McLaren F1 star Oscar Piastri’s parents spent millions on his career ahead of Australian Grand Prix

Prodigiously talented F1 star Oscar Piastri has made a stunning rise through the ranks ahead of his home race at this weekend’s Australian Grand Prix – but it cost his parents up to $6.5million to realise that dream.

As the 21-year-old prepares to race in the city he was born and raised in, many voices in racing are speaking about just how impressive that rise through the ranks has been.

The Melbournite started racing remote-controlled cars at a national level before beginning his career in 2011 at the Oakleigh Go-Karting club.

He won the Eurocup, Formula 3 and Formula 2 Championships in successive years, and now aged just 21 is already finding himself in the top 10 of qualifying despite driving one of the worst cars on the grid. 

So just how impressive is the rise and rise of Aussie Oscar ahead of his first-ever home grand prix? 

Melbourne upbringing

Piastri was born in Melbourne on April 6, 2001 – yes, he is that young – to parents Chris and Nicole. 

Father Chris owns a successful automotive software development company, and it was clear from the get-go that Piastri was obsessed with everything car-related.

That’s right down to his choice of bedtime stories, which were mainly car books. The keen youngster could even recite the horsepower, speed and other stats of his favourite models.

But they say every journey begins with a single step, and in Piastri’s F1 case, it was a purchase his father made overseas.

‘We bought remote-controlled cars when I was on a business trip in America and Oscar took to that incredibly. He started racing them and got third place in his first-ever event against 20 and 30-year-olds when he was just six,’ Chris told the Sydney Morning Herald in 2021.

He continued to race remote-controlled cars at a National level, winning the second-level of competition aged just nine, before it was time to graduate for the big boy karts.  

First foray into racing

Piastri first began racing aged just nine at Oakleigh Go-Kart Racing Club, which is in Melbourne’s south-east; and it was immediately apparent he was going to be something special. 

The prodigious youngster believed he was instantly set up for success thanks to that remote-controlled car background.

‘Having raced remote-control cars, I kind of had a rough idea on racing lines and how the basic principles of driving worked,’ Piastri told Australian Associated Press recently. 

Chris has previously said he had ‘never seen a kid with as big a grin on his face’ as his son had on the day they walked into the club for the first time. 

Piastri was first mentored by former Aussie karting champion James Sera, who taught him how to race. He knew he had something special on his hands.

‘From day one, he was always destined for something like this,’ he told Fairfax of the Aussie’s first forays into racing.

‘He was nine or 10 [when he started]. He was young, but he just had something that none of the other kids had. He was very smooth, he knew the lines so quickly.’ 

And it wasn’t as a bouncy, enthusiastic youngster, either. Many keen observers have remarked he always seemed unflappable in the driving seat despite competing against boys who were many years older than him.

Turning pro at 13, the student of Melbourne’s prestigious Haileybury College became too talented to be a big fish in a small pond – so off he headed to board at the schools UK campus aged 15.

But not before he managed to finish third in a international karting competition at the iconic Le Mans – stamping himself as one of the brightest talents in the international circuit.   

Road to the F1 grid 

The road to the grid in motor sport’s premier category involves scaling several tiers of racing; something Piastri has done with breathtaking speed. 

He started in the F4 UAE Championship in 2016 aged 15 and didn’t take long to settle into his seat, nabbing two podium finishes to finish sixth overall – despite only competing in select races. 

He took a giant leap forward the following season, finishing second in the British F4 Championship, and the last Aussie to win an F1 Drivers Championship, Alan Jones, said it showed the huge determination Piastri had to succeed.  

‘It shows commitment and a desire,’ he said of Piastri’s move to the UK in his mid-teens.

‘At the end of the day, he can’t go to mum and have a Sunday lunch. He’s got to pack his bags and move out of the country that he was born in, live abroad among strangers, and to do that shows a determination to go well.’

That determination has stood him in good stead.

He moved up to the more powerful Formula Renault when he was 17, and was not overawed, finishing ninth before a move to the reigning champions R-ace GP reaped immediate rewards, taking out the Drivers Championship in 2019; starting a run of excellence.

