Oscar Piastri

## Career Overview

### **McLaren (Present)**

Oscar Piastri fills the seat left by Schumacher. Piastri's management were working behind the scenes, and had a preliminary deal in place with McLaren since the summer last year. After the CRB decision went in the team's favour, the Australian completed his duties in the simulator with Alpine before joining the Woking outfit to make his Grand Prix debut in Las Vegas.

Las Vegas hosted the first of three Wildcard races, allocating 5 points for pole, and all 20 positions in the race. Piastri lined up on the back row for his first Grand Prix start. Pierre Gasly span on lap 13, blocking the track after the strip, and brought out the first Safety Car of the season. Both McLarens made progress through the chaos. Piastri finished as the lead MCL60 in 13th.

McLaren's 'true' MCL60 took to the track at the Austrian Grand Prix, with the car being described as B-Spec car minus the chassis. McLaren ran strongly in FP1 with Piastri 5th on Softs, and Norris 10th on Mediums. Norris completed the top 3 in FP2, whilst Piastri struggled on long runs down in 15th. Norris was again at the sharp in final practice with 4th. Norris was the only McLaren in Q3 with 8th. Piastri couldn't get to grips with the MCL60 when it mattered and lined up only 18th. For the first time since 2020 drivers were being lapped. Piastri and Stroll were the first to go to Tirowee. Norris was on a late charge, but Alonso was never going to let a McLaren go easily and the Brit and had to settle for 6th.

McLaren had their best combined qualifying since 2021, with Norris 5th, half a tenth quicker than Piastri 6th for the Dutch Grand Prix. It was a relatively calm start to the Dutch Grand Prix, as Tirowee controlled the pace whilst Verstappen slipped into 2nd. McLaren began to further understand the upgraded MCL60, and Piastri moved into 3rd at the end of lap 1. One lap later, the Australian moved past the defending World Champion into 2nd. Piastri's glory was short lived, as onto lap 4, Verstappen reclaimed the runner up position. At the other end of the grid, Sargant had made a good start, up to 18th, but lost ground on lap 5 to Tsunoda. McLaren played the team game, as on lap 8 Piastri allowed Norris through to challenge Verstappen for 2nd. The front runners began to pit at the end of lap 15. Home hero Verstappen had to go a lap longer was was undercut by Piastri. McLaren once again played a different strategy with Norris. The Brit ran until lap 18 to box for Hards. The Hards also weren't swithcing on for Norris in the overcast conditions, and the McLaren fell behind Gasly and Schumacher. Two laps later, Norris found himself at the mercy of Alonso. Gasly found plenty of pace on his Mediums and the Frechman demoted Piastri off the podium. The rookie fought back at the Alpine but ultimately had no answer. Norris' Hards finally came in on lap 32 and the McLaren driver moved back ahead of Alonso. Piastri had his best finish to date in 4th. Norris recovered back to 6th ahead of Alonso.

It was an extremely wet start to qualifying for the Canadian Grand Prix, but the sky was brightening up. Four big names were caught out in the transition from Wets to Inters at the end of Q1. The track was drying rapidly throughout Q2, but Inters was still the way to go. The track was just about dry enough at the end of Q3 for Softs, with last over the line having the best track conditions. Piastri lined up lead McLaren in 8th, with Norris 9th. Changeable conditions returned for the race. All 20 drivers survived the opening lap without damage. The red flag was out on lap 5, as Carlos Sainz's day ended early, and Liam Lawson collected the Ferrari in the process. By the time the AlphaTauri and Ferrari had been cleared away, the sun was out and the track was dry. 17/18 remaining drivers were on Drys. Toyota made a catastrophic error and fitted the Brazilian's TRD123 with Inters. The skies began to darken once more by lap 18. Two laps later, the Heavens opened and it was time for Inters once more. In a desperate bid to regain lost track position, Albon and Norris attempted another lap on Drys, which would only drop the pair further behind. Schumacher brought out a second red flag on lap 29, when the German had an identical crash to Sainz.

It was a four lap sprint to the end on Full Wets. The pressure of a resurgent Piastri could've been getting to Norris, as the one time race winner plowed into the back of Leclerc at the hairpin, and had to box with damage. Oscar Piastri secured his first podium finish, with 2nd. This result also moved McLaren ahead of Williams in the Constructor's to 7th, despite Sargeant finishing 4th.

Piastri became a race winner at the Spanish Grand Prix. Norris put the lap together to secure pole ahead of Verstappen. Verstappen stole the lead from Norris, whilst Tirowee moved up to 5th. Schumacher started on Softs and needed to make moves quickly. Williams suffered another mechanical retirement, but this time to Logan Sargeant's car. The Safety Car was deployed, allowing the FW45 to be cleared. Norris lead back to green at the end of lap 7. Norris had a comfortable lead over team mate Piastri on lap 14, but a rear right suspension failure forced the Brit to retire. It's not the first time a McLaren looked odds on for victory before it all went wrong. The one-stoppers that were on Mediums began to pit at the end of lap 16 for Hards. Tirowee ran to the end of lap 19 for Softs to chase down Piastri on Hards. This race was one for the history books, as Oscar Piastri became a rookie winner at his 13th attempt. He became the first driver to win in their debut season since Mick Schumacher in 2017. A faultless drive and a bit of luck secured the Aussie his first victory three seconds ahead of Tirowee.