Oscar Piastri

**Oscar Jack Piastri** (born 6 April 2001) is an Australian racing driver currently competing in Formula 1.5 for McLaren. He is the first Formula 1.5 driver born in the 21st century.

He won the 2019 Formula Renault Eurocup with R-ace GP, and won the 2020 FIA Formula 3 Championship and 2021 Formula 2 Championship with Prema Racing. He is only the sixth driver to win the GP2/Formula 2 Championship in their rookie season, and the fifth driver to win the GP3/Formula 3 Championship and the GP2/Formula 2 Championship in consecutive seasons. Due to his success in lower formulae, Piastri is widely considered as one of the most promising young drivers in motorsport.

## F1.5 Career

### Alpine (2022)

After his Formula 2 title victory, Piastri was appointed as Alpine reserve driver for the 2022 season. He was also made available as a reserve driver for McLaren following an agreement between the two teams. He took part in Alpine's testing sessions in the A521 throughout the season, including at the Circuit of the Americas, Losail International Circuit and Silverstone Circuit. McLaren team principal Andreas Seidl confirmed that Piastri had a private two day testing session in a previous-spec McLaren car at Circuit Paul Ricard the week before the São Paulo Grand Prix.

#### Contract Dispute

In June 2022, it was reported that Piastri was set to drive for Williams in 2023 on loan from Alpine, who were initially expected to retain Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso. However, in August, Alonso announced that he would leave the team to replace the retiring Sebastian Vettel at Aston Martin. Alpine announced Piastri would replace Alonso in 2023, although the press release contained no quotes from Piastri himself. Piastri rejected Alpine's announcement via a post on Twitter, stating that he had not signed a contract with the team and that he would not be driving for them in 2023. Alpine team principal Otmar Szafnauer followed up by criticising Piastri's actions and "integrity as a human being", saying that he expected loyalty from the former academy driver, and threatened to take the contract matters to court.

A hearing of the FIA's Contract Recognition Board (CRB) commenced on 29 August 2022 with the intention of determining whether Piastri was contracted to Alpine, or if he was free to join a different team for 2023. Had Alpine won their case with the board, the team could have obligated Piastri to fulfil his contract and race for them in 2023, or it could have sought a compensation fee for Piastri's services from any other interested teams. Prior to Dutch Grand Prix, the CRB ruled against Alpine, with Piastri's move to McLaren confirmed shortly thereafter. In their final judgement the CRB also revealed the date on which Piastri had formally signed his McLaren contract which was the 4 July 2022 – one day after the British Grand Prix had taken place. This contract initially only guaranteed Piastri with a reserve role for 2023, with an upgrade to a race seat dependent on the Woking team being able to agree a contract termination with Daniel Ricciardo – which was agreed upon prior to the Belgian Grand Prix. Piastri said a "breakdown in trust" between him and Alpine was behind his decision to leave the Enstone-based team.

### McLaren (2023)

#### 2023 Season

Piastri races for McLaren in 2023 alongside Lando Norris. Alpine agreed to end Piastri's contract early to allow Piastri to join McLaren in the post-season testing session immediately after the 2022 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. In his first race in the Bahrain Grand Prix, Piastri was the first to retire from the race on lap 14, where his car failed to restart after a steering wheel change. Piastri scored his first points at Saudi Arabia, finishing 8th. The next race, his home race, is where Oscar took his maiden F1.5 podium to finish third, a result he would repeat at the next race in Azerbaijan.