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It was only once the 2023 F1 season had concluded that Oscar Piastri was able to draw breath and appreciate the enormity of what he’d accomplished.
Piastri arrived on the scene with McLaren last year with a glittering junior career and quickly marked himself out as a star of the future.
Calm and level-headed, he developed a trademark approach to a race weekend by starting slowly and building into it, delivering only when it mattered.
It was an approach that maximised track time and created a positive feedback loop as the more time he had in track, the better he got.
His own development was mirrored by an improving car, which saw the team’s fortunes rise as the year went on.
Piastri scored his maiden podium at the ferocious Suzuka circuit, a venue regarded by many as the ultimate test of a driver and among the greatest circuits in the world.
If that was the weekend it can be considered to have all clicked for the young Australian, Qatar served to drive that point home.
The 22-year-old finished second in the Qatar Grand Prix, less than five seconds adrift of Max Verstappen in the all-conquering Red Bull, and ahead of McLaren team-mate Lando Norris.
A day earlier, he’d claimed the Sprint Shootout pole before going on to win the 19-lap F1 Sprint from Verstappen.
To do so, he had to race George Russell, who stole the lead away in the opening laps.
But Piastri didn’t panic. He held his nerve and used a tyre advantage later in the race to reclaim top spot.
“The Sprint win was certainly a cool feeling,” Piastri told Speedcafe.
“I didn’t really appreciate it until quite a bit after the fact.
“I think the fact that we had the Grand Prix the next day to focus on very much took a lot of the shine off that in the moment.
“In the weeks after that, and certainly the off-season, I look back on that with a lot more pride than maybe I did in the moment.”
That performance on Saturday night in Qatar marked Piastri out as one of just two drivers to beat Red Bull Racing during its record-shattering 2023 season.
Carlos Sainz had managed it in Singapore after an intelligent drive against faster competition behind.
And while Piastri’s success wasn’t in a grand prix, it doesn’t change the fact he’s now an F1 race winner, an achievement gained in oppressively difficult conditions.
Writing for Speedcafe last December, the Melburnian highlighted the Losail event as the standout of his rookie season, even if it hadn’t fully sunk in by that point.
“Taking Sprint pole and the Sprint win and then following it up the next day with another grand prix podium was fantastic,” he wrote.
“It was probably the hardest race that I’ve ever driven due to the conditions, but it rounded off a special few days.
“There have been quite a few highlights like taking second in the Spa sprint, narrowly missing out on a podium at Silverstone because of the safety car and my first GP podium at Japan but Qatar just tops it.”
