Oscar Piastri

Biography of F1 driver Oscar Piastri

Oscar Piastri suffered an inauspicious start to his F1 career when he found himself in the middle of a tug of war between Alpine and McLaren for his services before the latter finally won out.

During his three seasons in F1, Piastri has proven himself to be a star driver, coming close to title glory in 2025. Here is all you need to know about the Australian heading into the 2026 campaign.

Piastri's early career

Born in Melbourne in 2001, Piastri initiated his racing journey by engaging in karting competitions in Australia. Subsequently, he advanced to participate in European championships.

Following in the footsteps of other Australian Formula 1 drivers like Daniel Ricciardo, Piastri made the move to Europe in 2016, steadfastly pursuing his motorsport aspirations. Establishing himself in the United Kingdom, he made his debut in single-seaters in the Formula 4 UAE Championship.

At the age of 15, Piastri raced for Dragon F4 in 2016, securing two podium finishes and finishing sixth in the championship.

Transitioning to British F4 with the TRS Arden Junior Racing Team in 2017, Piastri was runner-up after notching six wins and six pole positions throughout the season.

The subsequent stage in his career was the Formula Renault Eurocup, where Piastri's progression accelerated further. Following a ninth-place finish in the 2018 championship, the young driver joined the reigning champions, R-ace GP in 2019, and clinched the title at the season finale in Abu Dhabi with a series of victorious performances.

Making an impression in F3

For 2020, Piastri made the step up to Formula 3 with Prema Racing. He had to wait to make his debut, though, with the Covid-19 pandemic forcing the beginning of the season to be delayed until July.

It was an impressive start for the driver from Australia; he claimed his first victory in the category at the season-opening event in Austria, despite a collision on the first lap, before going on to take several points finishes in the races that followed.

Piastri clinched another win at the sprint race in Spain and kept himself in contention in what proved to be a closely fought battle for the championship.

The Australian was leading the drivers' standings going into the season finale at Mugello, but after failing to score points in the feature race, was left tied on points with team-mate Logan Sargeant ahead of the sprint.

Whilst Sargeant recorded a DNF after a collision on the first lap, Piastri finished seventh, which was enough for him to secure the championship by three points from Theo Pourchaire and four points ahead of Sargeant.

Alongside this feat, Piastri had already attracted attention from various figures in motorsport, having been signed to the then Renault Sport Academy in January 2020. He took part in his first F1 test for the outfit following his F3 championship victory.

Piastri dominates in Formula 2

Piastri continued with the Prema outfit as he progressed to Formula 2 in 2021, replacing 2020 champion Mick Schumacher.

A new format had been introduced into the series whereby each race weekend would feature two sprint races and a feature race. Piastri finished fifth in the first sprint at the season-opening event in Sakhir before taking his debut F2 victory in the second.

The future F1 driver claimed a podium at each of the following rounds before clinching the lead in the championship at Silverstone after taking pole position. His debut feature race win came at the next event at Monza, one in which he battled with championship rival Zhou Guanyu.

Piastri went on to win every remaining feature race in the season, including a victory at the finale in Abu Dhabi, which saw him seal the title.

With his championship success, Piastri had followed in the footsteps of drivers including Lewis Hamilton and George Russell by winning the F2 crown in his debut season, as well as becoming only the fifth driver after Hamilton, Russell, Nico Hulkenberg and Charles Leclerc to take victory in F3 and then F2 in the following year.

Controversy on the sidelines in 2022

While Piastri was left without a race seat in 2022, he was appointed as a reserve driver for the Alpine F1 team, having remained a part of the Alpine Academy. An agreement had also been made that he would be available to McLaren as a reserve.

The Australian took part in test sessions for Alpine whilst on the F1 sidelines, before hitting the headlines in the summer of 2022 when a dispute arose over his services for the 2023 season.

After Fernando Alonso confirmed that he would leave the team to join Aston Martin for the next season, Alpine announced that Piastri would replace the Spaniard in 2023, though the press release featured no quotes from Piastri himself. Piastri went on to state via social media that he had not signed for Alpine.

The young driver had agreed a deal to race at McLaren as Daniel Ricciardo's replacement and the case was taken to the Contract Recognition Board, with the verdict going in McLaren's favour. It was then officially confirmed that Piastri would race for the Woking-based squad in 2023.

Piastri was given his first taste of his new team when he got behind the wheel of a 2022 car at the post-season test in Abu Dhabi. 

A great 2023 season and the start of 2024

After an eventful year away from the circuit, Piastri finally made his F1 debut with McLaren in 2023, racing alongside Lando Norris.

It proved to be a disastrous start to the campaign for McLaren as it conceded it was behind on the development of its car going into the season.

It was not until the Austrian Grand Prix that a relevant upgrade was added, following which the results significantly improved. Piastri scored his first podiums in the back-to-back races in Japan and Qatar en route to finishing ninth in the drivers' standings. He also won the sprint in Qatar.

Remarkably, despite less than one season with McLaren, he signed a contract extension in September of that year through to the end of 2026.

In 2024, as McLaren emerged as a force to be reckoned with, Piastri scored points in all but one of the 24 races. In the 13th of those in Hungary, he finally stepped onto the top step of the podium, following that up with a second win a few races later in Azerbaijan. He finished fourth in the standings that year, 82 points behind runner-up team-mate Norris.

In March 2025, Piastri was rewarded with another major contract extension, believed to extend through to the end of 2028.

It was a year in which, at one stage, Piastri appeared on course to win the drivers' title. After winning his seventh race of the year, taking the chequered flag in the Dutch GP, he led Norris by 34 points, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen by 104 points.

Unfortunately for Piastri, he failed to win another race, and his championship challenge faltered, notably crashing in qualifying and the race in Azerbaijan, and colliding with Norris in the United States sprint.

By the season's end, he was forced to concede the title to Norris, finishing 13 points adrift, and 11 behind Verstappen.

He and Norris will again form McLaren's driver pairing in 2026.