MORE ACCOLADES FOR PIASTRI

For the second year in succession Oscar Piastri has won the prestigious Autosport Rookie of the Year award after strolling to the second-tier FIA Formula 2 Championship.

It was the Australian’s third world title in three years having won the 2019 Formula Renault Eurocup title and the FIA Formula 3 Championship in 2020 for which he was given the award last year.

By the end of the F2 season Piastri had secured six race victories, including four straight feature race wins and five pole positions to end the year.

Piastri was up against stiff competition to win the award against former Formula 1 driver turned IndyCar front runner Romain Grosjean, the Frenchman scoring a pole position and three podium finishes.

The other two nominations were Haas F1 driver Mick Schumacher who impressed despite failing to score a point in the challenging Haas as well as European Le Mans Series champion Yifei Ye.

After winning the F2 championship Piastri will sit out of racing in 2022 as he has been promoted to the role as Alpine F1 reserve driver, he will sub in for Esteban Ocon or Fernando Alonso if they were unable to race.

“Thank you to everyone who voted, it was a great season,” Piastri said upon being handed the award by three-time Formula 1 race winner Johnny Herbery.

“It is looking like a different kind of season for me this year on the sidelines but I’ll be pushing hard for sure.”

Piastri was handed the award at Grosvenor House on Park Lane in London, it was the return of an in-person event and followed the online presentation the previous year.

Previous drivers to win the rookie of the year award include his manager Mark Webber, Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel, Max Verstappen, Charles Leclerc, Jenson Button and Juan Pablo Montoya.

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