Oscar Piastri has established himself as one of the top young talents in Formula 1 after finally getting his chance in 2023.
The Aussie joined McLaren that season following a year on the sidelines as their reserve driver after winning the Formula 2 title in 2021.
Piastri went on to finish ninth in his debut season in the pinnacle of motorsport with two podiums and a Sprint race in Qatar, winning the Rookie of the Year award.
The 23-year-old has gone on leaps and bounds in 2024, with two wins and seven podiums that sees him sit fourth in the standings with three races to go.
The key factor in Piastri’s rise up the ranks and his subsequent success was his time with PREMA, whom he won the Formula 3 and F2 title with in consecutive season.
Reflecting on those campaigns on the Inside Line F1 Podcast, managing director Rene Rosin brought up an issue the Aussie suffered in F3 that ‘nobody could solve.’
Rene Rosin uses Oscar Piastri’s DRS issue in Formula 3 as a response to those saying he wasn’t quick in the series
Piastri rose to F3 from F4 and the Formula Renault Eurocup series – winning the latter in 2019 – in 2020 with PREMA and went on to have immediate success. The Aussie won the title by three points over Theo Pourchaire, grabbing two wins, six podiums and finished outside the points only three times.
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Despite showing great consistency across the season, Piastri was plagued with a DRS issue in the early stages of the year, which he constantly berated on X, then Twitter, making his frustrations abundantly clear.
Rosin used the issue to respond to criticism that the Aussie was not quick in F3, as he claimed that ‘nobody could solve’ the problem at the team due to a glitch with the electronics system.
“Honestly, his Formula 2 season, his Formula 3 season has been absolutely outstanding,” Rosin said, reflecting on Piastri’s junior career.
“Everybody can say ‘he was not fast in Formula 3’. Guys, it was a COVID year, difficulties with, we’d just done testing in Bahrain then everything shut down from, I don’t know how many months. We restarted at the end of June/beginning of July with all back-to-back races where you don’t even have time to understand what’s going on yourself.
“And a circuit that he didn’t know. We were racing in Mugello, he didn’t know Mugello. He got in the first part of the season, a problem that nobody was able to solve with the DRS, because it was a glitch on the electronics system.
“Then to step into Formula 2, a season again strange because [it was] the only season with eight rounds, three races per round. But since the moment we turned at Silverstone, that lap in quali that he did at Silverstone. Then pole position again in Monza, then pole position again in Sochi, and Abu Dhabi. What he’s doing now is not surprising me at all.”
The 2025 Formula 3 grid is slowly taking shape
In the present day, the 2025 F3 grid is starting to fill, with there being just nine seats left available for the upcoming campaign.
Hitech, MP Motorsport and newcomers DAMS are still to confirm their third drivers, while Van Amersfoort Racing and AIX Racing have not unveiled any of their drivers for next season.
READ MORE: Formula 3 2025 driver line-up with every team’s confirmed entry for the grid
Campos recently confirmed the arrival of Nikola Tsolov to complete their lineup for 2025. The Bulgarian will move from ART Grand Prix after grabbing three wins this season.
The 17-year-old has also joined the Red Bull junior team after leaving Alpine. Fernando Alonso was delighted to see Tsolov join Red Bull, with the two-time F1 champion having him on board his management company.