And it was here that Piastri and father Chris, who were aware of young Oscar’s special talent, enlisted the help of Aussie F1 legend Mark Webber and his wife, Anne.

‘We realised that we were getting a lot closer to the top of the ladder during my Formula Renault season but felt that we needed some help,’ Piastri said of enlisting Webber, a nine-time winner, as his manager.

‘At that point, it was literally just me and my dad.

‘So we thought that it would be a good idea to have Mark on our side … it has been a very good relationship.’

That win saw a move up to F3 with Prema Racing in 2020, where two wins and four podiums were enough to snag the Drivers Championship in a Covid-affected year. 

The excellence continued as he made the leap up to F2 with Prema in 2021, and he won in just his second race after some brilliant driving from sixth on the grid. 

Five more wins and five more podiums followed as he won the Championship yet again. His talent was also recognised with the FIA Rookie of the Year award and Autosport Rookie of the Year award.

Only Charles Leclerc and George Russell have won the F3 and F2 in consecutive years, and one of F1’s most respected voices, David Croft, said that really underscored how impressive the Aussie’s achievements are.

‘Let’s put this into context, Oscar Piastri was born a month after Fernando Alonso made his F1 debut in the same city,’ he said recently.

‘As a racing driver, he is absolutely the real deal. Like Charles Leclerc and George Russell, he won the two main feeder systems in F3 and F2 in consecutive years.’

But boy, the journey has not been cheap. 

Piastri’s father Chris estimates that to get him from a young fella Down Under to a future F1 superstar has cost him up to $6.5million, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. 

Even racing remote-controlled cars as a young boy cost the company owner $10,000 a year; with go-karts needing between $50,000-$75,000 a year. 

That figure jumps to an astonishing $500,000 to kart in Europe, while F3 and F2 seasons cost millions – with prizemoney for winning not covering the huge expenses. 

Realising a F1 dream

Piastri spent 2022 as the reserve driver at Alpine, before controversially jumping ship to McLaren after the team announced he had scored himself a drivers seat in 2023…without consulting him.

So, the Orange tractor it is for Piastri’s F1 debut.

And while he has finished 20th and 15th to begin the season thanks to said tractor, which is about as reliable as NSW Premier Chris Minns’ campaign bus, some brilliant driving has caused the F1 world to take notice. 

Engine failure cruelled his debut in Jeddah, but impressive driving in one of the paddock’s worst cars (for now, anyway) in qualifying of the Saudi Arabian GP saw him start eighth on the grid.

Unfortunately for the Aussie, the dire state of things at McLaren meant he finished 15th after having to pit on the very first lap of the race due to damage to his front wing. 

Pundits, former legends of the sport and fans then went into meltdown over the fact Piastri was faster than his teammate despite the team not electing to leave him on a set of hard tyres instead of giving him new rubber like Lando Norris got. 

2016 Champion Nico Rosberg said he liked what he saw from the rising star.

‘I have been very impressed this weekend with Oscar,’ he said on the Sky Sports coverage of the race. 

‘It’s the ultimate challenge for a rookie to come in and be up against Lando, especially when the car is so difficult and bad to drive. A really solid weekend.’ 

Jones, the last Aussie to win a Drivers Championship, took it a step further – though Piastri will obviously need to find himself a better car. 

‘I think he can go on to be world champion,’ Jones told the Herald Sun on Saturday. 

‘Every now and again someone comes along that has got an enormous amount of talent and I reckon he is one of those sorts of people.

‘Everything he has ever put his bum in, he has won and there are not too many people that can say that.’ 

This weekend, an even bigger dream becomes reality, as Piastri prepares to race on the iconic Albert Park street track at the Australian GP. 

‘It probably hasn’t sunk in yet,’ Piastri said of racing in the city he was born.

‘Formula One is something I’ve wanted to do since I was a kid.

‘To be able to fulfill that dream now and be able to call it a job, I’m really looking forward to that.’

Practice begins on Friday, with qualifying scheduled for 4pm on Saturday. The race itself will begin at 3pm on Sunday.