Oscar Piastri

So here’s the thing about Oscar Piastri — the kid won everything. Formula Renault Eurocup, Formula 3, Formula 2, bang bang bang, three titles in a row, and then nobody gave him a seat. He sat on the sideline as Alpine’s reserve driver, watched other guys race cars he probably could’ve beaten them in, and waited. Most drivers would’ve lost their minds. Piastri just kept working. And when the McLaren opportunity finally came — through that wild contract dispute in the summer of 2022 that had every F1 journalist on the planet refreshing their phones — he grabbed it and hasn’t let go since.

Melbourne born, Melbourne raised. His family moved him to Europe as a teenager so he could chase the dream, which, if you’ve ever priced out a season of junior formula racing, is about as financially terrifying as it sounds. But the talent was always there. You could see it in the junior categories, and you can really see it now. Three wins from his first 50 grands prix, and honestly a few more that got away through strategy calls or bad luck.

Albert Park in March is basically Oscar Piastri’s coronation weekend at this point. The grandstands go papaya orange, the energy is something else entirely, and you get the sense that Australian motorsport hasn’t felt this way since the Ricciardo and Webber days. Maybe even bigger, if were being honest, because Piastri’s the first Aussie who looks like he could genuinely win the whole championship.

Career Statistics

Driver Profile

The 2026 season feels like the big one for Piastri. He was instrumental in McLaren’s double championship run in 2025 — won races, played the team game when Lando Norris needed him to, did everything right. But this year is different. The new regulations reset the field, and Piastri has made it clear, in that quiet, understated way of his, that he’s not here to be the number two anymore. He wants the title. At 24, with the kind of racecraft that makes veteran drivers look ordinary on Sundays, there’s absolutely no reason he can’t get it. The setup work, the tyre management, the wheel-to-wheel stuff — its all elite. Australia hasn’t had a legitimate Formula 1 World Championship contender like this in a generation, and the whole country is along for the ride.

NC — Staff sports writer, australiafootball.com