Imola: Oscar Piastri chasing Ayrton Senna’s record for consecutive McLaren wins. Oscar Piastri could equal Ayrton Senna’s record for most consecutive McLaren wins if he triumphs at Imola.

Oscar Piastri out front
In the first six races of this World Championship, McLaren has established itself as the team to beat, with a total of five victories. Among the two Woking-based drivers, Oscar Piastri has stood on the top step of the podium four times, with the Australian currently leading the overall standings. Car #81 will aim to finish ahead once again at the upcoming Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, scheduled for this weekend, with a win that would allow him to make McLaren history by equaling a significant record.

A McLaren record
Should he triumph at Imola, the 24-year-old would match the record held by Ayrton Senna for the highest number of consecutive wins in a McLaren. Currently, thanks to victories from the Bahrain GP through to the latest race in Miami, Oscar Piastri shares second place on this special list with Mika Hakkinen. The Finn completed his trio of wins across the 1997 and 1998 seasons, winning the final race of ’97 in Jerez (notable for the infamous collision between Michael Schumacher and Jacques Villeneuve, who went on to win the title) and the first two races of the following season in Australia and Brazil. Those wins contributed to the first of his two world championships.

Senna’s winning streaks
Twenty-seven years later, Oscar Piastri has thus matched the “Flying Finn”, but the all-time record for consecutive wins at McLaren belongs to the late Ayrton Senna. The Brazilian claimed four straight victories with the Woking team, achieving the feat on two occasions: the first was in 1988, when in his debut season with McLaren, he won the British, German, Hungarian, and Belgian Grands Prix, ultimately taking his first world title.

Ayrton Senna’s third and final championship came in 1991, again with McLaren and again with four consecutive wins: United States, Brazil (a historic race remembered for his emotional home victory despite gearbox problems), San Marino, and Monaco. Oscar Piastri is therefore on the verge of equaling this record, but there’s more: if he were to win again in Monaco, the race following the Emilia-Romagna GP, car #81 would also equal the longest consecutive win streak ever achieved by an Australian driver. That record currently belongs to Jack Brabham, who took five wins in 1960.