Alexander Rossi sees IndyCar champ Alex Palou's spirit in a stoic Oscar Piastri

Former F1 driver Alexander Rossi has compared Oscar Piastri to reigning IndyCar champion Alex Palou. Piastri recently became the F1 championship leader after winning the Saudi Arabian GP over Max Verstappen.

With that win, the McLaren driver became the first Australian driver to lead the F1 drivers' championship since his manager, Mark Webber, did it in 2010. He has won three of the first five races of the 2025 season, and equalled more experienced teammate Lando Norris on career wins, five.

Piastri's stoic demeanour, even after such big highs at such a young age, has made him a clear-cut contender for the 2025 F1 title and possibly more. 2016 Indy 500 winner Alexander Rossi likened the 23-year-old's stoic behaviour to Alex Palou, who is gunning for his third consecutive IndyCar title (and fourth overall) in 2025, and has already won two of the first three races.

"You look at Oscar and how he conducts himself and how he's improved in areas that he's weak so rapidly, and ultimately has matched Lando on race wins, and seems completely unfazed, positively or negatively. Like I'm not saying that he's this angry guy or this super happy guy. He's just this guy driving race cars. He reminds me very much of Alex Palou. He's just excited to be there, and the results that come of it, they are what they are," Rossi said on his 'Off Track with Hinch and Rossi' podcast. [32:20 onwards]

Alexander Rossi is in his first season with Ed Carpenter Racing and has hit the ground running with two Top 10 finishes in three races. His rival, Palou, has been previously likened to Max Verstappen because of their sheer dominance.

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Alexander Rossi pre-empts "toxic" F1 battle between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri

Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri at the F1 Grand Prix Of China - Source: Getty

Alexander Rossi also spoke about a potential rift between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri if the latter continues his winning run in 2025. F1 has witnessed many bitter intra-team battles, with McLaren especially housing two in the past, Ayrton Senna versus Alain Prost and Fernando Alonso versus Lewis Hamilton.

On the aforementioned podcast, Rossi expressed how he'd keep his eyes on this McLaren storyline.

"It'll be interesting... we know how the teammate battles are in F1. We know how that environment can be toxic at times. Right now, they are pals. What is that breaking point? Oscar is leading the championship. How long does that go on? I think that's a very interesting storyline," he said. [33:00 onwards]

McLaren has been doing its best to prevent a toxic intra-team battle by implementing its 'Papaya Rules', which F1 fans and analysts have yet to fully understand. They seemed to work well in 2024 when Norris was the only championship contender, but with both drivers gunning to snatch Max Verstappen's crown, the tension is on.