As of the 2025 Mexico City Grand Prix, Piastri has achieved nine race wins, five pole positions, eight fastest laps, and 24 podiums in Formula One. Piastri is contracted to remain at McLaren until at least the end of the 2028 season.
Early life
Piastri was sponsored by his father's company, HP Tuners, throughout his junior formulae career.
Oscar Jack Piastri was born on 6 April 2001 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.[3] His father, Chris Piastri, is the founder and owner of HP Tuners, an automotive software company; the company sponsored his junior formulae career with up to A$6.5 million.[4] He served as Piastri's kart mechanic as he contested national championships in Australia.[5] His mother, Nicole Piastri (née MacFadyen), helped raise him in the suburb of Brighton with his three younger sisters—Hattie, Edie, and Mae.[6] He claims Italian, Yugoslavian, and Chinese heritage from his father, as well as Scottish and Irish from his mother.[7] His bedtime stories frequently consisted of automotive books, prompting his father to buy him a radio-controlled car on a business trip when he was six, which he began racing in his backyard.[3]
Piastri began racing competitively aged nine with Remote Control Racing Australia, winning the secondary class of the national championship before moving into kart racing.[8][9] Aged 14, he moved with his father—who returned to Melbourne six months later—to Hertford, England, to continue his international racing career in Europe.[3] Having been privately educated at Haileybury, he moved to its sister school in Hertford Heath—whose alumni include Stirling Moss—as a boarding pupil on a sports scholarship.[10][11] By the end of 2015, Piastri began travelling for karting tests and competitions between Italy, France, Belgium, Sweden, Spain, and Portugal from Stansted Airport, costing his father around £250,000.[4] In 2019, he was taken under the wing of nine-time Grand Prix winner Mark Webber and his wife, Ann; the former has served as his manager since and negotiated his move to Formula One.[12]
Junior racing career
Karting (2011–2016)
2011–2015: State titles in Australia
Following his successes in radio-controlled racing, Piastri moved into kart racing in 2011 at the local Oakleigh Go Kart Racing Club (OGKRC) in Clayton South, aged 10.[13][9] A protégé of two-time Australian Champion James Sera,[8] he began competing for the club that year in an FA Kart chassis.[5][14] He won his first title two years later: the 2013 CIK Stars of Karting in the Rookies class.[5][15] In 2014, he won the OGKRC Championship, City of Melbourne Titles, South Australian Championship, and National Sprint Classic Champion of Champions in Junior Clubman—he claimed a A$500 prize for the latter.[16][17][18] He further claimed runner-up in the Australian National Sprint Championship and the Victorian Championship, before progressing to international competition in the IAME International Final at Le Mans; he finished third on his debut in X30 Junior from twenty-first on the grid.[19] He closed his national career with third in the KF3 Australian Championship—where he was ranked the Top Qualifier—as well as victory in the Victorian Championship, OGKRC's Junior Top Guns, the Gold Coast Race of Stars, and the City of Melbourne Titles again in 2015.[20][21]
2015–2016: Move to the European scene
I knew it was a necessary step if I wanted to have a chance to make it to Formula One; you can’t become a Formula One driver by staying in Australia.
