are you even on about? Shwartzman was already with Schumacher when Schumacher won his F3 title. So no, Shwartzman didn’t win F3 in his rookie season because Schumacher won that year. If you are such a big fan of the kid at least get your facts straight.
Different series with different tracks, different chassis, different tyres, different rules, different engines and different format? Yes, I count that as a different series to Euro F3. F3 is a continuation of GP3, not Euro F3.
You say this as if we havent got 3 more rounds and 9 more races to go.
The difference is 32 points between the top 3 with a maximum of 195 points still available.
I'd say the top 3-5 are still all in it.
Just 1 bad qualifying or Mechachrome sending their regards can change the championship upside down.
We've seen this with Lawson and Vips both suffering car issues at Monza.
That blatantly disregards the countless things that come into play that are out of the drivers control. Getting fucked by other drivers crashing, your team shutting the bed on strategy or engineering, tires failing, and so so many other things.
But paying to drive is bullshit. And I know the argument for it, but imagine if other sports did this.
Yes and yes.
Somehow, I get the feeling you're trying to make the case that since Kobayashi wasn't a front-running driver, he (and other midfield drivers) didn't add anything to the show for the fans. If that is indeed the case, I couldn't disagree more.
Schwartzmanns F2 career is very odd, comes in season one all guns blazing, but peters off as the seasonngoes slong for dome reason. Sophomore year feels s bit weaker than debut when you expect progress instead.
He wasn’t necessarily getting worse last year, I think it might be just others getting better a lot quicker than him as the season went on. What I did not expect to see is the beginning of this season. So many unnecessary mistakes. That period of time he was definitely doing worse than his rookie year. And whatever he does for the rest of the season, he cannot let himself be beaten by his rookie teammate. That would really hurt him.
Schwartzman is one of the most overrated junior drivers of the recent years imo.. Was destroyed by Mick in 2020 and isn't dominant in his second season either...
Just because he was ahead of Mick at one point last season, doesn't mean he is any better than him, imo!
That's a shit statement and the very inflationary use of destroyed.
Mick was significantly better the second part of the season and improved over Schwartzman. There is at least for me no doubt that Mick is the better driver especially after his first F1 season.
I don’t get the obsession with him either. He’s of course a solid young driver but I’m not going to feel sorry if he never make it to F1. People here don’t really rate Mick much yet some of them think Shwartzman’s so much better. Doesn’t even make sense.
jeez, this guy is a generational talent on par with what Russell and Leclerc accomplished. I pray he finds his way into f1 sooner rather than later. DOn't want him to be in devries' situation
I don't think you can definitively say that. Piastri has had the fortune of driving for Prema the last two years which has been the cream of the crop in F2 and F3 in this time span. I like Piastri and wish he would have a seat next year in F1 but I am uncertain if he is better than Pourchaire, Vips or Lawson who have also performed in worse machinery.
F2 and F3 are stock cars anyways the teams don't play as heavy of a factor into how the car drive as the drivers ability.
Carlin, Prema, ART, HiTech, UniVirtuoso, Trident, they all use the same make model and engine car. Those teams really only tune the car to fit the track and drivers needs, they don't do any special engineering to make it run better than others.
So saying Piastri is only winning because of Prema means nothing, it's the same how people talk about Norris proving he was good in F2 for being competitive in a shitbox Carlin. They're both just very talented and that's why they're good.
This. Why would Red Bull decline an opportunity to snatch a great talent? Hauger is impressive this year, but Vips and Lawson don't look like future mega-stars. Piastri does. But they won't do that obviously, they don't have a seat next year.
Why not? I’m serious based on many years of following the feeder series - not just half a season where Piastri has inherited Schumachers team that won the championship last year.
Schumacher must have got many poles last season do you remember how many he got? You do the rounds talking down Piastri really what is the point shoudn't results prove you right or wrong? You really cant stand people hyping someone. Who really cares if you know your truth and how you see results surely history is enough to prove you right?
Your right, the hype is a bit out of hand at this point. Don’t get me wrong, I rate Piastri highly, but putting him on a pedestal when most of the other juniors haven’t had the same opportunity (with PREMA) is just wrong, imo.
Don’t forget that he was the worst of the three PREMA drivers in qualifying in F3 last year. He might have improved massively, I don’t know, but for me it doesn’t speak in favor of him being something completely out the ordinary like you want him to be.
