Oscar Piastri is an Australian racing driver who drives for the McLaren Formula 1 Team in the 2024 Formula 1 World Championship.
Date of Birth: | 6 April 2001 |
Birthplace: | Melbourne, Victoria, Australia |
Height: | 1,78 meters (5 feet 10 inches) |
First F1 Race: | 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix |
First F1 Win: | 2024 Hungarian Grand Prix |
2024 F1 Team: | McLaren Formula 1 Team |
F1 Championships: | 0 |
F1 Wins: | 2 |
Number: | 81 |
Oscar Jack Piastri has achieved great results from the get-go in his first year in
Formula 1 (2023); however, it shouldn’t come as a surprise as the young Aussie showcased in many junior series before.
Similar to seven-time world champion
Lewis Hamilton, Piastri’s racing career started with racing remote control cars, where he competed on a national level before moving to go-karts. Oscar Piastri competed in various European and other CIK-FIA karting championships before moving up to compete in the British F4 Championship.
In 2017, the Australian collected six wins and six pole positions to finish 2nd in the F4 Championship in the end. In 2022,
Red Bull Racing team principal
Chrisitan Horner revealed that it was around this time that he missed his chance to sign Oscar Piastri into their Junior team.
Piastri then competed in the Formula Renault Eurocup in 2018 and 2019, when he took the title by winning seven of the races in the series. In 2020, the Australian joined the Formula 3 Prema Racing team, with which he went on to win the championship that very season.
In the 2021 season, Oscar Piastri moved up to the Prema Racing Formula 2 team to race alongside Robert Shwartzman. By winning six of the races during the season and consistently superb performances, the Australian secured the Formula 2 title in his first season of competing.
Oscar Piastri is one of few F1 drivers like
Lewis Hamilton,
Charles Leclerc,
George Rusell, and
Nico Rosberg to win Formula 3 and Formula 2 Championships in consecutive seasons. His excellent performances paid off when Oscar Piastri signed a deal with the
McLaren Formula 1 team in 2023 to race alongside
Lando Norris.
Ever since joining McLaren, Oscar Piastri continued displaying his capabilities, not lacking too much behind and sometimes outperforming more experienced Lando Norris. The Australian achieved his first podium during the 2023
Japanese Grand Prix, in which he finished third.