With the support of Sera and talent scout Rob McIntyre, Piastri moved to compete in Europe from 2015 onwards with Kosmic.[22][8]Vroomkart later contrasted his career path to that of Ayrton Senna, having both progressed from RC racing to European karting after a transcontinental move.[23] In KF-Junior, he claimed twelfth in the European Championship round at Portimão—where he finished twenty-sixth overall—and entered one round of the WSK Super Master Series.[24][21] In 2016, he returned to Australia to claim his third successive City of Melbourne Titles.[20] In Europe, he joined Ricky Flynn Motorsport in OK-Junior,[21] where he finished tenth in the South Garda Winter Cup, twelfth in the WSK Super Master Series, and eighth in the WSK Final Cup.[24][25] Back-to-back podiums at Portimão saw him claim sixteenth in the European Championship.[26][27] He qualified fourth for the World Championship at Sakhir after winning his heat; his pre-final saw him drop to eighteenth before recovering to finish sixth overall in his final karting appearance.[28][29]
Formula 4 (2016–2017)
2016–2017: Junior formulae debut in the UAE
Following his sixth-place at the Karting World Championship in OK-Junior, Piastri made his junior formulae debut in the second round of the Formula 4 UAE Championship at Yas Marina with Dragon F4;[30] in a nine-driver field, he claimed sixth, fifth, fourth, and fifth on debut.[31][32] He then scored a pair of fourth-places at Dubai before claiming two podiums on his return to Yas Marina—his final appearance in the series, ending the season sixth overall having contested 11 of 18 races.[32][33][13]
Piastri moved to the F4 British Championship for 2017 with Arden,[34] owned by Christian Horner—who later revealed he turned down the chance to sign Piastri to the Red Bull Junior Team.[35] He opened his campaign with two podiums at Brands Hatch,[36] which he repeated in the third race at Donington Park, marred by the accident of Billy Monger.[37][38] After another podium at Thruxton,[39] he claimed his maiden F4 victory in the second race at Oulton Park to move second in the championship.[40][41] Podiums in each race at Croft and two victories from pole position each at Snetterton and Knockhill consolidated his position.[42][43] He came under pressure from Logan Sargeant after two retirements at Rockingham.[44] A triple podium at Silverstone, including victory in the final race, extended his advantage,[45][46] before he clinched the runner-up spot to the second-year Jamie Caroline with top-five finishes at Brands Hatch.[47] He closed the season on 376.5 points—20.5 ahead of Sargeant and 65.5 behind Caroline—with six victories from 15 podiums and six pole positions.[48] He later credited "learning from [his] mistakes in F4" as his greatest lesson in junior formulae.[49]
Piastri remained with Arden for his Eurocup debut in 2018.[54] After claiming sixth and fifth on debut at Paul Ricard,[55][56] he scored no points at Monza, including a retirement.[57] He finished fourth in the second race at Silverstone before dropping outside of the points again in Monaco.[58][59] Following his sixth- and ninth-placed finishes at the Red Bull Ring,[60] Piastri achieved his maiden podium finish at Spa-Francorchamps with third in the opening race.[61] Back-to-back points at the Hungaroring extended his run of points finishes to six races,[62] which ended in the first race at the Nürburgring; he claimed seventh in race two.[63] With podiums in both races at the Hockenheimring—finishing third and second—he surpassed Alex Peroni for eighth in the championship,[64] which he retained amidst non-scoring races at the season-ending Barcelona-Catalunya round.[65] He closed his campaign with 110 points—165.5 behind champion Max Fewtrell—and three podiums.[65][66]
2019: Maiden title
Piastri won the Eurocup in 2019 amidst a title battle with Victor Martins, his first junior championship.
Piastri—now competing under a British licence—joined reigning champions R-ace GP for the 2019 Eurocup.[67][68] His campaign opened with eighteenth and fourth at Monza.[57] He took his maiden victory from pole position in the first race at Silverstone, which he repeated in the second.[69] He claimed fourth and fifth in Monaco,[70] before returning to the podium with second at Paul Ricard, where he finished sixth in race two.[71] He closed Victor Martins's championship lead to two points with victory in the opening race at Spa-Francorchamps and levelled the standings with his fourth-place in race two.[72][73] He opened a 40-point advantage by winning both races at the Nürburgring from pole.[74][75] A formation lap crash at the Hungaroring after aquaplaning reduced the gap by 12.5 points with Martins's victory,[note 2] which he mitigated by winning the second race from pole.[62] Martins closed his lead to 5.5 points with three consecutive wins from pole at the penultimate Barcelona-Catalunya and Hockenheimring rounds as Piastri finished fifth, third, and second, the latter after an early battle for the lead—his second-place in race two extended it by eight.[77][78] At Yas Marina, Piastri held off the late advances of Martins to win the opening race, meaning he would clinch the title by finishing seventh or higher in the final race, irrespective of other results.[79] With fourth-place, Piastri clinched his first junior formulae championship by 7.5 points to Martins, having achieved seven wins from 11 podiums and five pole positions.[80][77] Bruce Williams of Auto Action described it as a "a considerable step towards a Formula One career".[81]
