Nationality: Australian
Birthday: 6 April 2001
Current team: McLaren
Previous teams: None
Number: 81
Strengths: Awareness, consistently fast, ability to handle pressure
Weaknesses: Tyre management, less instinctive and wants to follow a plan
Strongest tracks: Saudi Arabia, Italy, Monaco, Britain
Weakest tracks: Bahrain, Spain, United States
Statistics
Grand Prix wins: 9
Pole Positions: 5
Fastest laps: 8
Podiums: 24
World Championships: 0
F1 teammate record H2H
Total Q record: 21-45
Total R record: 21-45
| Team mate | Q record | R record |
| Norris (2023-25) | 21-45 | 21-45 |
Pre-F1 championship results
Won Formula 2 (2021)
Won Formula 3 (2020)
Won Formula Renault Eurocup (2019)
2nd in British F4 (2017)
Career analysis
Oscar Piastri had an incredible junior career that culminated in winning Formula 2 and Formula 3 in his first attempts. Sadly, he was not instantly promoted to F1 despite being part of Alpine’s academy. But in a hilarious manner, he rejected Alpine later when the French outfit did want to promote him and instead negotiated a contract with McLaren when an opening appeared.
This incredible foresight means that Piastri now finds himself in F1’s fastest car with the opportunity to win races and perhaps even championships.
He has struggled against Lando Norris when it comes to pure pace. Norris simply seems a tenth of a second quicker per lap. Norris is also more experienced, although the age difference between the two McLaren drivers is just a year and a half. Can Piastri improve in his third season and gain ground on Norris, or is it already too late? That’s the question we all want an answer to.
Piastri’s strengths are his ability to keep cool, his awareness, starts, and wheel-to-wheel skills. He is also a fast driver – not as fast as Norris, but few are. If Piastri cannot beat Norris on pure speed, he may be able to beat him through better starts, handling pressure better, and being more consistent over the course of the season. The Australian finished all races in 2024 and is almost always in the running for points. He is rarely involved in collisions and does not have any clear enemies in the paddock.