In only his sophomore F1 season, Oscar Piastri has made a name for himself as a calm and collected driver. His composed demeanor was quite evident at both of his race wins this season in Hungary and Azerbaijan. Many experts have appreciated the 23-year-old’s maturity at several tense moments including McLaren’s team orders’ mess in Hungary.
Talking about his demeanor on the radio and in interviews, Piastri stated that he doesn’t want to be the ‘funny guy’ on the F1 grid. In an exclusive interview with Code Sports Australia, the Aussie stated that he is fully focused on winning Grands Prix and the world championship.
“I’m not here just to make up the numbers or be funny on the radio. I’m here to try and win races.”, he said.
He is the hottest driver in F1 and while Oscar Piastri is intelligent and possesses laconic sense of humour, he doesn’t go around actively seeking the limelight.
Now the lowkey star driver has opened up on the crazy life he leads.
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW ▶ https://t.co/uHhyEGMtj2 pic.twitter.com/Mw4qGZ0l6W
— CODE Sports (@codesportsau) September 20, 2024
While his entry to F1 was quite dramatic with McLaren and Alpine tussling over signing him, Piastri has been staying under the radar often in the past season and a half. He feels that was the better thing for him to do and walk the talk on the track to justify the hype around him.
In mid-2022, Alpine had prematurely announced his promotion to their F1 team. Shortly after, Piastri took to X to dismiss all talks of him joining the French outfit, causing a stir. While his firm nature earned him the McLaren seat, off the track, his mother has taunted him about such stoic behavior.
When Nicole Piastri was grateful her son had a heart
While the #81 driver’s demeanor has made him a subject of much praise, it was a major cause of concern for his mother. Recalling an incident on The Red Flags podcast, Nicole Piastri detailed how a cycling-related incident gave her solid proof that her son had a heart.
Having gone out cycling, a kid jumped in front of Nicole. As she braked in a hurry to not hit the kid, the inertia threw her off the cycle. As she hit her head, Oscar was watching it and went up to her to ask if she was okay.
Later, when the mother-son duo reached home, Nicole checked the heart rate monitor her son was wearing when they were out. It showed consistent results throughout the ride barring the time Nicole fell. His heart rate had gone “through the roof”, but it was a happy moment for the mother. She exclaimed, “So you DO have a heart!”, teasing her son for his persona.
