Oscar Piastri – a driver who became famous for his cool head and composure both on and off the track. From a very young age, he showed immense talent within him, and the ability to keep a cool head in the toughest moments made him immediately labeled as the “perfect driver” – one who does not show too many emotions, thus becoming almost one with the machine he drives. Such a label can quickly become a trap – because every moment of weakness starts to look like a failure, not a natural part of the sport. However, the past season showed a completely different side of Oscar, who proved that he is not a robot, but a human who can also be broken.
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From the beginning of his motorsport career, he was considered a phenomenon who would very quickly move from junior categories to the queen of motorsport. And indeed, that happened. At the age of 10, when he started his karting adventure, he won his first regional titles. For the young Australian, it was clear that if he wanted to aim high, he would have to leave his hometown. At the age of 14, he moved to the United Kingdom with his father, and six months later he lived in a boarding school – alone and tens of thousands of kilometers from home and family. As he himself emphasizes, since then he sees his closest ones a few times a year, mostly at races. Such sacrifice was necessary to continue developing and quickly brought the expected results. He won his first championship at just 19 years old in the Formula Renault Eurocup. A year later, he triumphed in Formula 3, and in 2021 in Formula 2. Thus, he became the first driver in history to win these three titles season after season.
Move to McLaren and debut season in F1
Such talent could not be wasted, so in 2022 it was officially announced that he would drive for the McLaren team in the 2023 season. And even then, Piastri showed that he is not the type of driver who lets others “walk all over him,” as he became the main character of the “Twitter affair.” After Alpine announced that he would be their full-time driver, he denied this statement quite frankly, emphasizing that such a decision was made without his consent. The then 22-year-old Oscar showed everyone how strong his character is, which earned him the sympathy of many fans.
He debuted at McLaren in 2023, but his beginnings were not easy. He did not finish his first race, and during the first part of the season, he finished in places at the back or outside the points-scoring top ten. However, it should be noted that the entire team faced many technical problems – the car simply was not the fastest on the grid. Properly implemented changes meant that from the second half of the season, both Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris significantly improved their results. It was after these changes that Piastri stood on the podium for the first time in Japan. The following race weekend in Qatar saw him win the sprint and finish second in the race itself. He ultimately ended his debut season in ninth place in the drivers’ standings.
Significant improvement in results in the 2024 season
The 2024 season was much better for the Australian – he had a competitive car and experience that he used in subsequent races. It was then that he won his first Grand Prix in Hungary. However, it was not without controversy, as this was when we learned what the famous “Papaya Rules” are. Due to a team error, although Oscar was leading the race, Lando Norris was the first to pit for tire changes, gaining the lead. Then both drivers were ordered “from above” to swap positions. Even then, it was clear that despite being each other’s biggest rivals, they respected each other, as they carried out the order without major problems. Ultimately, Piastri stood on the top step, and we heard the Australian anthem. Since then, we have gotten used to it. A few weeks later, Oscar won the Azerbaijan GP. This was spectacular because it is a track that never suited McLaren’s style. In the entire 2024 season, he only failed to score points in one race and finished fourth in the drivers’ standings. Importantly, his consistency was one of the key factors contributing to McLaren winning the constructors’ championship.
Competition for the F1 World Championship in 2025
The real breakthrough for Piastri was the 2025 season. McLaren entered this season as a favorite for both titles, and the first weekend was to prove it. For the Australian GP, Oscar qualified second, just behind his teammate. Throughout the race, he fought for victory, but near the end, due to wet conditions, he lost control of the car and ended up on the grass. Videos quickly spread online showing him, cheered on by the home crowd, doing everything to get back on track. Thanks to his determination, he managed to do so and finished the race in ninth place. After that, things only got better. Piastri began regularly standing on the podium, including on its highest step. He took the lead in the drivers’ standings and started building an increasingly large advantage, which peaked at 34 points over second-placed Lando Norris. Throughout, he showed stoic calm, and his lack of emotional reactions quickly became a characteristic trait. Some already at this point awarded him the world champion title, confident that nothing could break such a talented driver. Second place in the Hungarian GP, summer break, return to the track, and another victory in the Netherlands. No one then suspected how badly the end of the season could go for the young Australian. The dream season turned into a nightmare season.
