Oscar Piastri mentions 'unusual' feeling of racing against Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso 

McLaren rookie Oscar Piastri claims it will be a little odd to race against Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso in the 2023 season. The Australian will race against his heroes starting next month in his first full-time F1 season.

Part of Piastri's surrealness of racing against the likes of Hamilton and Alonso is the huge age gap between them. Fernando Alonso was already racing in F1 before the Australian driver was even born, making the upcoming experience a bit 'unusual' for Piastri.

Similarly, the F2 champion has admired Lewis Hamilton for a number of years. He is now making his debut with the same team the Briton made his debut with back in 2007.

The now-seven-time world champion Hamilton finished runners-up to Kimi Raikkonen in his first season in the sport. While it is unlikely that Piastri will do the same this year with McLaren, the Australian is looking forward to the season.

Oscar Piastri recently spoke about racing with the likes of Hamilton and Alonso:

“That is a bit of an unusual one that I am still getting my head around. I think once the helmet goes on, they’ll just become another driver on the grid that I am trying to beat, but, at least before the season starts, that is probably the most unique element of the mental side of things that I need to get used to.”

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Lewis Hamilton and George Russell make the best pair on the grid, as per Toto Wolff

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is pleased with the lineup going into 2023. The duo of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell were fairly consistent in 2022. They kept the team in the limelight, even though they only managed to win one race all season.

Speaking with GPFans, Wolff said of Hamilton and Russell:

"George is always very self-critical, which is one of the assets that makes him a future world champion. He has been thrown now into the Mercedes works team, we keep developing the car, and if you ask me now, the final results look different."

He opened up further on the chemistry between the drivers by saying:

"Like at the beginning of the year, you could say George was doing very well, and then in the last third of the year, it was Lewis. But in terms of optimum performance, we have the combination of the two best drivers, the strongest line-up."

If the team gives Lewis Hamilton a car capable of fighting for the title this year, many fans expect the Briton to return to the top steps of the sport. It will be interesting to see how George Russell factors into this equation later this year.