Oct.4 (GMM) Oscar Piastri is flattered by the recent praise of his talent and potential coming from some very high places recently.
Just this week, even though it is Piastri’s teammate Lando Norris with the better shot at the 2024 title, former F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone hailed the 23-year-old McLaren driver.
“The Australian, I think, is a magic guy,” said Ecclestone, 93.
“He would, for sure, be world champion within the next two years if the car keeps performing the way it is. He really stands out amongst all the others.”
It is no surprise that Ecclestone is a fan of Piastri’s, given that the boy-faced Australian has often been compared to Alain Prost – the driver Ecclestone regularly names as the greatest Formula 1 driver of all time.
“It’s a comparison that I’m honoured by, especially because Alain was one of the most successful drivers in our sport,” Piastri told Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport this week.
“I wasn’t even alive when he was racing so I don’t have the whole picture, but from what I hear or read about him, I do see some similarities between us.
“Prost had a very smooth and rounded driving style. He was very precise in his work. I can see that in myself too.”
Piastri even knows quadruple world champion Prost, 69, personally, as they worked together at Alpine just a few years ago prior to the Australian’s F1 debut.
“I spoke to him a few times when I was still at Alpine,” Piastri confirmed. “It was incredibly interesting to talk to him and he also gave me some tips.”
One of those tips may have been about how to minimise accidents and incidents, with Prost having famously admitted that he only ever drove a car to a maximum of 99.9 percent of its potential.
“It’s not quite like that now,” Piastri insists. “In our time you always have to drive at the limit.
“When Prost was racing, the cars were less reliable and not as safe, so going over the limit had much greater consequences than it does today. But you still can’t go over the curbs every lap.
“Today it’s about hitting the limit precisely. If you stay a tenth under, you’re too slow. If you go over it, the tyres punish you. It’s a fine line.”