Oscar Piastri is 23 years old, itinerary of a child in a hurry

Happy Birthday, Oscar piastri ! This Japanese Grand Prix weekend, Australia is celebrating its 23rd anniversary. The pilot McLaren this year is experiencing its second campaign in Formula 1. After a rookie season full of promise, with two podiums and a Sprint Race victory in 2023, Oscar Piastri has become one of the darlings of the discipline. Considered a champion in the making, the Melbourne native confirmed that he is indeed pure talent, a rough diamond of motorsport, a label that has stuck with him since his debut in car where he won everything.

Piastri, an ascent at high speed

Born to Italian-Australian parents, Oscar Piastri will enter the world of motorsport in a rather original way. It was through RC (radio-controlled) car racing that the young Aussie developed a passion for automobiles. He will even take part in national competitions, before very quickly making the step to karting. Like many Australians in motorsport, Piastri had to go into exile in Europe to prove himself.

It was in Great Britain that he found refuge, at the age of 15, before participating in the F4 championship the following year. If he did not win the title (2nd), he quickly got noticed thanks to his 6 victories. After an almost blank season in 2018 in Formula Renault Eurocup, he won the title the following season with 7 victories in 19 events. This success does not go unnoticed by the Diamond brand, which integrated him into its academy in January 2020. A big name in F1, Mark Webber, will even take him under his wing and become his manager.

This is where everything accelerates for Oscar Piastri. For its first season in Formula 3, he was chosen to race with Prema, one of the top teams. And the Australian doesn't tremble: the rookie narrowly wins the championship thanks to exemplary consistency (15 finishes in the top 8 in 18 races). It takes no less to propel it into Formula 2 in 2021, still with Prema. Copy-pasted from the previous year, Piastri pocketed the title by dominating the season head and shoulders. He became champion at Yas Marina, at the end of Race 1, and became the 3rd rookie to win the Formula 2 championship after Charles Leclerc and George Russell.

© Antonin Vincent / DPPI

A year of frustration before the big leap

In two years, Oscar Piastri won the two promotion championships, all as a rookie. An extraordinary performance which should have opened the doors to Formula 1 for him, you say? Well no. The main problem ofAlpine, is that it does not have a sister team or partnerships, as can be Red Bull, Mercedes et Ferrari. So in 2022, with a Alonso who clings to his seat and a Or with renewed until 2024, impossible to place the Australian on the grid.

But the situation is settling for the rookie with a meteoric career, after a year of gravitating around his dreams of tenure. In the tsunami that the departure of Fernando Alonso causes among Alpine, the Australian escapes through the McLaren door. A rocky start for someone who nevertheless prefers to stay away from the radar, putting additional pressure on his shoulders... As if being the most anticipated talent of his generation in the premier category was not already important enough. The calm after the storm, Piastri took his first steps on the grid, in a team in difficulty.

A first season full of promise

Two Grands Prix later, he scored his first points at home in Melbourne, the Australian public delighted to still have a local child to pamper after the departure of Daniel Ricciardo. A counter that unlocks, where Oscar does Piastri: patient, far from the difficulties of a race with twists and turns, regular, methodical. Result: a sixth place for those born on April 6, an early birthday present.

And this is only the beginning: very quickly, McLaren's performance takes off as developments progress, and Oscar Piastri also takes off with the experience gained. The races go by, the results improve: first a first row and a first Top 3 in the Sprint Race, in Belgium, then a first podium won in Japan. At Suzuka, the Australian enters the very closed circle rookies having obtained a podium in Formula 1.

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Two weeks later, the McLaren driver did even better and won the Qatar Grand Prix Sprint Race after taking pole position in the Sprint! The next day, he earned his second consecutive podium with 2nd place in the Grand Prix, his best result in F1 to date. Final championship ranking: 9th, with 97 points.

In 2024, if Oscar Piastri has gotten rid of his rookie label, he now has the label of a potential champion. McLaren knows how to hold a real diamond in the rough, and hastened to extend his nugget until 2026. The Australian will also have to confirm against a Lando Norris always more offensive, and who will not fail to defend his territory within his team.

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