Oscar Piastri: Profile, Championships, Racing Style & more

A protégé of Mark Webber, Oscar Piastri is spearing the next generation of Australian racing drivers as he looks to fulfil his lifelong dream of becoming a Formula 1 world champion with McLaren.

Date of Birth	6th April 2001
Current team	McLaren
Previous team(s)	-
F1 Debut	2023 Bahrain Grand Prix
F1 World Championships	0 (Best finish 4th in 2024)

Oscar Piastri's career so far

Biography

Born in Melbourne and raised in close proximity to the city's famed Albert Park street circuit, Oscar Piastri enjoyed great success at junior level and earned his spot in Formula 1 in arguably one of the most infamous 'silly season' incidents, where he was falsely announced as an Alpine driver before signing for McLaren.

Journey to F1

Piastri raced remote-controlled cars before he began his karting career aged 10 and competed in various Australian championships before relocating to Europe in 2014.

He continued karting until he was 15 when a major sponsorship agreement opened up a path into Formula 4, where he flaunted his abilities with two podiums in F4 UAE.

Success in F4 prised the door open to higher competitions and the flurry of race victories continued. Piastri jumped from Formula Renault champion to winning the F3 championship, taking the title in his first season as he pipped Theo Pourchaire by three points.

Transitioning into F2 with Prema Racing, Piastri demonstrated his immense talent and joined illustrious company in the shape of Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg and Charles Leclerc in winning the second-tier title in his maiden season.

Piastri's F2 success made him hot property and after a squabble for his services, McLaren won out to tie the young Australian down for the 2023 F1 season.

F1 career to date

McLaren

His aforementioned viral divorce with Alpine ensured everybody was talking about Piastri ahead of his debut campaign in 2023.

McLaren were struggling for performance in the opening stages of the campaign but as the upgrades on the MCL60 filtered through, Piastri started to deliver performances of note by finishing fourth at the British Grand Prix before claiming his maiden F1 podium in the Sprint at Spa-Francorchamps.

His consistent improvement was recognised with a contract extension until the end of 2026 and he rewarded McLaren with a podium finish in Japan and Qatar to finish the campaign in ninth.

McLaren's upward trajectory continued in 2024 and Piastri reaped the rewards, clinching two race victories in Hungary and Azerbaijan as he finished fourth in the drivers standings and helped the team to secure their first constructors' title in 26 years.

Oscar Piastri best races

Piastri's maiden Grand Prix victory in Hungary was shrouded in controversy following an intra-team drama, but there was nothing controversial about his second career victory in Azerbaijan.

In a captivating race, Piastri was involved in a tense, four-way scrap for honours and following a collision between Sergio Perez and Carlos Sainz, the Australian dealt with the threat of Ferrari's Charles Leclerc to take the chequered flag and provide McLaren with a vital win.

Oscar Piastri best season

2024 was undoubtedly Piastri's best season as the Australian ace followed up a steady debut campaign with two race victories and a flurry of podiums.

Helping the team to win their first constructors' title since 1998, Piastri became only the fourth driver in F1 history to complete every lap of a single season.

Oscar Piastri nationality 

Where is Oscar Piastri from?

Piastri was born in Melbourne and is the 18th F1 driver to hail from Australia.

Oscar Piastri net worth

Piastri has an estimated net worth of $4million according to various reports.

Oscar Piastri racing style

Immensely quick over one lap, Piastri prefers an oversteering setup.

His aggressive style has been at a detriment to his tyre management, although the McLaren ace demonstrated an improvement at being able to preserve his tyres and fuel in the latter stages of the 2024 season.

Thoughts on Piastri's racing style

He provides the information [himself]. His own processing was quite outstanding, without support from external information or data.

Former McLaren team principal Andrea Stella (F1TV)

He's already a mature young man, but you can definitely see a year on he's got a higher level of confidence because he knows what to expect, and I think that will just drive even better performances with the helmet on.

McLaren CEO Zak Brown (via Daily Mail)