Piastri, Doohan show they’re the F1 future

Champion elect Oscar Piastri and rookie Jack Doohan have demonstrated again that Australia’s motor racing future is in brilliant hands with a spectacular 1-2 in qualifying for the F2 feature race finale in Abu Dhabi.

Piastri, tipped to be a Formula One star when he makes the step up to Alpine as their reserve driver in 2022, landed his fifth consecutive pole position on Friday as he seeks to cement his season-long dominance and wrap up the F2 crown.

Yet, if anything, Doohan’s achievement, finishing second fastest in only his second qualifying session in F2, was even more striking as the son of former motorcycling great Mick Doohan showed his natural flair by outpacing his more experienced rivals.

Producing the day’s fastest lap in 1min 35.077sec on the Yas Marina circuit, Piastri picked up another four points for earning pole to extend his overwhelming championship lead to 55.5 points.

The 20-year-old Prema Racing prodigy, whose only distant challenger is now his Russian teammate Robert Shwartzman, should seal the title in the first of Saturday’s two sprint races before he even sets out from the front in Sunday’s feature race.

After leading early in the session, Piastri had to pull out all the stops to beat the time of 1:35.290 set by 18-year-old Doohan, who has made a spectacular start to life in F2 after making the move from F3, where he finished the 2021 season in September as runner-up.

After earning a fifth straight pole and ensuring an all-Australian front row on Sunday, a satisfied Piastri told his team over the radio: “It’s a pretty handy record.”

The Melbourne ace has already earned five victories in this year’s championship and is about to achieve the extraordinary feat of winning a third straight junior championship following his F3 title last year and the Formula Renault Eurocup from 2019.

Piastri, Doohan show they’re the F1 future
Independent Information