Former Formula 1 team boss Eddie Jordan now believes that McLaren rookie Oscar Piastri will have three-time world champion Max Verstappen looking over his shoulder sooner rather than later.
The young Australian was named Rookie of the Year by the FIA after a fantastic campaign that saw him finish on the podium on a couple of occasions.
Speaking on the Formula For Success Podcast, Eddie Jordan was once again getting very excited about the £120k-a-week driver.
In the past, Jordan has admitted that he loves Oscar Piastri after impressing during his first campaign in F1.
Trying to live up to the standards set by teammate Lando Norris was never going to be easy.
As was shown at Williams this year with the gap between Alex Albon and Logan Sargeant, coming into F1 as a rookie is never easy.
However, although Piastri finished with less than half of the points of his teammate, he showed glimpses of brilliance that point towards the 22-year-old being a star one day.
So much so, that Jordan now believes that Piastri will one day have Max Verstappen worrying about his dominance over the rest of the grid.
Much of that relies on the car that McLaren can deliver over the next few years.
It’s hard to see Red Bull not being at the top of the sport for some time, but they need close competition to really push the sport forward.
Jordan backs Piastri to challenge Verstappen one day
Speaking about the McLaren pair, David Coulthard said: “Lando’s [Norris] top drawer I think, I’m not saying that I don’t think Oscar [Piastri] is.
“But to beat Lando will the experience he has consistently, that steps towards dominating your teammate and I’m not sure he’s there quite yet.
Eddie Jordan replied: “If you remember Lando had just a little bit of a drop off and came back and I expect Oscar will have to do the same.
“Sometimes things don’t quite right for you and it’s how you cope with those downsides and how you’re able to bring yourself back up right to the forefront of the competition to make sure that people realise that you are the real deal.
“So, I agree with you, despite the great guidance that he’s having and will have if Oscar can repeat the kind of things that he has repeated this year.
“Slightly on a more consistent basis, I’ll be super impressed because he will go far, he’s the new breed of the young drivers, he is long-term somebody that Max [Verstappen] will look over his shoulder at and to see how is he progressing.
“He’s one of those characters that I think he could unleash himself into the highest echelons of Formula 1 in terms of records and careers and race wins long-term.
“But next year, he just needs to settle down, find the foundation and just gradually move forward from there.”
Piastri will be pleased to hear that Jordan thinks he can challenge Verstappen and it justifies McLaren’s decision to pinch him from Alpine.
Jordan has admitted that he thinks Red Bull should consider bringing Piastri in to replace Sergio Perez.
Alongside Lando Norris, McLaren have a driver partnership that could dominate Formula 1 in the future with the right car.
Even Haas team boss Guenther Steiner has suggested that Piastri’s rookie season has made him reconsider his driver hiring strategy going forward having previously wanted to avoid hiring young drivers.