Oscar Piastri turns 22 - How the Aussie has settled at McLaren

Piastri in Bahrain — Photo: © LAT Images

Oscar Piastri

Piastri turns 22 - How the Australian has settled at McLaren

The man who made the controversial switch from Alpine to McLaren celebrates his 22nd birthday

Jay Winter

Thursday 6 April 2023 17:05

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri has an interesting start to life in Formula 1.

From being labelled by Red Bull boss Christian Horner as Formula 1's "next Max Verstappen" to retiring on his debut, making the step up to motorsport's top tier has been no easy task.

After an incredible junior career of winning back-to-back championships in Formula 4, 3 and 2, the former Alpine reserve driver kicked off his career with a crumb controversy.

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The Aussie publicly denied a race seat with the team who raised him through their academy and instead replaced his fellow countryman and fan favourite, Daniel Ricciardo at rival team McLaren.

Piastri joined Renault's academy in 2020 but jumped ship when he thought he would have to sit another year on the sidelines

Disappointing debut

McLaren's underwhelming 2023 car, the MCL60, didn't help the Australian's case either. Piastri was the first to retire out in the season opener after his car suffered an electrical issue and failed to switch on.

The Australian was quick to bounce back though, out-qualifying his team-mate Lando Norris and starting P8 at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. His misfortune continued though, after an early collision with Alpine's Pierre Gasly, Piastri was forced to pit, taking him right to the back of the field.

Home race heroics

Piastri bagged his first set of points in his F1 career just 15 minutes from where he grew up

McLaren was one of the few teams that benefitted from the utter carnage that was provided at the Australian Grand Prix. Piastri managed to skirt his way through the chaos and took advantage of the three red flags at his home race. With Norris finishing P6, it marked the Papaya's first double points haul of the 2023 season.

Piastri and his team will be celebrating the positive result as it took the Woking-based team up to fifth in the constructors' standings.

22 today! Cake anyone? 😋 #OP81 pic.twitter.com/Rut0YPl8wD
— Oscar Piastri (@OscarPiastri) April 6, 2023

McLaren boss Zak Brown will be keen to carry the optimistic energy into the three-week break to help fine-tune the MCL60 in order to continue where left off at the Azerbaijani Grand Prix.