Damon Hill believes that McLaren’s rookie driver, Oscar Piastri, is unlike Mick Schumacher. He believes that the Australian driver is unlikely to face “massive snowball effect”. The similar effect that snapped the German’s confidence and his seat at Haas F1 team.
The rookie Australian driver has made mistakes in his debut season with McLaren. Additionally, his car has proven to be unreliable so far. Both drivers, himself and his team-mate Lando Norris, finished both races without a single point. Currently, the team is at the bottom of the Constructors’ Championship standing.
Nonetheless, Hill is optimistic about Piastri and believes he will manage the tornado of confidence shaking. He shared his thoughts on the driver in an interview with Autosport.
HE said: “If you get off to a shaky start, it can take all season to get that back again. People are very quick to judge and look for the signs.
“The great drivers came into Formula 1 with a bang. They arrived. Michael Schumacher, Max Verstappen, Ayrton Senna, they came in and everyone went, ‘Wow where did that come from? Who is this guy?’.
“I wouldn’t say Oscar has had the opportunity to do quite that, but he has definitely looked very competent and solid.
“He’s not someone who you go, ‘Oh my God, he looks a bit shaky’.”
Hill insisted that Piastri and Schumacher are unlike and the former will likely succeed in his attempt to gain attention in F1.
He continued: “Mick Schumacher never really put in one of those sit-up-and-take-notice performances and struggled to inspire the confidence people need to have in the driver.
“Before you know it, it becomes a massive snowball effect. The snowball gets heavier and heavier and you get crushed by it.
“So far for Oscar, he’s not got that problem to think about. He’s got a very firm footing from which to push off.”
He trusts that his team-mate Norris with his prior experience will warm up with further races in the season.
“I’m sure when Lando gets warmed up, he’ll be a tougher nut to crack, but [Oscar] will learn a lot.
“Coming to Melbourne [home race], he’ll be getting a lot of attention, and it’s about whether that distracts him.”
