Oscar Piastri’s entry into Formula 1 was quite eventful. Looking back at his junior career, it comes as no surprise.
McLaren driver Oscar Piastri had a junior career that had two Formula 1 teams going to court to sign him. When Sebastian Vettel announced his retirement from the sport, Fernando Alonso went on to sign with Aston Martin for the 2023 season. Alpine then went on to announce that their replacement for Alonso would be Oscar Piastri, their junior driver.
However, shortly after Alpine’s announcement, Piastri stated that he had in fact not signed a contract with Alpine and would not be driving for the team. The FIA Contract Recognition Board ruled that he did not have any contractual obligations to race for Alpine, and Piastri signed with McLaren.
Since joining McLaren, he has made a good impression. He has managed to stay close to teammate Lando Norris, and even achieved a win in F1, before teammate Norris when he won the Sprint in Qatar in 2023. The two teammates have since gone on to become Grand Prix winners, with the Brit winning the 2024 Miami GP and Piastri the 2024 Hungarian GP.
Karting
Like Lewis Hamilton, Oscar Piastri started by racing remote-controlled cars. He later moved to karting, and in 2014 went professional. After competing in Australian races and championships, he began competing in European and other CIK-FIA-sanctioned karting championships in 2015. He competed in the KF3 and KFJ classes in 2015, before moving to the OKJ class in 2016.
Formula 4
Oscar Piastri moved up to single-seater racing at the end of 2016. He joined the 2016–17 Formula 4 UAE Championship from the second round onwards. However, he did not compete in the final round. Having competed in only 3 rounds, the Aussie driver finished P6 in the Drivers’ Championship, following 2 podium finishes. He never finished outside of the points in that championship.
He competed in every round of the 2017 F4 British Championship. Piastri had a great rookie season, securing 6 wins and P2 in the Drivers’ Championship. Consistently finishing in the points, his lowest finish was a P10, from where he achieved the fastest lap of the race.
Formula Renault
At the 2017 Formula Renault Northern European Cup, he competed in the last round. Piastri returned to the competition at the 2018 Formula Renault Northern European Cup, where he competed in the last four rounds. He managed 4 podium finishes but was ineligible to score championship points.
He finished both races in P8. At the 2018 Formula Renault Eurocup, with no race wins, it was P8 for the Australian in the Drivers’ Championship. For the 2019 season, Piastri had a better season, winning 7 races. Oscar Piastri was named the 2019 Formula Renault Eurocup champion in a season where he finished out of the points only once.
Formula 3
Oscar Piastri made his Formula 3 debut at the 2020 FIA Formula 3 Championship driving for Prema. Whilst in a fight for the title with Logan Sargeant and Théo Pourchaire, it was the Australian that came out victorious. Piastri won the title 3 points ahead of Pourchaire.
Formula 2
The champion stepped up to the FIA Formula 2 Championship in 2021. Piastri had another great rookie season, winning the F2 title on his first try. He clinched the title 60.25 points ahead of his Prema teammate Robert Schwartzman.
Piastri’s name joined the likes of Nico Rosberg, Lewis Hamilton, Nico Hülkenberg, Charles Leclerc, and George Russell, as the only drivers to win the GP2/F2 title in their rookie seasons.
After spending the next season as a reserve driver at Alpine, in 2023, he joined the McLaren team, replacing Daniel Ricciardo. In his first season, he got pole position for the Sprint at Qatar which he went on to win. He then won the 2024 Hungarian Grand Prix, displaying the maturity and class he has had throughout his F1 career.
