Regardless of the final outcomes of the 2024 championship, Oscar Piastri has hit the mark. He has become a Grand Prix winner, confirmed significant growth, and above all, has gotten into the heads of many competitors, including Lando Norris. There are common traits between the early steps in Formula 1 of many champions, and Oscar Piastri (for now) is walking the same path. He does it his way because Oscar has always been a bit different from other drivers of his generation. Now that he is in the spotlight of the Formula 1 world for many fans, as well as quite a few insiders, he appears to be an inscrutable young man.
That Oscar Piastri is destined for the upper echelons of motorsport has been known for a long time. He has the speed, the passion for engineering, and great dedication to work. But what sets him apart from his peers is a character trait that is an important asset in a sport where one constantly has to deal with immense pressure: calm, lucid, and analytical. During his career in the junior formulas, his path was exciting, but not everything always went as expected. In 2020, his debut season in Formula 3, Oscar Piastri was heavily affected by a persistent DRS problem on his car, which lasted for several race weekends.
An issue that would rattle anyone’s nerves, but not his. He began a long story narrated on Twitter (still visible today) where he dialogued with “my dear DRS,” humorously recounting his misadventures race after race. The Prema team went crazy trying to locate the origin of the problem, and only after several race weekends was it discovered that the anomaly was due to a sensor. During this difficult time, Oscar Piastri showed no signs of frustration, focusing on securing as many points as possible under those conditions and winning the title at the end of the season.
His approach is that of a seasoned veteran. When things don’t go the way he wants, his analyses don’t contain a single misplaced word, and he has a unique ability to highlight a problematic situation with a joke, without ever appearing offensive or arrogant to those on the other side of the table. It’s a gift that allows him to win over the people he works with and gain the support of the group.
Among the challenges Oscar Piastri had to face was the traumatic end of his relationship with Alpine and the subsequent move to McLaren in the summer of 2022. Usually, a driver caught in such situations comes out looking bad, especially in terms of image, but that wasn’t the case for Oscar. In his situation, there was also an additional ‘aggravating’ factor—the arrival at McLaren at the expense of his fellow countryman, Daniel Ricciardo. Criticism or controversy? None. Oscar Piastri said little about the matter, but what little he did say was well-directed. He could have (at least initially) ended up in the crosshairs of Daniel Ricciardo’s many supporters, especially in his home country of Australia, but the negative effects were practically nil.
Of course, maturity would mean little if it weren’t backed up by pure performance, but Oscar has dispelled those doubts long ago, convincing Renault at the end of 2019 to include him in its Academy. Three years later, with three consecutive titles (F. Renault, F.3, and F.2) under his belt, he convinced McLaren to make a bold move: guaranteeing Daniel Ricciardo the full salary stipulated in his contract for the 2023 season and putting Oscar in the car. In hindsight, the operation proved brilliant, a coup for which Zak Brown and Andrea Stella can only be pleased.
It’s true that today Norris is in the championship fight, and on paper, Lando Norris currently holds a 42-point lead over his teammate. But Formula 1 is also a sport where you need to be able to read the future, and Oscar Piastri’s solidity has also made an impact within the McLaren garage. The team has not wanted to anoint a second driver, and Oscar will only be sacrificed if the circumstances truly call for it. Since the championship landed in Europe (during the Imola weekend), Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri have scored an equal amount of points, 196 each, confirming Oscar’s significant growth, which is evident in his direct comparison with a teammate who doesn’t give any discounts.
Oscar Piastri is under special observation even outside McLaren’s walls, something Brown and Stella know well, as they work hard to prevent discontent from arising within the team. They know they have a future world champion on their hands, a rough diamond that is quickly revealing its brilliance, and they don’t want to create cracks that might allow competitors to slip in with tempting offers.
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