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It all started in Azerbaijan – the previous year was a dream. In the 2025 season, nothing went as it should from the start of the weekend. Terrible qualifying, during which he crashed the car in Q3, securing ninth on the grid. Then a false start in the race. However, he did not give the stewards time to issue a penalty because he crashed the car again on the first lap. This meant his first DNF in 45 races. A video of Oscar sitting by the track watching the race on his phone quickly went viral online. The following weekends ended with 4th and 5th places, but it was clear that something had broken inside the driver himself. It seems there was psychological overload – a buildup of mistakes, pressure, and loss of control that hit the foundation of his driving style. He easily got irritated on the radio, exemplified by the first lap in Singapore when, during a fight for third place, he collided with his teammate. As a result, Piastri lost position and expressed his dissatisfaction to the race engineer, clearly implying that Lando should be penalized for such driving. When he was told the collision was not serious and the team would not order a position change, his response was quite telling. It was a clear sign that the Australian was beginning to lose patience, which was inconsistent with his previous image. This immediately sparked speculation among his fans, and a clear split occurred among Papaya supporters.
The bad streak continued for the Australian in races in Austin, Brazil, and Mexico, where he clearly lagged in pace behind his two biggest rivals – Lando Norris and Max Verstappen, whose chase became increasingly intense. Experts began to speculate that Oscar’s driving style lacked its former “bite.” Lando’s wins in Brazil and Mexico meant he first took the lead in the drivers’ standings and then extended his advantage. The culmination of misfortunes was disqualification after the Las Vegas race, where Piastri, second in the drivers’ standings, was caught by Verstappen, and the gap to Norris was already 24 points. Oscar, who had been the most reliable candidate for the World Championship title for 15 races, suddenly became the one for whom winning the title would be almost a miracle.
The Qatar GP was supposed to be the moment of awakening for the Australian – he won the sprint and secured the coveted Pole Position. However, the perfect weekend ended when the team engineers made a mistake by not bringing McLaren drivers in for tire changes when the safety car appeared on track. This meant they had to pit twice more while the rest of the field only once. It does not take a brilliant mathematician to conclude that with such a situation (the main chaser in the race was Max Verstappen), Oscar had no chance for the desired victory. This meant that before the last race, his chances for the world championship significantly diminished. Even an incredibly driven race in Abu Dhabi, finishing second on the podium, did not help because with Lando Norris finishing third, the title went to him. Additionally, due to Verstappen’s incredible chase, Piastri dropped to third in the drivers’ standings. As he now admits, the days after the Abu Dhabi race weekend were not easy. He had to come to terms with defeat in an almost perfect season, where he emphasizes that second place in the race was almost a disaster.
Bad luck and successes at the start of the 2026 season
The start of the 2026 season was actually an extension of the bad streak for Piastri, as he did not start in two races, including his beloved Australia. However, when he finally lined up at the start of the Japanese GP, he drove an incredible race, and if not for an unfortunate pit stop just before the safety car appeared on track, he might have even won the race. Interestingly, it is the Suzuka race that the Australian cites as one of the best in his career, emphasizing that he did everything he could. It was also good during the Miami GP, where, after numerous car upgrades that finally made it competitive with the rest of the field, Oscar twice stood on the podium – second in the sprint and third in the race.
Summary
Despite so many difficulties, Oscar’s statements are always very measured and rational. He emphasizes that he learns the most from failures, accepts what happens, and moves on. Interestingly, he notes that he gained such emotional maturity while working with a mental coach. We can therefore conclude that we are dealing with an absolute professional who knows how to control his emotions, and the 2025 season additionally showed that this does not mean being indifferent – it is the ability to cope with emotions when everything starts to fall apart. And it is this mentality that has allowed the young Australian to boast such impressive results at such a young age. However, when assessing, we must remember that such emotional maturity does not mean we are dealing with an emotionless robot. Perhaps Oscar Piastri’s greatest strength is not the lack of emotions – but that despite them, he can still come back.
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The author of the article is Aleksandra Binkowska, you can find her on TikTok – link.