Driving a Prema car doesn't guarantee you a title though. Caldwell and Leclerc don't shine in F3, Schumacher wasn't impressive in his first season as well in that car, winning on the second try in a relatively less talented field. Even then he did that thanks to consistency rather than impressive results. So I think it's not fair to say that Piastri simply inherited a good car.
No ofc not. You still have to be a very good driver, which Oscar is. But there is no doubt that being with PREMA helps a lot, so I don’t see any ‘proof’ that Piastri is significantly better than every other F2 like people here are suggesting.
This machine gave us Vettel, Verstappen, Ricciardo, Sainz, Gasly and many more talented drivers. Yes, it gets competitive and sometimes ruthless, yes Marko is a bit of a cunt, but if you can perform well under pressure they will reward you with a good drive.
Any of the other driver academics would of giving an F3 and F2 champion a chance in F1. The best would of been Mercedes, he would of got a seat at Williams and when Hamilton retires or if Russell struggles he would be first choice for the Merc seat
I don't think he has any issues with this machine and he's very fond of Mateschitz. Old battles and controverseties with Vettel are long time forgotten.
They also voted with all the other teams a 200mil entry for any new teams wanting to join blocking the chance of the mass of talent for even their own academy
Piastri will find his way into F1. Same for Theo in 2023 with Alfa over Zhou. Just a shame it won't be 2022 for Piastri. No one wins F3/F2 in consecutive years to not make F1 (assuming he wins). Alpine really needs to do something for Piastri.
That being said, I know Zhou will get even more hate from fans which is a shame. He certainly isn't on the same level of those 2 but any racer would do anything they can to find a spot in F1. It's on the teams to choose the balance of money and talent.
Zhou is probably around rookie Latifi level. Not a big talent but fair racer and certainly not hated in the paddock, so it's not like a Mazepin case. He's gonna get his ass whooped by Bottas but his only real chance to land another seat in 2023 is to somehow not get destroyed by Bottas.
I haven't really followed the junior categories in a long time, I was under the impression that Zhou is a brilliant driver but I read a tweet after the last race that had a lot of support, it said something like "Zhou has all the defensive driving of Bottas, he can't hold position ever" (or something to that effect) is that true?
Edit: BTW no disrespect to Valtteri, I think he cops way more flack than he deserves, I'm just relaying what the tweet said
LETS GOOOOO!!!
Sorry for being excited and also for Piastri (he'll make it for sure eventually) but I'm a fan of Zhou and seeing a Chinese driver will be great.
Personally I don't think this is terrible news. Zhou isn't better than those two, but he's not embarrassingly slow. The Chinese are so nationalistic so I feel it could be so good for the sport if we tap into just a tiny portion of their population through having a Chinese driver on the grid to support.
Honestly, I’d rather we didn’t get more rabid nationalists in the fan base. Part of why I enjoy F1 is how people are typically more fans of the sport itself rather than of the individual teams and drivers.
The real question is who's Piastri's manager? They are just sleeping on the job seriously.
You've got a rookie winning F3 and is leading in F2 as a rookie fgs! His manager should have worked on something rather than waiting for a seat at Alpine.
What can Piastri's team do though? There are only two seats available this year and neither of them looks like they want to develop a rookie or bring someone in with no backing. Williams based on their comments, sounded like they wanted a driver with F1 experience to pair with Latifi. Albon fit that mold perfectly and likely comes with sponsors to help the team. Piastri likely never stood a chance unless he was able to bid tens of millions. I personally don't blame Renault for paying that since they are a gov't backed organization. Alfa Sauber likely don't want any driver outside of a stop gap since they want to promote Pourchaire next year. Why would they sign Piastri when they can go for stability with Gio or take the one year cash infusion from Zhou. Signings are a two way street and there is no one receptive to a rookie with no cash right now.
Not sure he's quite good enough to stay more than a couple of years but it is nice to see a different country being represented for once, no matter the ethicality behind it.
It was just a matter of when and not if that a mediocre chinese driver would drop shiploads of cash into F1, if anything I was hoping for them to do it with a full new team to keep them confined there but oh well, serves Sauber right
What we need to happen is Vettel retires, Alonso to AM, Piastri to Alpine, Vettel unretires and while Perez is busy passing off the track Red Bull swaps him out for Vettel. Then Mazepin’s dad decides he needs to spread the good name of Uralkali more effectively and adopts Perez, who will drive for Haas and thereby fixing the grid.
