Piastri, JapaneseGP — Photo: © LAT Images

F1 Off the Track

Piastri reveals clear obsession with IMPRESSIVE off-track hobbies

The young Australian has some interesting past times

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Friday 26 January 2024 22:57

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri has shown off his infatuation with racing, by suggesting that he spends his spare time playing racing games as it tests his reactions.

The young Australian recently enjoyed a brilliant first season in Formula 1, becoming the first driver since Lewis Hamilton to claim more than one podium in their debut year, and winning the Rookie of the Year award for 2023.

What's more, the 22-year-old was also one of only two non-Red Bull drivers to win a race of any kind throughout the season, when he fended off the challenge of champion Max Verstappen to win the Qatar sprint race.

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Verstappen himself has recently been filling his winter break with a number of online racing events, and it appears as though Piastri seems to have a similar racing obsession.

Oscar Piastri claimed the 2023 Rookie of the Year award

Oscar Piastri shared a fantastic partnership with young Brit Lando Norris in 2023

Max Verstappen has recently revealed his love for sim racing

Piastri's hobbies

The young McLaren driver has been talking about what he does whenever he gets some down time away from the pressures of F1.

“A little bit of a mix, I mean firstly just catching up on sleep is like the number one priority," he told F1.com.

"The time off I have is not more than two or three days at a time. So there’s always an element of training in there at some point and just trying to stay in that routine. It’s nice seeing my girlfriend when I have the chance – that’s an important one.

"There’s some gaming as well and I have a simulator at home. I like playing video games as well so some of that. I also have friends around, sometimes I do stuff with them. But yeah, a lot of time with my girlfriend going for walks with her, dinner or whatever. Just spending some quality time."

Expanding on his gaming habits, Piastri revealed: "So I normally play iRacing, that’s my racing game of choice. I haven’t played COD [Call of Duty] for a while now but that’s kind of my other game of choice.

"I have just downloaded the new WRC [World Rally Championship] game and that is a lot of fun and I’m going to say that it’s testing my reactions as well – so it’s good training!”

Red Bull Max Verstappen Lewis Hamilton McLaren Formula 1 Oscar Piastri