Oscar Piastri made a big impact as soon as he joined McLaren at the start of 2023. Even though he was new to Formula 1, he drove like a much more experienced racer. When McLaren gave him a car fast enough to fight at the front last year, he took his first Grand Prix win in Hungary. He won again in Baku and helped McLaren win the Constructors’ Championship for the first time since 1998. By the end of the season, he finished fourth in the drivers’ standings, 82 points behind his teammate Lando Norris, who came second.

Piastri’s strong performances have impressed many people in the F1 paddock, including former Haas team principal Guenther Steiner. Speaking to CNN, Steiner said he believes Piastri could become World Champion as early as this year.

“He can be [world champion]. As I said, you always need to be in the right car. But in the moment, he could be already this year. I said it before. This year, if he starts off good on the right foot.”

Steiner also pointed out the key role played by Mark Webber, Piastri’s manager. Webber had a long and successful F1 career, winning nine races and coming close to a championship victory in 2010 with Red Bull. Now, he is passing on his experience to Piastri.

“That is very important because Mark can teach Oscar his mistakes he shouldn’t be making because Mark made them himself. So, it’s the best teacher to have and say, ‘Hey, let’s take a shortcut here. Don’t do this because I did it. They got it wrong.’”

Piastri is also feeling confident about the season ahead and after a filming day at Silverstone, he was clear about his goals.

“It’s definitely a clean slate [this year],” he said quoted by Motorsport.com.

“Everyone is starting on zero again, and I think last season towards the end it was natural that I still had the opportunities to go out and put my best foot forward.”

He also spoke about how his role in the team has changed. “Yes, there were a couple of situations where I ended up helping Lando, but there were some ways he still helped out me so it wasn’t as clear-cut as that. But definitely we are starting on a clean slate and I do think that I can become World Champion this year.”

Piastri knows he still has areas to improve but is sure he has made big progress since last year. “I feel like 12 months ago I was going into the season still with some weaknesses that I wasn’t particularly confident with. I think through last season I addressed them, it’s now just about addressing them every weekend and making sure that I’m putting my best foot forward every weekend and that is what is going to be the difference.”

He also knows there is still work to do within the team. “I’m confident, I think we’ve still got some things to work on and [we’re] definitely not the finished product, but I don’t think anyone necessarily is and I think if we can work on some of the things that we’ve set out to do in this off-season then I’ll have a lot of tools to be able to try to make that happen.”

If McLaren gives him the right car, Piastri has every chance of fighting for the title this season. With Webber’s guidance and his own growing confidence, he could be a real contender for the championship.