McLaren Racing ha ingaggiato il campione FIA Formula 2 2021 Oscar Piastri con un contratto pluriennale. Piastri affiancherà Lando Norris dalla stagione 2023. Il 21enne australiano di Melbourne ha un palmarès impressionante nel motorsport, avendo vinto la Formula Renault Eurocup 2019 prima di conquistare il FIA Formula 3 Championship 2020 e il FIA Formula 2 Championship 2021, in stagioni in sequenza e sempre al debutto. Piastri completa quindi il line-up McLaren F1 Team 2023 con Lando Norris, cui la scorsa stagione è già stato rinnovato il contratto su base pluriennale. Nella battaglia Alpine-McLaren ha quindi vinto il team di Woking che, dopo aver offerto a quanto si dice 12 milioni di euro a Daniel Ricciardo per rompere il contratto con un anno d’anticipo, avrà messo sul piatto un’altra bella vagonata di milioni per avere Piastri e sistemare le questioni burocratiche con Alpine. E c’è ancora chi lo chiama sport…
Barbara Premoli
Oscar Piastri: “I’m extremely excited to be making my F1 debut with such a prestigious team as McLaren and I’m very grateful for the opportunity that’s been offered to me. The team has a long tradition of giving young talent a chance, and I’m looking forward to working hard alongside Lando to push the team towards the front of the grid. I’m focused on preparing for my F1 debut in 2023 and starting my F1 career in papaya.”
Andreas Seidl, Team Principal, McLaren F1 Team: “The entire team is delighted to welcome Oscar to McLaren for the 2023 F1 season. He has an impressive racing career to date, and we are sure that together with Lando, he will be able to help us move another step forward towards our ambitions. We still have an important job to do this season which the team remains focused on, before we will then ensure Oscar is integrated into the team as quickly as possible and ready for the challenges ahead. We look forward to preparing for an exciting 2023 season together.”
Zak Brown, CEO, McLaren Racing: “Oscar is one of the up-and-coming talents coming through the feeder series into F1 and we are delighted to see him join the team for 2023. Winning both F3 and F2 in successive rookie seasons is a real achievement and testament to his talent in single-seater racing. In Lando and Oscar we have a young, exciting F1 line-up with a huge amount of potential, standing us in good stead to achieve our future ambitions. Oscar is an exciting addition to the McLaren family, and we look forward to seeing him grow with our F1 team.”
