With the opening race weekend of the 2025 season done in Melbourne, the spotlight was on Oscar Piastri in his home Grand Prix. The Aussie has been in the news for a few days now — his contract extension with McLaren made him the talk of the town. Consequently, the 23-year-old’s “quite classy” girlfriend Lily Zneimer from the United Kingdom, who prefers staying away from the limelight, has also garnered some spotlight.
Piastri has been dating Zneimer since their high school days. She often accompanies the McLaren driver to his races and has quickly become a motorsports fan. The engineering graduate is reportedly keen on making a career in the sport.
With Piastri — who is going to be one of F1’s highest-paid drivers after his latest extension with McLaren — as her boyfriend, Zneimer definitely has the contacts to land a job in the sport. Maybe Piastri and Zneimer would end up working together at McLaren, or even as rivals.
Last year, veteran F1 photographer Kym Illman revealed via his YouTube channel that Zneimer is keen on getting a job in Formula 1. Illman was also charmed by Zneimer’s “polite” nature.
“He [Piastri] has been going out with Lily Zneimer for some years now. She is British, polite, and quite classy. She studies engineering in the university and would love to get a job in F1,” the Aussie photographer said. “With her contacts, I’d say she has a fair chance.”
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Fans, who find Zneimer endearing, would no doubt love to see her grace the paddock as an engineer. During an event last year, the Aussie driver was caught off guard when his girlfriend received a bigger cheer than him. “Feels like Lily got a bigger cheer than I did, so thank you,” he had said.
Zneimer prefers to keep her life private. If she lands a job in F1, fans would perhaps get to know her better.
How did Zneimer meet Piastri?
Zneimer and Piastri met while attending Haileybury, a boarding school in Hertford, England. The Aussie was 14 at the time, and the two have been inseparable since.
Zneimer was a brilliant student and received perfect grades during her GCSE exams. As per Hertfordshire Mercury — the local newspaper of Hertford — she was one of only four students from her school to receive straight 9/A*.
While not a lot is known about what career path she chose after pursuing engineering, her grades certainly suggest that she has a brilliant mind and could be a great resource to any F1 team. Most of the information known about her is through photographers such as Illman, who keep close tabs on the WAGs of the paddock.
Zneimer, whose Instagram profile is private with just over 700 followers, clearly has no intention of being in the limelight.
