Oscar Piastri is a prodigiously gifted young driver making his name on the Formula 1 grid, so here is everything that you need to know about the current McLaren driver.
The Australian was even at the centre of a legal tug-of-war between McLaren and Alpine just to reach Formula 1 for the 2023 season. Piastri convinced McLaren to put him in one of their cars after a storied junior career. But Alpine believed they could promote their reserve driver.
Piastri, eventually, replaced compatriot Daniel Ricciardo and made his debut for McLaren at the 2023 Bahrain GP. He would even score his first points on home soil at the Australian GP, his first podium at that year’s Japanese GP and further won the Sprint at the 2023 Qatar GP.
McLaren fought Alpine to sign Oscar Piastri for the 2023 F1 season
McLaren had to fight Alpine for Piastri’s services as the Renault-owned outfit initially sought to promote the Aussie to replace Fernando Alonso. Piastri was Alpine’s reserve driver during 2022 after signing for the Renault Sport Academy back in January 2020 and rising the ranks.
But Alpine left it too late to trigger the option on Piastri, having only decided to after Alonso agreed to replace Sebastian Vettel at Aston Martin. It saw Piastri publicly denying he was set to race for Alpine in 2023, having already signed a contract to race for McLaren in July 2022.
McLaren moved to hire Piastri as Lando Norris’ teammate for the 2023 Formula 1 season as he had won back-to-back FIA Formula 3 and Formula 2 titles in 2020 and 2021. He achieved both titles as a rookie, as well, after winning Formula Renault Eurocup as a rookie in 2019.
Winning three successive rookie championships was the reward of the Piastri family’s $6.5m (£5m) investment in his junior career. They were also the only titles he won in go-karts or in single-seaters. Piastri’s previous top result was second in the 2017 F4 British Championship.
Oscar Piastri started out racing RC cars before karting aged nine
Piastri started racing remote-controlled cars and taking trophies at the age of just six, before starting his career at the Oakleigh Go-Karting club in 2011 aged nine. That passion for racing RC cars grew after his father, Chris Piastri, brought one back from a business trip in America.
Former Aussie karting champion, James Sera, also mentored Piastri about how to race in his youth. But it was quickly clear how special Piastri’s talent was as he demonstrated a smooth racing technique. He would eventually move to the UK to further his racing career at just 15.
The hard work would, eventually, pay off as Piastri became the first driver to ever win back-to-back-to-back titles in Formula Renault Eurocup, Formula 3 and Formula 2 as a rookie. His Formula Renault Eurocup and F2 title-winning seasons yielded seven and six wins each, too.
But who really is Piastri and what is the McLaren driver’s life outside of Formula 1 like? F1 Oversteer takes a look at everything that you need to know about the Aussie racing star…
How old is Oscar Piastri? What is the McLaren driver’s age?
At the time of writing, McLaren driver Oscar Piastri is 22 years old and was born on April 6, 2001. His parents are mum, Nicole Piastri, and dad, Chris Piastri. His dad owns a successful automotive software development company after co-founding HP Tuners with Keith Prociuk.
Where was Oscar Piastri born? What is his nationality?
Oscar Piastri was born in Melbourne, Australia and grew up in the suburb of Brighton. But the star McLaren F1 driver also has Italian routes as his parents both migrated from Italy.
How tall is Oscar Piastri? What is his height in feet?
McLaren driver Oscar Piastri is right above the average height of the 2024 Formula 1 grid at 1.78m or 5 ft 10 in feet. The average height of the 20-strong field of drivers is 1.77m (5 ft 9).
Oscar Piastri’s dad hired Mark Webber as his manager in 2019
Oscar Piastri joined the R-ace GP team for Formula Renault Eurocup in 2019 and it was amid his title-winning season that his dad, Chris, first hired Mark Webber and the Aussie F1 hero’s wife, Anne, as Oscar’s manager. Until then, Chris and Oscar had worked alone on his career.
Webber has since played a hands-on role in helping Piastri reach – and excel from his rookie season – in Formula 1. The Queanbeyan, New South Wales native entered 217 F1 Grand Prix from 2002 to 2013, drove for Minardi, Jaguar, Williams and Red Bull, and he won nine races.
Who is Oscar Piastri’s girlfriend? Does he have a wife?
Oscar Piastri has been dating his girlfriend Lily Zneimer for some time but the couple like to keep their relationship private. They made their first public appearance together at the 2022 Autosport Awards when Piastri won the Rookie of the Year Award for a second straight year.
Piastri and Zneimer met in secondary school at Haileybury college in Hertford, England. They also began dating in their second-to-last year before graduating in 2019. Zneimer attends F1 races to support Piastri, as well, but the couple keep their relationship out of the public eye.
Oscar Piastri’s Formula 1 career stats
As of the end of the 2023 Formula 1 season, McLaren star Oscar Piastri had entered into 22 Grand Prix and started each. He made his debut at the 2023 Bahrain GP, scored his maiden points with P8 at the Australian GP and enjoyed his first podium at the Japanese GP with P3.
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