Mercedes Champ Chimes Into Oscar Piastri Debacle With Gloomy Warning:”… Or He’s Basically Out of the Sport”

Oscar Piastri has been the name on everyone’s minds this season. The young talent was involved in a highly-dramatic controversy and at the same time, has been touted as the one to look out for. Well, Mercedes legend Nico Rosberg has some advice for the 21-year-old.

A lot went on with regard to Piastri’s destination for the 2023 season. It was a saga that involved a public spat between the parties. However, now that the dust has settled, the spotlight has shifted to how Piastri will fit in at McLaren.

According to Nico Rosberg, “It’s a brave move by Oscar, it really is. It is either he beats Lando or he’s out basically of the sport, so it’s really, really tough, but he believes in himself. And if you think you’re that good, you’ve got to go for it.”

The German believes that the move will be a tough test for the Aussie. He analyzed Daniel Ricciardo’s time at McLaren and noted how difficult it was for him to compete with Lando Norris.

Rosberg said, “Lando is world-class, he’s world championship material there so it’s not going to be easy to go there and do better than Daniel. Ricciardo is a multiple race winner, one of the best drivers in the world, and has found it unbelievably tough against Lando. Oscar is brand new to this sport.”

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Oscar Piastri comes into F1 as one of 3 drivers to have won back-to-back F3 and F2 titles. The other 2 will be his competitors – Charles Leclerc at Ferrari and George Russell at Mercedes.

The drama that came with his arrival was not ideal but he got support from some sections of F1. However, Mercedes was not one of them.

Mercedes take lessons from the Oscar Piastri saga

Piastri’s public rejection of the Alpine seat coupled with the proceedings at the Contract Recognition Board was a bitter pill to swallow for Alpine. But according to Toto Wolff, it was not something that should have been allowed to happen by the FIA.

According to Wolff, the saga will affect how academies invest and deal with young talents.

He said, “What I really stand firm for is that all of us constructors are investing a lot of money in our junior programs. We invest human resources that go to the go-kart tracks, to the junior formulas, and in some cases, it’s little money, in some cases it’s more. To know now that a precedent has been set that if you’re clever you can maneuver yourself out is something that’s clearly not good for the industry.”

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Wolff’s frustration does raise an important question. The fallout of the saga could bring negative changes to the way driver development programs function and more importantly how teams retain their talents.