Piastri's stellar junior series credentials and the tug-of-war between McLaren and Alpine over his services made his debut one of the most highly-anticipated rookie campaigns in years.
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A low-key start to 2023 for McLaren prevented Piastri or Lando Norris from grabbing headlines, but the unflappable Australian soon delivered on his promise by pushing his more experienced team-mate in qualifying.
A spate of mid-season car upgrades then enabled the pair to fight for podiums rather than low points finishes and, while Norris took seven of McLaren's nine podiums and scored double the amount of points, Piastri also impressed with a win from pole in Qatar's sprint race as well as grand prix podiums in Japan and Qatar.
While McLaren had high hopes for Piastri, team principal Stella admitted the 22-year-old delivered "beyond our expectations", impressing with how quickly he soaked up information.
"Our analysis is that Oscar's season has just been exceptional, and when I say exceptional I mean beyond our expectations," Stella said.
"It's the rapidity with which he learns that I think makes him exceptional. And this has been true in whatever scale you take, within the timeframe of a race, within the timeframe of an event, within the timeframe of the season.
"His gradient is so impressive, which obviously creates expectations for next season. And expectations require work to be confirmed. But the other good thing with Oscar is that he's such a grounded person, he's so committed.
Source: Autosport