The Australian driver on his journey from ‘fanging around’ in the backyard with remote-control monster trucks to the verge of motor racing’s pinnacle
From a distance, it feels like Oscar Piastri was destined for the pinnacle of motor-racing. “My dad’s dad and my mum’s dad, my pop and my granddad, they were both mechanics,” the 20-year-old Australian says. “And my dad – his business is a car-tuning business. So I think it was naturally running in the family.”
When Piastri was six, his father Chris returned from a business trip with a remote-controlled monster truck. “I was just fanging around with that in the backyard,” he says. Remote control racing led to go-karting, which led to Formula Four, Three, Two and now, this year, a reserve driver spot with BWT Alpine in Formula One. “That [monster truck] led to the journey I have taken so far.”