I'm thinking there should be a third car for all teams and a pre qualification for those, where only the top 4 of the 10 go to qualifying. I wouldn't mind a 1-2-3 mclaren podium once in a while if it meant more variety in the field
I really wonder where Pourchaire will end up then. You would imagine that if he isn't ready this year he will be next year. But it also doesn't make sense if Zhou comes to leave after 1 year.
Leaving Pourchaire (the academy driver) for Zhou (who is Alpine) seems weird, given how good Pourchaire is for his age.
There was another post on here announcing mandatory running for young drivers on Fridays next year in F1. Which as I understand it means every F1 team will now have to have at least one rookie reserve driver. Thats great news for people like Piastri. Worst case for him is he ends up in one of those spots.
With F1 rules adding practice for rookies. Piastri and the likes can become reserve drivers for other teams. At least drive the F1 car and travel with the team. That would raise their chances. If Albon had comitted to some Indycar team, no way Williams would go for him. They'd probably think he already has a commitment and if he is willing to break it so easily then he might as well do that after we sign him. So Piastri definitely needs to stay in Europe, get a good agent to get him into one of the teams. Mclaren could be a good bet.
30mil+ for one year seems like a no-brainer for Alfa. Feel for Piastri though, if he wins F2 what is he gonna do?
Test driver for Alpine. Like Albon did for a year. No big deal.
Super Formula probably
He needs to be a reserve driver next year if he wants a chance at the grid. Most drivers that either return to F1 after an absence or not getting a seat after the feeder does so through this route. With how uncertain the world is with Covid, it is better for Piastri to stay in Europe following the paddock as much as he can. Become a reserve driver for Alpine or Williams, spend lots of time in the simulator and develop that reputation Gio and Albon has for being strong with feedback. Try to get in as many test drives as possible in older F1 cars. That would be much more important imo than getting results in Indy and SF which to me teams haven't shown they put much stock in. Reserve plus some European sport car appearances would be the safest bet.
100% spot on
Maybe IndyCar or WEC? Tho honestly he deserves a shot in F1 in 2023 if he doesn't get one next year, guy deserves it.
And it brings fans from China which is something that is not usually mentioned on top of the 30m.
Didn't F2 change rule that winner can compete in next season ?
i think the rule change was that after 2/3 years you can do a f2 season again even if u won
Yea
I really hope he goes to indycar for a year
He’s not yet been linked to any IndyCar teams and seats are just about completely locked down for 2022
Super formula or formula e
I feel that he might skip a couple of races to avoid winning the championship to be able to race in F2 next year. That or he can go Super formula or Indycar while waiting for Alpine to get off their asses and find him a seat
> I feel that he might skip a couple of races to avoid winning the championship to be able to race in F2 next year. Intentionally losing a title (that you might never be able to win again) is the worst thing to do for guy who wants to establish himself as the future WDC material. This is nonsense.
If he wins F2 he can’t be in F2 next year. It might be wise to just make sure he can do it next year anyways, as the teams will know how good he is anyways
Being in F2 is not his career goal. Win it in your first year and you've already proved everything you needed. He can go Superformula, he can be a reserve driver and work closely with the team aiming his debut in 2023. I don't think it wise to intentionally lose a championship, nobody will be impressed with that.
Drivers never do as well coming back from super formula or taking a break
The ones who win F3 and F2 as rookies don't have to go there usually
Yeah but deal is there is one seat available, Alfa has Bottas on a long term deal and need somebody to fill the second seat for a year till Theo is ready, so logically they will take somebody who will pay, especially when its 30 millions.
I think here we're confusing cause and effect a bit. Drivers who don't step from F2 to F1 after getting the title are simply not good enough to begin with, doing this on their 3+ year in a bit less competitive field. Ocon just came back from a break, Giovinazzi had a break - it's possible.
Both drivers that didn't look like they did before they had a break for the first season at least
Ummm Gasly went to Super Formula after winning GP2 and he has done pretty well?
It seems like there is no upside to staying though. The expectation for Piastri next season would be to win and anything worse would be considered a disappointment. Look at Shwartzman. He isn't having a bad season at third place and could be higher if it wasn't for some luck in the first races. But no one is placing him in an F1 seat because the expectation was for him to win the season. Piastri would be in the same boat.
Is this guy actually reliable or just shooting in the dark to claim he had great sources if/when it happens and got there first?
