Oscar Piastri will be on the F1 grid in the future, according to Esteban Ocon, after it was announced that he will be Alpine’s reserve driver in 2022.
Oscar Piastri’s arrival in Formula 1 is “just a matter of time,” according to Esteban Ocon.
With two races remaining in the Formula 2 season, Piastri has been named Alpine’s reserve driver for the 2022 Formula One season.
Despite his success in junior single-seater championships, Piastri has been unable to secure a place on the F1 grid for next year.
Despite winning the F3 and GP3 championships in years in a row, Ocon empathized with Piastri, having spent the first part of 2016 as an F1 reserve driver.
“[I’ve had] quite a few years watching from the sidelines,” Ocon told media. “But I think it’s just a matter of time that Oscar will join us on the grid.
“He’s more than talented, he’s won pretty much all the titles up until now. Of course, he still has F2 to go.
“Waiting is never a fantastic thing for us drivers, but the best is obviously for him to watch how everything is going.
“That’s what I did on my side, just trying to gather as much information as I could and, once you get in the seat, you know how everything works from the inside. I’m sure he will probably do the same.”
Ocon happy to see Zhou in F1
When Guanyu Zhou signed a contract with the team, he denied Piastri the opportunity to drive alongside Valtteri Bottas.
Zhou, who is currently in second place in the F2 championship, will become the first full-time Chinese driver in Formula One next year.
Zhou has been congratulated by Ocon, who believes he will swiftly catch up.
“It’s fantastic to see him getting to Formula 1,” Ocon said. “I’ve worked with him obviously quite a bit this year, shared an FP1 with him in Austria as well.
“He was developing very fast in the F1 car. I don’t think it will take him long to get up to speed, but I definitely wish him the best.”
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