After a  flawless drive to secure his third consecutive title, the newly crowned FIA Formula 2 champion, Oscar Piastri, shared his thoughts on two Sprint Races with opposite fortunes after a busy Saturday in Abu Dhabi

With one race to go this season, Piastri managed to take the title early, with a 53.5 championship point lead over his team mate, Robert Shwartzman, after already beating out soon-to-be Alfa Romeo Formula One driver, Guanyu Zhou, after grabbing pole position on Friday.

Coming into Formula 2 as a rookie, it was clear that the Australian driver’s confidence grew over the season and Piastri explained what the year was like for him.

“I’m very very happy to be F2 Champion, and what a race to do it on, getting to the podium from 10th place! I think that getting the title that way sums up the year perfectly.”

Coming in strong from tenth to sixth in Sprint Race 1 to wrap up the title, Shwartzman was the only driver left to defeat. Following Piastri’s overtake in Sprint Race 1, the Russian attempted to snatch back third place, but Piastri quickly responded and began to pull away.

He said, “The car was good the whole way through, I had a mega start, and I was sixth after the first corner. Robert and I had some pace in hand, which was very nice, but I could see that he was struggling a bit towards the end, so I moved on him and made it stick.”

A few hours after taking the F2 title, Piastri was handed a five-second penalty in the second Sprint Race after making contact with Liam Lawson.

The session worsened for Piastri after his involvement in a collision with Roy Nissany and Jüri Vips, which made both the new champion and the Estonian Hitech driver retire early.

“Race 2 was not my finest of the year. I was a bit too ambitious on the first lap with Lawson, and unfortunately, we made contact. Then I was involved in a three-way contact with Vips and Nissany. 

“According to the stewards, it was a race incident and I pretty much agree with that. Now we have another chance to round out the year on a high tomorrow.”

Image: Formula Motorsport Ltd