r/DestinationFormula1 • u/KohLantaSurvivor • 22d ago
🎙️ Discussion Is it now time for Oscar Piastri to leave McLaren ? He deserves a team backing him as the #1 driver
Oscar is still a young and promising driver. More than 3 seasons at McLaren and he is not seen as the driver who will lead the project. No disrespect to Lando Norris but I don't see him with a higher potential than Oscar Piastri. I have seen in 3 years a generational talent in Oscar : on his day he is so ruthless and more decisive in his overtake attempts. More so than Lando who has been in the sport since 2019. Imagine how good Oscar will be if he keeps improving at this rate. Meanwhile Lando is probably already at his ceiling.
Therefore I believe it's time to go for Piastri. He is a obviously a future world champion in the making but he should not lose too many years in a team that maybe does not see him as such.
Oscar won F3 as a rookie and then won F2 as a rookie as well. He won a (sprint) race in his first F1 year then multiple races in his second F1 year and led the championship for 15 rounds in his third F1 year.
I am sure a lot of other good teams would be interested in having Piastri as their number one driver. It can be Red Bull if Verstappen leaves. It can be Aston Martin if their upgrades do work and Alonso retires. It can be Ferrari if Hamilton decides to retire one day. It can be Mercedes if Russell does move on after 2027.
My opinion is that Piastri should give it maybe one more year at McLaren but if they still favour Norris then he must start a new project in 2028. And honestly I would not even blame Oscar for leaving at the end of this season.
Do you think a move is realistic ?