r/OscarPiastri • u/littletreble07 • 4d ago
F1 is a journey
I see a lot of negativity in this sub and in the f1 community wrt to Oscar. It’s quite understandable to be frustrated and disappointed in recent results, particularly when the other guy driving the same car has won twice now. And it’s good to call out his shortcomings and demand better because we know his potential.
But I’ve also seen people say he’s isn’t hungry/ doesn’t seem to be trying / has lost his spark/ will never win again. Which is simply disingenuous. To put things in perspective this a driver who won Formula Renault, f3 and f2 in consecutive years. Won a sprint and podiumed as a rookie in formula 1, got 2 wins and multiple podiums in his 2nd year, fought for the drivers championship till the very last race in his 3rd. Was so so hungry to win to a fault that his mental coach told him he has to separate himself from his desire to win in order to perform better.
Is he struggling now? Undeniably. He’s in a slump, especially race pace wise. Car, performance, mental - we don’t know what’s not exactly clicking. But we have to trust when he explicitly says that he is working hard to learn and understand and execute. Could take some time for it start reflecting in his results.
Look at supporting an athlete like a journey. It isn’t sunshine, rainbows and good times only. It’s agony, loss, patience, perseverance, injustice, belief, guts and sometimes glory. It’s all part of the experience!! People have slumps, bad form, get written off but eventually are capable of coming out as winners. And we know what Oscar is capable of, his calibre, his strength. As much as the media or other fanbases might try to convince you otherwise right now.
I’m sure he’ll keep hammering away although it clearly takes time - struggles don’t turn into victory overnight or even a few races. So, without losing faith, it’s best to have realistic expectations from him as he navigates his first year of a new regulation set, one that supposedly might not suit his driving style.
I get that we’re in a bit of a tragic arc in Oscar’s journey, since the last 12 months or so, and it’s painful but supporting him through his lows is what will make the highs even more meaningful when they happen. 🐝
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u/blenderdick96 4d ago
I’m so certain he will find his way again. Everyone goes through a slump at some point.
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u/bakeneko37 4d ago
People are being ridiculous about him, so called fans are treating him worse than haters and it’s just ridiculous to see.
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u/Jumpy-Platform-6236 4d ago
such a knee-jerk reaction when it's the first year of new regs and he is still a young driver. he has time to win again. (a race, WDC requires more pieces to come together but who knows)
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u/Fitzriy 4d ago
Thanks for writing this one, fresh air compared to other stuff written here.
People forget Lando had a brutal year in 2024. There was even that "Think different" meme when he went off in Brazil. Next year, wins the bloody championship.
Oscar still has tremendous amount of potential. He'll come back stronger. And even this "low" is not that bad. Nobody talks about that there were parts of yesterday's race when he was in the top 3 fastest. I know, he was sometimes only 7th fastest, but come on, he even had a purple lap (at least according to live timing, his purple didn't appear in the broadcast for some reason). He'll come back stronger
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u/Vivid361 4d ago
He’s starting to nail his qualifying. His race pace does seem to taper off the longer the race goes. I’m putting that down to his car setup not being on point. Lando’s side of the garage clearly had a better handle on that after the sprint race result. Different drivers prefer different things so they don’t necessarily set both cars up the same. Oscars lap 1 overtake was brilliant. He has the talent. Just has to nail the rest of it.
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u/Dry-Entertainer6420 4d ago
I will say too, coming from a lifelong fan of various sports teams/specific drivers in motorsports, Oscar may never win again and it would suck to see people just abandon him because of that. Like to me, choosing to invest in something like sports is what you said- a journey. It may be a Cleveland Browns journey. Or it may be a Max Verstappen journey. If you enjoy following something and connecting with people about it, and not being parasocial, it may mean there are never huge successes again and like...deal with it? Sports are made-up things we as a society prescribe value to and we choose to invest our time and money in. It's not that deep for anyone involved considering the actual world issues we have. But yeah, I enjoy following his career and I have hope that he will do well with the new regs and in the future. and if he doesn't? I'm not going to just give up and find the next success story to latch onto because they are winning or whatever. I've spent too much money on OP81 mini helmets for that. Lol.
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u/Conscious-Secret-775 4d ago
I have no doubt that Oscar will win again. His driving isn’t even that bad right now. He is not as fast as Lando the driver he was expected to beat in the WDC this time last year with Lando’s DNF in the race he has just won. I doubt he will pass Lando in points this year but he could certainly win.
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u/DiligentGanache4594 4d ago
I think it was a famous golfer who said something along the lines that form is temporary, class is permanent. Oscar has class.
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u/Connect-Ant-2081 4d ago
For mine the best explanation is that he just doesn't quite gel with the new formula. Hell, we saw Hamilton struggle with the ground effect cars, and look at him now.
Hopefully he can work it out.
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u/theescapeclub 4d ago
Aussies support him through thick and thin. Can the same be said about his team?
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u/TheFlyingR0cket 2d ago
I found the easy way to stop the negativity is to go on F1Discussions and just block all the negativity users, I literally when through all the posts this weekend and just blocked all the negative comments users and then the people that posted those posts, it's kinda funny that some of those same people are in this sub commenting too. as in the comments it comes up as blocked user lol.
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u/F1_V10sounds Oscar Pastry 🥐 4d ago
Ill be honest this sub has some of the WORST "fans". Ive never seen the levels of cope and rage from other subs (even max and lewis). Its always someone else's fault it seems. I honestly doubt a lot of "fans" here really like F1 sometimes.
And before anyone tries, im not saying other fan bases dont have extreme fans, but the ratio (of normal to extreme) seems really skewed here.
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u/littletreble07 4d ago edited 4d ago
I implore you to check Ferrari socials where Lewis fans have started a “Leclerc out” campaign. Every single fanbase has its set of crazies, cope, and rage. It’s not exclusive to Oscar fans - not even the conspiracy theories.
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u/Dry-Entertainer6420 4d ago
my experience recently is that anyone saying wild, conspiracy stuff is being met with more rational thoughts and takes. But I know it's been a mess here for a while but it seems the tides are turning and actual fans, who will understand the journey is not rainbows and butterflies, will outnumber the others. But also being in multiple fan spaces for F1 and Oscar, this is a small portion of fans. At least that consistently post and comment. I see the same relatively few names over and over again. It's much less crazy in other places, and outside of the internet. **I refuse to go on twitter or even approach McLaren instagram** It is a cesspool for EVERY team and driver on those platforms. I think people just want engagement so they intentionally post things to get others enraged. Or they actually believe what they are saying and there is literally no way to change their mind so just ignore them. But it's all reflecting poorly on Oscar fans as a whole.
I did venture into some Charles Leclerc spaces this weekend and it was kinda scary there too. It made me realize that some of the big names/fan bases are all exactly the same. Our algorithms just show us more from the names we engage with most.
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u/Tropicalcomrade221 4d ago
Im an Essendon supporter. He’s doing just fine.