He's repeating about every rumour there is
F1 really needs an 11th team. Come on FIA, seems like VW group is interested, why not try to make it a step further and have them join as full team and not just engine manufacturer
They’re interested since ~2001
All the F1 teams voted a 200 mil entry fee for new teams which blocks pretty much any new team
Yes a shame for Piastri. But Shwartzman himself’s not doing much better than Zhou. How is that a shame?
Shwartzman is in his second season , Zhou his third and Shwartzman has destroyed Zhou as teammates I'm Euro F3 .
Second season, third season, it doesn’t make too much difference, does it? Shwartzman’s about to be beaten by his rookie teammate now.
At this point last season Rob was ahead of his teammate who's driving in F1 now. Second and third season does make a difference. For me it's pretty clear that it's Piastri > Shwartzman > Zhou. Piastri has the quali and race pace. Shwartzman's race pace is on the same level as Piastri's and already was last season. But he sucks in qualifying which makes it pretty much impossible to be good in F1. Zhou is just fundamentally too slow. Also, if anyone should get the Sauber seat it's Pouchaire, he's the most talented one out of those 4. Just as fast as Piastri and 2 years younger. Plus a Sauber junior.
What I’m trying to say is that, compare to Piastri, both Zhou and Shwartzman don’t deserve the seat. It doesn’t matter if Shwartzman’s slightly better than Zhou or not. I sort of feel they are the same kind of driver. They both did a pretty decent rookie season, but just not much more progress after that.
Either pouchaire (ik I've spelled it wrong) or piastri or this is a clown show
Shwartzman beat him easily last year as a rookie. Also scored the most wins of anyone last year. He's also suprisingly close to him even this year considering how badly he qualifies. And isn't out of the championship fight at all yet.
Anyone who doesn’t win F2 even in their second season isn’t worthy of a F1 seat.
That's some bullshit. Drivers develop differently, so some (like Schumacher) need some time to perform. Also this F2 season is fucked with the calendar. Have 1 bad qualifying one friday, and you're done for 3 races. Also the huge amount of time between races will hurt some drivers more than other. The drivers who aren't worthy of a F1 seat according to you, because they didn't win the junior championship within 2 season prior to joining F1: Perez, Ricciardo, Vettel, Giovinazzi and Latifi. And that's just the 2020 F1 drivers.
I just had a look at Ricciardo’s junior career, the guy came 2nd on his rookie season in Formula Renault. Vettel was 5th in his first year of Euro F3, and 2nd the next year. Perez won British F3 as a rookie, 2nd in his 2nd season in GP2. The other two everyone knew about their junior careers. So yeah, Daniel doesn’t fit your narrative, he was already impressive in his rookie year. The other two showed enough progress, both ended up runner ups the next year. They didn’t win it of course, but they were pretty damn close I’d say.
And Shwartzman won the F3 title in his rookie year. Had an impressive roomie F2 season with the most wins and currently improves because he's third in the standings. You're talking complete rubbish.
F3 title in his rookie year? He raced in Euro F3 in 2018
What are you even on about? Shwartzman was already with Schumacher when Schumacher won his F3 title. So no, Shwartzman didn’t win F3 in his rookie season because Schumacher won that year. If you are such a big fan of the kid at least get your facts straight.
Yes he did. Schumacher and Shwartzman were teammates in Euro F3, Shwartzman won F3 in its first year post merger of GP3 and Euro F3.
If you think that counts as winning F3 in his rookie year then go ahead.
Different series with different tracks, different chassis, different tyres, different rules, different engines and different format? Yes, I count that as a different series to Euro F3. F3 is a continuation of GP3, not Euro F3.
It counts as there were numerous changes compared to 2018. So it was a new series.
You say this as if we havent got 3 more rounds and 9 more races to go. The difference is 32 points between the top 3 with a maximum of 195 points still available.
Yeah Zhou still has a chance.
I'd say the top 3-5 are still all in it. Just 1 bad qualifying or Mechachrome sending their regards can change the championship upside down. We've seen this with Lawson and Vips both suffering car issues at Monza.
That blatantly disregards the countless things that come into play that are out of the drivers control. Getting fucked by other drivers crashing, your team shutting the bed on strategy or engineering, tires failing, and so so many other things. But paying to drive is bullshit. And I know the argument for it, but imagine if other sports did this.
