As the wraps come off the car in which he will finally make his F1 debut, Oscar Piastri admits that the reality of it all is finally beginning to sink in.

Having secured successive title in Formula Renault, F3 and F2, it seemed Oscar Piastri was a shoo-in for an F1 seat, but instead he spent 2022 watching from the sidelines.

Indeed, there was every chance 2023 might be a repeat, with Alpine looking unlikely to have a vacancy for him, at which point McLaren stepped in.

Now, the legal wrangle over his services a thing of the past, the Australian youngster is relishing the moment as he anticipates his F1 debut in just over two weeks.

"It feels more and more real, definitely," he told the media at this evening's launch of the MCL60.

"Today's obviously a big day, launching the new car," he added. "Today's a big step in terms of it feeling more like reality, but I think it'll fully sink in once I get out there for testing in Bahrain."

As it sought a suitable berth for him for 2023, Alpine kept the youngster match-fit by running him in a number of private tests. However, once the summer tussle with McLaren was over, and it became clear he was heading to Woking, the outings came to an abrupt end.

"Obviously, as a racing driver, I want to be racing all the time," he said. "So taking a year, or having a year with without racing, was obviously not ideal.

"I tried to make the most of what I had last year trying to learn as much as I could about, I guess, the F1 environment outside of the driving and also trying to learn as much as I could, where I could.

"I think I learned some things that I wouldn't necessarily have learned elsewhere last year, but definitely I'm looking forward to getting stuck in again and going racing."

Check out our MCL60 gallery, here.