At Spa-Francorchamps, Sargeant extended his lead to seven points over Piastri—who claimed fifth and sixth, the latter after a penalty for an illegal overtake on Richard Verschoor—with his sprint victory.[61][99] Piastri reclaimed the lead at the penultimate Monza round, where he climbed from fifteenth to third in the feature; he retired from the sprint after a collision with Clément Novalak and David Schumacher at Variante del Rettifilo, which was neutralised by Sargeant's late crash with Vesti.[57][100] Eight points above Sargeant and 24 above the ART of Théo Pourchaire into the season-ending Mugello round,[101] Piastri—carrying over a five-place grid penalty for forcing David Beckmann off-track—lined up sixteenth on the feature grid;[102] unable to score points in eleventh, he entered the sprint tied with Sargeant—who started fifth—and nine points clear of Pourchaire in eighth.[103] Sargeant was eliminated in a first-lap collision with Zendeli at Luco as Piastri passed four drivers, including Pourchaire, for seventh.[104] Pourchaire reclaimed the position on the safety car restart, but was unable to close the gap with his podium as Piastri clinched seventh and the title.[105] He closed his campaign on 164 points—three ahead of Pourchaire and four ahead of Sargeant—with two victories from six podiums.[106] He credited improvements in his racecraft with helping him deal with the increased competition and subsequently became a Formula One test driver for Renault.[107][108]
After ending fourth and seventh in the Monza sprints, Piastri won the feature from pole in a battle with Zhou, which he repeated at Sochi with Théo Pourchaire.[57][125] He took two further victories at Jeddah: he won the second sprint and the feature from pole, the latter being aborted in the wake of several red flag incidents.[126] His fifth consecutive pole at Yas Island saw him start tenth in the first sprint, where he claimed third in a late battle with teammate and runner-up Shwartzman to clinch the title;[127][128] he closed the season with his record fourth successive feature victory.[129] Across his campaign, Piastri took 252.5 points—60.5 ahead of Shwartzman—with six wins from 11 podiums and five pole positions.[130][131] He became the sixth driver in history to win the GP2/F2 title in their rookie season,[note 7] the third to win the GP3/F3 and GP2/F2 titles in successive seasons,[note 8] and the first to win Formula Renault, Formula Three, and Formula Two—or equivalent—championships in successive seasons.[13] He was named FIA Rookie of the Year for his efforts in 2021,[134] stating "[he had] done basically everything [he] could [to prove himself]".[135]
After his FIA Formula 2 title victory, Piastri was appointed the reserve driver of Alpine for their 2022 campaign, amidst links to an Alfa Romeo move;[138] he was also made available in the role for McLaren following an agreement between the two teams.[139] He completed around 3,000km (1,900mi) of further private tests in the A521 throughout the season—part of an "intense" training programme.[140][141] Prior to the São Paulo Grand Prix, he completed a private two-day test for McLaren at Paul Ricard in the MCL35M, before entering post-season testing in the MCL36;[142] he conducted his final rookie test with the team across two days at Barcelona-Catalunya.[143]
2022 contract dispute
Alpine falsely claimed Piastri had signed for them in 2022, leading to a widely publicised contract dispute.
In June 2022, Piastri was offered a seat with Williams for 2023 on a two-year loan from Alpine, who were expected to retain Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso.[144] In August, Alonso announced that he would replace the retiring Sebastian Vettel at Aston Martin.[145] Alpine then announced that Piastri would be his replacement, in a press release absent of comments from Piastri himself.[146] He rejected their announcement two hours later via Twitter, stating that he had not signed a contract and would not be driving for them in 2023.[147] Team principal Otmar Szafnauer criticised his actions and "integrity as a human being", stating that he expected loyalty from Piastri and further threatened to take legal action.[148][149] It soon emerged that Piastri was instead in talks with McLaren.[150]
I understand that, without my agreement, Alpine F1 have put out a press release late this afternoon that I am driving for them next year. This is wrong and I have not signed a contract with Alpine for 2023. I will not be driving for Alpine next year.
