Oscar Piastri, the Australian standout for McLaren, is thriving in the current Formula 1 season, joining the ranks of Ayrton Senna and Lewis Hamilton for his impressive performance thus far. Piastri, who was always looked up to as one of the most promising contenders for the World Championship title, is finally there in the list, sitting in the top spot with 186 points, ten points clear of his British teammate Lando Norris and 49 points ahead of the defending champion Max Verstappen, and he is in no mood to let go of that lead anytime soon.
Piastri has won nine out of five grand prix this season so far and is looking super confident for his maiden world title. For his incredible showing in the current season, Piastri has joined the ranks of the Formula 1 legends like Ayrton Senna and Lewis Hamilton with a sensational achievement.
McLaren History Repeating: Oscar Piastri matches icons with podium streak
By consistently finishing on the podium, the young Australian has matched a feat only accomplished twice before in the storied history of the Woking-based team. Piastri has now stood on the rostrum eight consecutive times.
This extraordinary sequence places Oscar Piastri alongside just two other McLaren titans. The first was the incomparable Ayrton Senna. The three-time Formula One World Champion, who tragically passed away in 1994 and still held the record for most pole positions (65) at that time, set this benchmark back in 1988. Senna's incredible run of eight straight podiums stretched from the Mexican Grand Prix to the Belgian Grand Prix that year, a period that included six victories and two second-place finishes.
It took nearly two decades for another McLaren driver to replicate Senna's consistency. That driver was the phenomenal Lewis Hamilton. Demonstrating his prodigious talent right from his debut season in 2007, Hamilton achieved a staggering nine consecutive podium finishes.
His run commenced with a third place in his very first race in Australia and continued relentlessly through to another third place at the British Grand Prix. Hamilton’s streak ultimately concluded with a ninth-place finish amid the challenging monsoon conditions at the 2007 European Grand Prix.
Therefore, by securing his eighth podium in succession, Piastri hasn't just matched Ayrton Senna's 1988 record; he has also positioned himself on the cusp of equaling Hamilton's longer nine-podium streak established during his sensational rookie year.
The upcoming Canadian Grand Prix presents Oscar Piastri with the golden opportunity to draw level with Lewis Hamilton's remarkable early-career achievement and surpass Senna's legendary run. With the Montreal circuit expected to play to the strengths of the current McLaren challenger, the stage is perfectly set for Piastri to potentially etch his name even deeper into the team's illustrious history.
Piastri's own season, while highlighted by his five victories, also boasts incredible consistency. He has only missed the podium once – finishing ninth in his home race at Albert Park after the chaotic wet-weather showdown.
His dominant victory in Spain, where he controlled proceedings from pole position, expertly managed pit cycles, and mastered critical restarts, exemplified the form that has him leading the championship.
Both McLaren drivers are currently operating at a phenomenal level, but it's Oscar Piastri's relentless podium presence that has propelled him into this exclusive club shared only with Ayrton Senna and Lewis Hamilton, underlining the team's formidable resurgence and the intense battle unfolding within its own garage. The quest to match Hamilton's rookie record now becomes a captivating subplot in this already thrilling season.