Aussie world champ! Future F1 gun Piastri proves he deserves a shot NOW with F2 title
Oscar Piastri is the F2 champion.
Max Laughton from Fox Sports
@maxlaughton
December 11th, 2021 8:18 pm
Australia’s Oscar Piastri has claimed the Formula 2 championship, sealing the crown two races before the season’s conclusion in Abu Dhabi.
The Melburnian needed to finish fifth in the first sprint race at Yas Marina to secure the title in the top F1 feeder series, and successfully follow up on his Formula 3 title last year.
After qualifying on pole for the main race, Piastri was placed 10th for the sprint but a “magical” start - per commentator Alex Brundle - saw him leap up to sixth by end of the opening lap.
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He closely followed his teammate and the only man who could stop him from winning the title, Robert Shwartzman, making it impossible for the Russian to do anything about it.
The Prema drivers, in the best car of the field, slowly closed the gap between themselves and the top two, with less than 2.5 seconds covering the top four for a lengthy period.
On lap 20, Piastri and Shwartzman went wheel-to-wheel but the Aussie made the pass successfully, ending up third and earning a podium finish - his 10th of the year - in a fitting end to his title run.
F1 commentator Martin Brundle tweeted: “Pretty clear that Oscar will be a full time F1 driver sooner than later, to add to the great young talent we already have going forward.”
Jehan Daruvala won the race for Carlin.
“Oscar Piastri has completely transcended the idea you need to build experience before you deliver at this level,” Alex Brundle said on commentary.
“Just super happy. What a race to clinch it on. I wanted to get onto the podium to do some good celebrating, and we did it,” Piastri said post-race.
“Hopefully I can be champion of sitting on the couch next year because that’s all I’ll be doing.”
Piastri earned four bonus championship points after outduelling fellow Aussie young gun Jack Doohan - in just the second F2 event for the son of MotoGP great Mick - for pole at Yas Marina on Friday.
By claiming pole Piastri eliminated Guanyu Zhou, who took the final available 2022 F1 seat at Alfa Romeo ahead of the Aussie, from the title hunt.
Piastri’s fifth consecutive pole position equalled the all-time F2 record, set by Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in 2017.
He started the first sprint race from 10th - the top 10 qualifiers are placed in reverse order for the initial shorter event - just behind Doohan.
Aussie Piastri reserve at Alpine!
No Australian had ever won the Formula 2 title before this year, nor any of its predecessors such as GP2.
Piastri will be Alpine’s reserve driver in the 2022 Formula 1 season.
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