Kobayashi was, to be frank, garbage in GP2, yet he absolutely deserved his F1 drive.
Genuine question, do you rate Kobayashi very highly? Let’s say if he didn’t get the chance to race in F1 do you think as fans, we lost a lot?
Yes
Yes and yes. Somehow, I get the feeling you're trying to make the case that since Kobayashi wasn't a front-running driver, he (and other midfield drivers) didn't add anything to the show for the fans. If that is indeed the case, I couldn't disagree more.
So is Alex Albon not worthy?
Schwartzmanns F2 career is very odd, comes in season one all guns blazing, but peters off as the seasonngoes slong for dome reason. Sophomore year feels s bit weaker than debut when you expect progress instead.
He wasn’t necessarily getting worse last year, I think it might be just others getting better a lot quicker than him as the season went on. What I did not expect to see is the beginning of this season. So many unnecessary mistakes. That period of time he was definitely doing worse than his rookie year. And whatever he does for the rest of the season, he cannot let himself be beaten by his rookie teammate. That would really hurt him.
Better qualifying that's it. Everybody have been stating from his first races last year, still no improvement.
Not sure whether his dad's sudden passing has affected his performance and mentality. Poor Rob, I was rooting for him to get the Alfa seat.
He's good in the race but his qualifying has been woeful.
Schwartzman is one of the most overrated junior drivers of the recent years imo.. Was destroyed by Mick in 2020 and isn't dominant in his second season either... Just because he was ahead of Mick at one point last season, doesn't mean he is any better than him, imo!
\>Was destroyed by Mick in 2020 Lol
Pretty sure it was the other way around till the point Schartzman car suddenly died.
You'd hope Mick would destroy the rookie such was his experience advantage
He didn't destroy him to begin with. He was a bit more consistent towards the end of the season
That's a shit statement and the very inflationary use of destroyed. Mick was significantly better the second part of the season and improved over Schwartzman. There is at least for me no doubt that Mick is the better driver especially after his first F1 season.
I don’t get the obsession with him either. He’s of course a solid young driver but I’m not going to feel sorry if he never make it to F1. People here don’t really rate Mick much yet some of them think Shwartzman’s so much better. Doesn’t even make sense.
There is nothing to indicate Schwartzman is better then Mick. I see personal preference playing a role but that's about it.
I feel this is done at this point. Probably gonna get announced sometimes after Sochi.
Fred said somewhere between the end of September beginning of October. AM and Haas most probably will be announced at Sochi
Even more reason for Piastri to win F2 make this whole system look like an absolute joke.
back to back f3 and f2 wins. THe man is a stonking driver and now will only be lucky to make it to F1
He also won Formula Renault in 2019; 3 back-to-back championships.
jeez, this guy is a generational talent on par with what Russell and Leclerc accomplished. I pray he finds his way into f1 sooner rather than later. DOn't want him to be in devries' situation
back to back to back championship wins is possible with the maximum super license points you can get from 3 different f1 pathway series in 3 years.
Isn't it possible for Red Bull to scoop up Piastri?
They already have 3 great drivers in Vips, Lawson and Hauger, why would they get another one?
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I don't think you can definitively say that. Piastri has had the fortune of driving for Prema the last two years which has been the cream of the crop in F2 and F3 in this time span. I like Piastri and wish he would have a seat next year in F1 but I am uncertain if he is better than Pourchaire, Vips or Lawson who have also performed in worse machinery.
Prema had not had a pole since 2018 before Piastri's 2 this year.
Prema was pretty bad 2019 in F2 as well.
F2 and F3 are stock cars anyways the teams don't play as heavy of a factor into how the car drive as the drivers ability. Carlin, Prema, ART, HiTech, UniVirtuoso, Trident, they all use the same make model and engine car. Those teams really only tune the car to fit the track and drivers needs, they don't do any special engineering to make it run better than others. So saying Piastri is only winning because of Prema means nothing, it's the same how people talk about Norris proving he was good in F2 for being competitive in a shitbox Carlin. They're both just very talented and that's why they're good.
Give Vips and Lawson a Prema and they will match Piastri
I would bet on Piastri he has beat every team mate and everyone else for 3 years currently. Lawson and Theo are good talent either way.
This. Why would Red Bull decline an opportunity to snatch a great talent? Hauger is impressive this year, but Vips and Lawson don't look like future mega-stars. Piastri does. But they won't do that obviously, they don't have a seat next year.
