After his gut-wrenching heartbreak in Australia, Oscar Piastri stormed to a sublime Chinese GP victory on Sunday afternoon, capping off a perfect weekend in which he broke the Shanghai track record, grabbed the pole, and dominated the race from the start to the finish. For his mom Nicole, it was a relief.
Last weekend, Piastri was all set to dazzle in front of his friends and families at his home race in Melbourne. He had the fastest car, and looked on course to beating Lando Norris for the win. By doing so, he would have become the first driver from the land down under to finish in the top three in a home race.
Nicole Piastri was also at Albert Park to support her son, even getting herself an ‘Oscar Piastri cutout’. She posted the picture on X (formerly Twitter).
Sadly, McLaren prioritized Norris, and a late-race slip-up dropped Piastri to P14, from where he recovered to finish P9. Nicole—like millions of Aussies—was understandably devastated, as was her son. They all hoped for a quick turnaround in fortunes, and in China, Piastri delivered just that.
Nicole was delighted. She immediately took to social media, and wrote, “Well that was more fun than last Sunday’s race.”
Well that was more fun than last Sunday’s race.
— Nicole Piastri (@NicolePiastri) March 23, 2025
Even just the week-long gap between Australia and China must have been tough for Nicole, who had envisioned her son shining at home. Losing out in such heartbreaking fashion must have been difficult—hence the tweet.
Piastri looked like the quicker McLaren driver throughout the weekend, with even team CEO Zak Brown admitting that Norris was not quite there. In the Grand Prix, Norris didn’t even come close to threatening the Melbourne-born driver, who with this win, has gone up to P4 in the championship standings, just 10 points off the #4 driver.
“It’s been an incredible weekend from start to finish. The car’s been pretty mega the whole time,” Piastri said in the post-race press conference. “I’m just so proud of the whole weekend. This is what I feel like I deserved from last week.”
The jump in his points tally has also been a result of Piastri’s splendid performance in Saturday’s sprint race, where he secured a P2 finish whereas Norris tumbled down the order to score only one point. Safe to say, Norris isn’t the only title favorite.
When asked about a potential shot at the title, Piastri also said he ‘hopes’ it was the beginning of a run.
Norris still leads the championship from Max Verstappen, who sits eight points behind in second. But Piastri outperforming the Briton once again in the next round in Japan could very well kickstart an intra-team rivalry, which many had predicted beforehand.
The F1 community will undoubtedly be at the edge of their seats. As will Nicole, who would be slightly more nervous than most.