—Piastri via Twitter, denying the Alpine press release two hours later[147]
A hearing of the FIA Contract Recognition Board (CRB) commenced four weeks later to determine whether Piastri was contracted to Alpine, or if he was a free agent—victory for Alpine could have obligated Piastri to either fulfil the contract for 2023, or required an interested team to activate a release clause for his services.[151] Prior to the Dutch Grand Prix, the CRB ruled against Alpine, followed by an immediate announcement that Piastri would instead join McLaren.[152] In their final judgment, the CRB revealed that Piastri had signed his McLaren contract almost a month prior to the Alpine announcement—4 July, the day after the British Grand Prix.[153] He was initially only guaranteed a reserve role, prior to the termination of Daniel Ricciardo in the week before the CRB hearing.[154] Piastri later claimed a "breakdown in trust" between him and Alpine was behind his decision to leave.[155]
Piastri finished second in Belgium after a disqualification for George Russell, promoting him to fourth in the standings—ahead of Sainz—before finishing fourth at the Dutch Grand Prix.[200][201] He led the majority of the Italian Grand Prix after a first-lap overtake on Norris, before a strategic error saw him finish second to the one-stop of Leclerc.[202] Qualifying second to Leclerc in Azerbaijan, Piastri claimed another victory following a race-long battle for the lead.[203] He then took third in Singapore,[204] before finishing fifth at the United States Grand Prix.[205] Eighth-placed finishes at the Mexico City and São Paulo Grands Prix—including second at the latter sprint after being ordered to allow Norris to win—were followed by seventh-place in Las Vegas after a false start penalty.[206][207][208][209] Norris returned the favour at the chequered flag for the Qatar Grand Prix sprint, allowing Piastri to take victory before he finished third in the main race.[210][211] He finished the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in tenth after a first-lap collision with Max Verstappen.[212] Piastri ended the season fourth in the World Drivers' Championship on 292 points—82 behind runner-up Norris—with two victories from eight podiums, helping McLaren win their first World Constructors' Championship since 1998.[213]
2025: Title battle vs. Norris
Piastri (pictured at the Japanese Grand Prix) was one of the favourites ahead of the 2025 World Drivers' Championship.
McLaren entered 2025 as title favourites, with Piastri expected to challenge teammate Lando Norris for the World Drivers' Championship.[214] Three days prior to the start of his campaign, McLaren announced a multi-year contract extension with Piastri until at least the end of the 2028 season.[1] He qualified on the front-row for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, behind teammate Norris;[215] he challenged Norris for the lead before spinning in wet conditions, ultimately finishing ninth.[216] After finishing second in the sprint, he took his maiden pole position at the Chinese Grand Prix, dominating the race ahead of Norris to claim his first victory of the season.[217] He finished third in Japan behind Max Verstappen and Norris.[218] Piastri took pole for the Bahrain Grand Prix, cruising to a 15-second winning margin and moving within three points of Norris.[219] He took another victory in Saudi Arabia to become the first Australian to lead the World Drivers' Championship since 2010.[220] He finished second in the Miami Grand Prix sprint after a late safety car put him behind Norris, before winning the main race.[221] On pole for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, he finished third after a first-corner overtake by Verstappen and a strategic error.[222] He won the Spanish Grand Prix after starting on pole,[223] and finished fourth in Canada, where championship rival Norris attempted to overtake him and crashed into the pit wall to extend Piastri's lead to 22 points.[224]
Piastri finished second in Austria after a race-long battle with Norris, narrowly avoiding another collision after locking his brakes at Rauch.[225] He led the majority of the wet-weather British Grand Prix before receiving a penalty for inadvertently brake testing Verstappen on a restart, conceding the victory to Norris.[226] He finished second to Verstappen from pole in the Belgium sprint prior to his victory in the wet–dry Grand Prix, which followed an early overtake on polesitter Norris at the exit of Raidillon.[227] He qualified second—ahead of Norris—in Hungary, where Norris beat him to victory on a one-stop strategy.[228] He took pole for the Dutch Grand Prix and held off Norris until his teammate's late engine failure, achieving his maiden grand chelem and increasing his advantage to 34 points.