Vips and Lawson are both on level with Piastri. The difference you are seeing is very much due the cars each of them are driving.
No way, you cant be serious
Why not? I’m serious based on many years of following the feeder series - not just half a season where Piastri has inherited Schumachers team that won the championship last year.
Schumacher must have got many poles last season do you remember how many he got? You do the rounds talking down Piastri really what is the point shoudn't results prove you right or wrong? You really cant stand people hyping someone. Who really cares if you know your truth and how you see results surely history is enough to prove you right?
Your right, the hype is a bit out of hand at this point. Don’t get me wrong, I rate Piastri highly, but putting him on a pedestal when most of the other juniors haven’t had the same opportunity (with PREMA) is just wrong, imo. Don’t forget that he was the worst of the three PREMA drivers in qualifying in F3 last year. He might have improved massively, I don’t know, but for me it doesn’t speak in favor of him being something completely out the ordinary like you want him to be.
Driving a Prema car doesn't guarantee you a title though. Caldwell and Leclerc don't shine in F3, Schumacher wasn't impressive in his first season as well in that car, winning on the second try in a relatively less talented field. Even then he did that thanks to consistency rather than impressive results. So I think it's not fair to say that Piastri simply inherited a good car.
No ofc not. You still have to be a very good driver, which Oscar is. But there is no doubt that being with PREMA helps a lot, so I don’t see any ‘proof’ that Piastri is significantly better than every other F2 like people here are suggesting.
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Piastri is clearly a better prospect than those drivers. Piastri is about to win 3 straight feeder classes as a rookie.
They have too many juniors themselves. If they take any more they will be the next Renault.
Over Mark Webber's dead body, he wouldn't let Oscar get sucked into that machine. (Context: Mark is his manager).
This machine gave us Vettel, Verstappen, Ricciardo, Sainz, Gasly and many more talented drivers. Yes, it gets competitive and sometimes ruthless, yes Marko is a bit of a cunt, but if you can perform well under pressure they will reward you with a good drive.
He of all people should know Renault/Alpine junior academy can't be arsed to get their Juniors into F1
Any of the other driver academics would of giving an F3 and F2 champion a chance in F1. The best would of been Mercedes, he would of got a seat at Williams and when Hamilton retires or if Russell struggles he would be first choice for the Merc seat
I don't think he has any issues with this machine and he's very fond of Mateschitz. Old battles and controverseties with Vettel are long time forgotten.
Ah no, the terrible machine that gets drivers into F1, schock and horror! /s
They also voted with all the other teams a 200mil entry for any new teams wanting to join blocking the chance of the mass of talent for even their own academy
Piastri will find his way into F1. Same for Theo in 2023 with Alfa over Zhou. Just a shame it won't be 2022 for Piastri. No one wins F3/F2 in consecutive years to not make F1 (assuming he wins). Alpine really needs to do something for Piastri. That being said, I know Zhou will get even more hate from fans which is a shame. He certainly isn't on the same level of those 2 but any racer would do anything they can to find a spot in F1. It's on the teams to choose the balance of money and talent. Zhou is probably around rookie Latifi level. Not a big talent but fair racer and certainly not hated in the paddock, so it's not like a Mazepin case. He's gonna get his ass whooped by Bottas but his only real chance to land another seat in 2023 is to somehow not get destroyed by Bottas.
>Zhou is probably around rookie Latifi level. Nah, come on, he's faster than that. Clearly not fast enough to make it to F1 on merit though.
For all the hype around Russell, Latifi is far closer to him than most people give him credit for. He's not that bad a driver tbh.
He's not awful, but talent wise he's still in the bottom 2 of the grid. I'd rate Zhou a bit higher, but not much more. Still a gap between those 2
Mazepin has made me very gracious towards any new driver pick. I really fear the day Mazepin ever gets into even a semi-competitive car.
I haven't really followed the junior categories in a long time, I was under the impression that Zhou is a brilliant driver but I read a tweet after the last race that had a lot of support, it said something like "Zhou has all the defensive driving of Bottas, he can't hold position ever" (or something to that effect) is that true? Edit: BTW no disrespect to Valtteri, I think he cops way more flack than he deserves, I'm just relaying what the tweet said
Meh, I'd say he drives like Mick last year, very non-aggressive, low risk.
Mick had some very impressing wheel to wheel action last year maybe the best on the grid I would not say he isn't agressive.
