Two of Formula One’s most recognisable voices have heaped praise on Oscar Piastri – and claimed the “unbelievably gifted” Australian will bounce back from a challenging season.
After breaking out in spectacular fashion to lead the Drivers’ Championship for a large chunk of 2025, the 25-year old has now gone more than 12 months without an F1 title to sit a distant seventh in the standings, well behind leader Kimi Antonelli.
But after finishing sixth in the second practice for this weekend’s Italian Grand Prix, veteran commentator David Croft had nothing but praise for Piastri – and a confident prediction on his future.
“I firmly believe Oscar Piastri will rise again, as it were, and be a Championship contender,” Croft said on Sky Sports.
“If not this season, but in future seasons to come.
“He’s too good not to be.”
Former driver turned commentator Karun Chandhok couldn’t have agreed more.
“In terms of natural speed and talent, he is unbelievably gifted,” he said.
Oscar Piastri. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
The practice was dominated by George Russell, who bounced back to beat his championship-leading Mercedes teammate Antonelli and both Ferraris on their home turf on Friday when he topped the times.
Russell, who was three-tenths of a second adrift in third place in the opening session, led the way with a best lap of one minute and 22.559 seconds to finish 0.120sec clear of Charles Leclerc with Antonelli third, 0.141sec adrift.
“We got through a lot of work today and seem to have decent pace, but there is more to do,” Russell said.
“I think Ferrari looked very competitive and are still the team to beat here, but McLaren have been strong recently and will be in the mix. Red Bull, too. It is encouraging.”
Antonelli’s hopes of winning on home asphalt will be impacted as he is set to start from the back of the grid after exceeding the permitted number of power unit changes.
“We are not too far away in terms of competitiveness, but we need to be strong if we are to battle towards the front of the field,” Antonelli said.
“It will need a lot of overtaking and we gained some experience by running in traffic today in long runs.”
The table-topper was left furious with Audi driver Gabriel Bortoleto, after his push on a fast lap was derailed by the Brazilian going significantly slower around a turn.
Forced to brake and take an outside line, Martinelli loudly complained over the radio to his team before pitting.
“What an idiot!” he said.
“What an absolute idiot.”
World champion Lando Norris was fourth for McLaren ahead of Lewis Hamilton, who had been second behind Leclerc, sporting a special livery to celebrate Michael Schumacher’s first Monza win 30 years ago, in a Ferrari 1-2 earlier in the day.
Oscar Piastri was sixth in the second McLaren, with the Red Bull of four-time world champion Max Verstappen only ninth fastest.
“This is really bad,” said Verstappen, after sitting out opening practice to allow reserve driver Ayumu Iwasa to drive in the session.
“It’s like I’m on ice and the brakes don’t work either – and it’s much worse with fuel on board too. It’s bouncing incredibly.”
It was a very satisfactory session for Russell who is 59 points behind Antonelli in the drivers’ title race and knows he must take full advantage of the young Italian’s engine penalties.
Hamilton, chasing a record eighth world championship, is also hoping to make up some of his own 59-point deficit to Antonelli.
“It’s going to be tight,” he said.
“It’s very close up against Mercedes and McLaren. They are very competitive. Every weekend the Mercedes is just really quick.
“It will be tough for sure, but we need to knuckle down now tonight and see if we can pull something out.”
Alex Albon will line up next to Antonelli at the rear after the Williams driver also incurred a penalty for power unit changes.
McLaren driver Oscar Piastri. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)Source: AP
The backdrop to the day, however, was a spicy spat between the Alpine and McLaren teams after the International Court of Appeal upheld an appeal by Red Bull and McLaren concerning the result of the Monaco Grand Prix.
That led to Alpine’s Pierre Gasly dropping from third to seventh, replaced by Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar on the podium as Piastri rose to fourth in a reshuffled outcome.
Alpine’s team boss Flavio Briatore told a press conference he questioned the impartiality of the court, pointing out that one of the four judges had close connections with McLaren, a claim that was robustly repudiated with team chief Andrea Stella describing the Italian’s remarks as “insulting”.
Frenchman Hadjar will miss Sunday’s race with a wrist injury and remains a doubt for next week in Spain. He also sat out last month’s Dutch Grand Prix.
“Madrid is in a matter of days so it will be difficult,” Red Bull boss Laurent Mekies told Canal+.
“We’ll assess him again but it’s difficult to think about Madrid. The priority, what will guide our decision, is that we’re sure he’s back at 100 per cent.”