Seidl: Piastri 'a perfect fit' for McLaren, but will be given time

McLaren F1 boss Andreas Seidl says new recruit Oscar Piastri is a "perfect fit" for the papaya squad, but insists the F1 rookie will be given time to settle in at his new team.

After weeks of uncertainty and intrigue, the FIA's Contract Recognition Board ruled in favour of McLaren in the conflict that opposed Piastri and Alpine, which claimed to have a valid contract with the 21-year-old Aussie for 2023.

Piastri will therefore race among motorsport's elite next season and alongside Lando Norris at McLaren.

Given the Aussie's outstanding credentials in his junior career, Seidl is convinced that his new driver is the real deal and has what it takes to shine at the highest level.

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"First of all, he has shown as a race driver, with his success he had in his junior career, especially in F3, and F2, winning it first time each year, that he's a great talent, and has a lot of potential," said Seidl.

"But also the way, Zak [Brown] and myself got to know him, in terms of personality, we think he's a perfect fit for us. He's, he's young, full of energy, ambitious, I think he has the right level of self-confidence as well.

"But at the same time he's very humble, he's fully aware of the big challenge that is ahead of him.

"He's very loyal. And that's why I wanted to get him on board. He wanted to be with us. And that's why we were very happy that we could announce he's with us from next year onwards."

While Piastri will step up to Formula 1 next season well prepared, courtesy in large part to the test programme he enjoyed with Alpine, he will be given time to settle in in his new challenging environment.

"I'm fully aware of the challenge that is for Oscar as well," he said. "I'm fully aware that we also need to give him the right amount of time also in order to build it up.

"I think looking at the line-up we will have next year, it's very exciting also for me.

"We have Lando in his fifth year of F1 then who has shown in the last year with the steps he also made that he has everything he needs to become one of the best ones in this sport, knowing that he will still improve only being in year four now, which is an exciting outlook.

"And then having a rookie like Oscar next to him who has shown that he has a lot of potential. It is an exciting outlook and I'm looking forward to work with this driver line-up in the next years."

Mentoring an F1 rookie for the big time is an important part of a young driver's development process. But Seidl believes that McLaren has shown with Norris that it knows how to care for a burgeoning young talent.

"I think I've touched on this before, I think we have shown in the past with Lando that we are a team that can be a good place for a rookie to start in F1," said the German.

"I think with the team I have in place I feel quite comfortable that we know what a young driver needs in the car, outside of the car, in terms of environment, in order to get prepared as well as possible, when he will start his first race in F1 next year in Bahrain.

"The objective is clear obviously, as soon as we can start working with Oscar, we will put in a lot of hard work together with Oscar with a clear agenda of what we want to achieve when he actually starts his first race in Bahrain, and, as I said before, having shown that with Lando that this worked out quite well.

"I think I'm quite confident that we can manage this as well again."

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