Jolyon Palmer praises Oscar Piastri’s calmness: “Unlike Max Verstappen, he wouldn’t waste points in anger”. Former F1 driver Jolyon Palmer praises Oscar Piastri’s calmness and composure.

The Australian is flying
At the start of this season, McLaren is dominating the scene with seven wins out of nine races, results that inevitably place the Woking-based team at the top of the Constructors’ Championship. The same British team also has one of its drivers leading the Drivers’ Championship, in this case Australian Oscar Piastri, who holds a ten-point lead over his teammate Lando Norris.

Max Verstappen vs George Russell
In third place is Max Verstappen, who in the last Spanish Grand Prix (won by Oscar Piastri) was involved in an incident that cost him a ten-second penalty and three penalty points on his licence—just one point away from a possible race ban. In the closing stages of the race, the Dutchman made contact with George Russell while trying to defend his position, sparking debate and differing interpretations of the event.

Oscar Piastri’s strengths
Many, starting with Helmut Marko, considered the incident a result of the four-time world champion’s difficulty in managing his emotions at that specific moment in the race. However, in similar situations, former Formula 1 driver Jolyon Palmer doubts we would ever see the same reaction from Oscar Piastri: “He seems to have the calmest head, certainly that I can remember, in Formula 1,” he said on F1’s official channel. “He’s still at the beginning of his career and we haven’t yet seen him under title pressure. That will come later this year, but this man is incredibly calm no matter what happens around him. Kimi Raikkonen was known as the Iceman in Formula 1, but I’ve even seen him more animated than Oscar. That can only be a strength, being able to keep such composure. I’ve yet to see him make mistakes under pressure, and you just can’t imagine him throwing away points in anger like Max Verstappen did on Sunday.”