Many discredited Oscar Piastri for his treatment of Alpine and all the drama surrounding his debut in F1. His start to life in F1 gave the doubters more push. However, as races have gone by, especially after the British GP, the rookie has not only shut his doubters but turned them into his admirers. Among the many is F1 veteran Peter Windsor. The former boss is in awe of the rookie, who is going toe-to-toe with his more experienced teammate Lando Norris, even if team orders are holding him back. In fact, it’s the rookie’s conduct so far and his unique behavior around the paddock, especially toward Max Verstappen, which Windsor really appreciates.

For anyone entering Formula 1 currently, there is no better driver to look at than the Red Bull reigning world champion. However, as Windsor pointed out, speaking on the Cameron F1’s latest YouTube video, most drivers take their colleagues for granted. Not Piastri though! Windsor really appreciated the McLaren rookie’s desire to learn and the appreciation of his fellow drivers.

When asked if Oscar could be ranked as highly as Lando Norris after his performances so far, Windsor was full of praise for the rookie. He said, “Yes, absolutely! I think he’s got shorter corners than Lando and I think he’s a little bit more self-critical in terms of his driving technique than Lando. Possibly because this is his rookie season and he’s trying to learn everything he can. But the reality is there aren’t many drivers these days that go around watching other drivers and learning from them and he does watch Max very closely learn from him. I think it’s an incredibly positive thing and beyond that, he’s got everything.”

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Piastri is in an information-gathering zone at the moment and he’s doing a brilliant job at that, according to Windsor. In fact, he even admitted to doing the same in the past.

Sitting next to Max Verstappen, Oscar Piastri hails his teammate Lando Norris for being the benchmark

In the Belgium GP weekend, Piastri earned his first podium in Formula 1, albeit in the sprint race. However, the Sprint shootout and the race still showcased Piastri’s mettle. The young Australian also earned plaudits for his performance during the weekend. So when asked how he was already so good just 11 races in, Piastri credited his teammate for getting him up to the F1 standards.

He said, “I’m happy with where I’m at driving-wise, there’s still a lot to improve, a lot to learn. I’ve got a very strong teammate to learn from who just by being a benchmark is a big help for me getting back up to speed.”

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Now the question remains: how long before Piastri becomes the bane of Norris’s existence in F1? It will be interesting to see how their relationships develop over the next two seasons.