Zak Brown has revealed how he expects Oscar Piastri to perform ahead of the Australian's debut F1 season. After a much-publicised dispute over his services with Alpine – which was eventually decided in McLaren's favour after going through the Contract Recognition Board – Piastri was confirmed to race for the Woking-based team in 2023 alongside Lando Norris. Norris will be entering into his fifth season in Formula 1, but Brown is confident that Piastri can still pose a challenge to his more experienced teammate.
Brown expects Norris and Piastri to be 'close'
"I think Lando is one of the fastest drivers on the grid, and I expect he and Oscar to be close," Brown told media, including RacingNews365.com . "I expect Oscar to have some opportunities to beat him and vice versa, and that's obviously what you want – two drivers that are right next to each other and reversing the order. "I don't have any expectations [and I have not] set out, 'This is what he needs to do by this date', but I think Lando is as fast as anyone in Formula 1. "I think in race-winning equipment, he'd be winning races. I think probably everyone would agree with that. "So Oscar is going to have a teammate that's one of the fastest drivers in the world but I fully expect Oscar, in time, to challenge."
Piastri joins other rookies in 2023
With Zhou Guanyu the only rookie to make his full-time F1 debut in 2022, there will be more new faces alongside Piastri in the 2023 season. Logan Sargeant makes his debut at Williams after securing enough super licence points at the end of the Formula 2 campaign to make the step up to the premier category. At AlphaTauri, Nyck de Vries is set for his first complete season in the sport, having impressed many with his substitute appearance at Williams in place of an unwell Alex Albon at the 2022 Italian Grand Prix.
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