[229] He held third in Italy until a slow pit stop for Norris elevated him to second; Piastri was controversially ordered to cede the position and settled for third.[230][231][232] He crashed out of qualifying in Azerbaijan; starting ninth, he jumped the start, stalled, and crashed into Turn Five on the opening lap, recording his first retirement in 45 Grands Prix and conceding six points to Norris.[233] First-lap contact with Norris in Singapore dropped Piastri behind him in fourth, as McLaren clinched the World Constructors' Championship with a joint-record six remaining Grands Prix.[234] Another first-corner collision with Norris in the United States sprint saw both retire after Piastri was hit by Nico Hülkenberg in an attempted switchback on Norris for second,[235] which neutralised intra-team "repercussions" Norris was set to face after Singapore;[236] Piastri dropped to fifth in the Grand Prix as Verstappen and Norris—first and second, respectively—closed his advantage to 40 and 14 points.[237] Starting seventh and enduring a mid-race battle with both Mercedes drivers in Mexico City, he ceded this lead with another fifth-position and dropped a point behind the victorious Norris.[238]
Piastri has been noted by drivers and critics for his composure under pressure. In 2023, Scott Mitchell-Malm of The Race compared his "relaxed intensity" to that of Max Verstappen.[239] Upon winning the 2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Luke Smith of The New York Times stated that "stress isn’t an emotion one would associate with Piastri. His calm, collected demeanor has been present right from his junior days."[240] This quality prompted several journalists to list him as a favourite for the 2025 World Drivers' Championship after the Bahrain Grand Prix,[241][242][243] with Martin Brundle comparing him to Alain Prost.[244] Andrew Benson of BBC Sport stated "combining consistent speed [with] mental solidity and racing decisiveness [makes him] a formidable rival".[245] After winning the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, title rival Verstappen stated "he's very calm in his approach, and I like that. [...] He delivers when he has to, barely makes mistakes—and that's what you need when you want to fight for a championship".[246] As his title battle with teammate Lando Norris emerged, Natalie Pinkham of Top Gear described him as "the cerebral assassin", adding that "he races like he's solving a complex puzzle at [200mph (320km/h)]".[247] His composed demeanour has drawn several comparisons to Kimi Räikkönen, widely known as the Iceman.[248][249][250]
Development
Piastri (pictured at the 2025 Japanese Grand Prix) has been noted for his development across his debut seasons.
Piastri has also been lauded for his adaptability, with race engineer Tom Stallard commending his ability to identify flaws in real-time and make improvements without data analysis.[239] His ability to promptly learn from mistakes was initially noted by his engineer in the F4 UAE Championship.[24]Sky Sports described his rookie campaign as "very impressive", noting that his tyre management required improvement.[181] He was noted for his race pace development throughout 2024, as he took his maiden victories in Hungary and Azerbaijan—the latter was described by Luke Smith of The New York Times as a "coming-of-age drive".[251][252][240] By 2025, several critics opined that he had eradicated the tyre management and qualifying pace issues he experienced in his earlier seasons;[243][253][254][255] he worked closely with his engineers to solve the former and extensively analysed his past performances to iterate upon the latter.[256][257]
Since 2018, Piastri has been in a relationship with his childhood sweetheart, Lily Zneimer, an engineering graduate he met while studying at his sixth form in England.[263] During his early career, he lived in an apartment in proximity to the MTC in Woking,[5] before moving to Monte Carlo in 2024.[264]
‹The templateSmallsup is being considered for deletion.›† As Piastri was a guest driver, he was ineligible for championship points. * Season still in progress.
Complete Formula 4 UAE Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)
↑ Known until 2021 as the Renault Sport Academy.[2]
↑ Victor Martins was awarded half points for his victory in race one at the Hungaroring as the race was abandoned after three laps due to adverse weather conditions.[76]
↑ Since 2017, qualifying for the Monte Carlo FIA Formula 2 round had been split into two groups; qualifying position in each group decided the starting grid-row, with the order of each row decided by the fastest time between them.[118] Piastri qualified second in his group and, with a faster time than Dan Ticktum, was classified third overall.[119]
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Australian 
