Ex-Formula 1 team owner Eddie Jordan believes Oscar Piastri is the “only” driver who can potentially dethrone Max Verstappen in the future, with the Irishman labelled the rookie as “fabulous”.
McLaren certainly have a real star on their hands in the form of Piastri, who has settled into the team and F1 quicker than anyone could’ve imagined, especially after his controversial move from Alpine.
Already, Piastri is managing to take the fight to Lando Norris, who was never really challenged by Carlos Sainz or Daniel Ricciardo.
At the Qatar Grand Prix, Piastri had the better of his more experienced team-mate and even claimed the sprint victory last Saturday.
Want to work in Formula 1? Browse the latest F1 job vacancies
Piastri denied Verstappen victory, something which the Dutchman was hungry for to seal his third title in style.
Instead, Verstappen was forced to settle for second, although this was still more than enough to retain his Drivers’ Championship once again.
The 22-year-old backed up his sprint win by finishing second in the main race, in what was his best result to-date in F1.
Norris finished third and did try to apply some pressure onto his team-mate, who made no errors whatsoever.
Given that Piastri is already securing podiums, it’s clear that he has a special talent, which will only blossom further the longer he’s in the series.
Piastri is only going to get better and better, something which McLaren have likely identified by tying him into a deal until the end of 2026.
Jordan is convinced that the Aussie has a “massive future” in F1 and could dethrone Verstappen, with his current results being “simply staggering”.
“You have to think about McLaren,” Jordan said on TalkSPORT.
READ: Oscar Piastri goes after Lewis Hamilton’s record
“McLaren at the moment and Oscar Piastri is just fabulous and he is the only real one that I can see emerging that could take it to [Max] Verstappen in years to come.
“And let’s hope that happens because for a young kid, rookie of the year, to come in and win that Sprint Race on Saturday and finish second yesterday was simply staggering.
“And I have to say I have the height of respect for this kid and I think he’s got a massive future. Let’s see what happens.”