“Oscar Piastri is a future world champion”: $85M NBA icon Joel Embiid heaps huge praise on McLaren star after incredible Azerbaijan GP win

Oscar Piastri impressed a lot of fans after winning the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. The Australian driver fended off multiple attempts from pole-sitter Charles Leclerc to win his second career F1 race. Among the many people impressed by the McLaren driver's performance was NBA icon Joel Embiid.

The $85M (according to Celebrity Net Worth) Philadelphia 76ers star heaped big praise on the young Aussie. He termed Piastri as the future F1 champion after a gritty and daring performance in Baku. He tweeted on his X account:

"Oscar Piastri is a future world champion."

The 30-year-old also shared his shock at the Carlos Sainz and Sergio Perez incident. The duo crashed in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix while fighting for the podium finish. Embiid shared:

"WTF WAS SAINZ DOING?"

Oscar Piastri was the hot topic going into the Azerbaijan GP due to McLaren's 'Papaya Rules' fiasco. He confessed that he would support his teammate Lando Norris' bid for the championship against Max Verstappen.

However, after Norris' qualifying result yesterday, the former Alpine employee lunged in on Leclerc to take the lead in the Azerbaijan GP. His excellent defending saw him preserve his lead despite Leclerc's best efforts.

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Oscar Piastri terms Baku win as the "most stressful afternoon" of his career

Charles Leclerc, Oscar Piastri, and even Sergio Perez gave us some enthralling entertainment at the Azerbaijan GP. While Leclerc and Piastri battled each other for most of the race, a late Sergio Perez joined in to make a three-way battle for the win.

Perez has always been commanding at Baku. He has previously won the race twice in his career. However, the McLaren driver came up on top and stood in the top spot.

The Aussie star said on his team radio after the race:

"That was probably the most stressful afternoon of my life."

Piastri displayed incredible skill and perseverance to fend off Charles Leclerc, who threw everything at him. The duo battled hard and fair for the first position.

Piastri also said after the race:

"After the stop, it felt like we had a bit of extra grip and I had to go for it, I knew if I didn't get past at the start of the stint I was never going to get past. I went for a pretty big lunge but I managed and then hung on for dear life for the next laps."

F1 returns to Singapore this week and Piastri has been on a red-hot run since the last few races. Can the man from down under win his maiden night race in Singapore?