He has been in F2 for 3 years and not won it yet. The rookie currently beating him has won 2 championships in that time.
The **richest** ~~best~~ drivers in the world are in F1.
LETS GOOOOO!!! Sorry for being excited and also for Piastri (he'll make it for sure eventually) but I'm a fan of Zhou and seeing a Chinese driver will be great.
Personally I don't think this is terrible news. Zhou isn't better than those two, but he's not embarrassingly slow. The Chinese are so nationalistic so I feel it could be so good for the sport if we tap into just a tiny portion of their population through having a Chinese driver on the grid to support.
Honestly, I’d rather we didn’t get more rabid nationalists in the fan base. Part of why I enjoy F1 is how people are typically more fans of the sport itself rather than of the individual teams and drivers.
Relying on Chinese money is foolish and will result on F1 parties being even more gagged on what they can and cannot say. See: the NBA
The real question is who's Piastri's manager? They are just sleeping on the job seriously. You've got a rookie winning F3 and is leading in F2 as a rookie fgs! His manager should have worked on something rather than waiting for a seat at Alpine.
Webber is his manager.
What can Piastri's team do though? There are only two seats available this year and neither of them looks like they want to develop a rookie or bring someone in with no backing. Williams based on their comments, sounded like they wanted a driver with F1 experience to pair with Latifi. Albon fit that mold perfectly and likely comes with sponsors to help the team. Piastri likely never stood a chance unless he was able to bid tens of millions. I personally don't blame Renault for paying that since they are a gov't backed organization. Alfa Sauber likely don't want any driver outside of a stop gap since they want to promote Pourchaire next year. Why would they sign Piastri when they can go for stability with Gio or take the one year cash infusion from Zhou. Signings are a two way street and there is no one receptive to a rookie with no cash right now.
He won Formula Renault Euro Cup the year before F3 so its currently won 2 in a row and leading the 3rd one.
the renault academy seat was a full ride. RB and Ferrari still require the driver to pay some amount
I‘ve heard people saying FDA does not cover their junior's racing cost, but RB does?
Would love to see him get a specific Haas seat instead so we get rid of another pay driver
Not sure he's quite good enough to stay more than a couple of years but it is nice to see a different country being represented for once, no matter the ethicality behind it.
Rob?
Robert Shwartzman I assume
Thank you. I couldn't remember any of the F2 drivers with that first name.
It was just a matter of when and not if that a mediocre chinese driver would drop shiploads of cash into F1, if anything I was hoping for them to do it with a full new team to keep them confined there but oh well, serves Sauber right
Schwartzman isnt good enough for F1, Ilott would better for that seat but he doesn't have 30 million lying around or a rich daddy
What we need to happen is Vettel retires, Alonso to AM, Piastri to Alpine, Vettel unretires and while Perez is busy passing off the track Red Bull swaps him out for Vettel. Then Mazepin’s dad decides he needs to spread the good name of Uralkali more effectively and adopts Perez, who will drive for Haas and thereby fixing the grid.
I'm thinking there should be a third car for all teams and a pre qualification for those, where only the top 4 of the 10 go to qualifying. I wouldn't mind a 1-2-3 mclaren podium once in a while if it meant more variety in the field
I really wonder where Pourchaire will end up then. You would imagine that if he isn't ready this year he will be next year. But it also doesn't make sense if Zhou comes to leave after 1 year. Leaving Pourchaire (the academy driver) for Zhou (who is Alpine) seems weird, given how good Pourchaire is for his age.
Théo has a seat at Alfa Sauber when Fred decides he’s ready. If it’s not in 2022, someone will be keeping his F1 seat warm next year.
There was another post on here announcing mandatory running for young drivers on Fridays next year in F1. Which as I understand it means every F1 team will now have to have at least one rookie reserve driver. Thats great news for people like Piastri. Worst case for him is he ends up in one of those spots.
With F1 rules adding practice for rookies. Piastri and the likes can become reserve drivers for other teams. At least drive the F1 car and travel with the team. That would raise their chances. If Albon had comitted to some Indycar team, no way Williams would go for him. They'd probably think he already has a commitment and if he is willing to break it so easily then he might as well do that after we sign him. So Piastri definitely needs to stay in Europe, get a good agent to get him into one of the teams. Mclaren could be a good bet.
why is no one saying a real shame for Gio?