The support team behind Aussie F1 champ

In Oscar Piastri’s first ever race he ran circles around competitors five times his age.
It was the late 2000s and the future racing wunderkind placed third ahead of 20- and 30-year-old men at a remote-controlled car event in Melbourne. Piastri was just six.
Today, the 23-year-old is behind the wheel of F1 cars with the prestigious British racing team, McLaren, and is tipped to be the next champion of the sport. Here’s a look at how Piastri evolved from remote-control racing to a champion Aussie export and how his family support him on the world’s biggest racing stage.
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Growing up Piastri’s life was surrounded by cars, even down to the bedtime stories his parents, Chris and Nicole, read to him.
Piastri was just six when he was introduced to remote-controlled cars. Chris gifted his son a toy car after returning from a business trip from the United States. 
“Oscar took to that incredibly. He started racing them and got third place in his first-ever event against 20- and 30-year-olds when he was just six,” Chris told The Sydney Morning Herald in 2021.
Piastri was nine when he first sat behind the wheel of go-karts.
He spent hours practicing at an old go-kart centre in Oakleigh, near the family’s home in Brighton, Victoria.
He was soon taken under the wing of Australian karting champion James Sera.
“The very first time I saw him [race] I went home and told my wife ‘I think this kid is going to be in F1,'” Sera said in a 2022 interview.
By his early teens, it was clear Piastri had a future on the race course. It was decided his talents needed further nurturing.
At 14, he left his family, including his three sisters, to study in the United Kingdom.
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He attended the Haileybury and Imperial Service College on a sports scholarship.
Piastri secured his maiden victory in the F4 British Championship in September 2017.
F4 is arguably the most competitive junior category single seat championship in the world.
”Moving to Europe would be the first real moment. You can’t exactly race F2 from Australia… That was a big change for me – moving out at 14-years-old and going off to school outside of Australia – but it was a necessary step to take in order to get to F1,” Piastri told Fia Formula2 in 2021.
He said he wasn’t completely on his own as he went to boarding school with others his own age. But, at times, he found it tough going.
“I was away from my family in a different country and that was pretty tough. It was tough in the sense that I was leaving everything behind, like my family and my friends.”
The short answer is with hard work and financial sponsorship.
Piastri’s father, Chris, has put a price tag on the financial investment in his son’s F1 dream of between $5.5 million and $6.5 million.
“People think the top drivers get there because Dad has a big chequebook, but they don’t. Money is important, but they have to have extraordinary talent, dedication, and commitment,” Chris told the Herald.
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“I have a successful business, but I don’t walk down the street and drop $100 notes and keep walking.”
Chris runs HP Tuners, an automotive software development company.
Piastri’s dream was funded from family, sponsors, supporters and companies. As well as the financial support, Piastri’s family are openly supportive of him.
When he was first to cross the finishing line in Budapest in July this year, his mother, Nicole, was watching from her bayside home. The mother and son soon shared an emotional text message exchange.
“I just said: ‘I am so proud of you and I love you’,” Nicole told the media outlet in July.
In an interview with Today, Nicole described her son as humble in the face of fame. “He’s pretty chilled,” she said, before sharing how proud she is of him.
“I’m proud, well done, I’m happy for you.”
Nicole also openly shares her pride, and good humour, at her son’s achievements on social media. She has more than 118,000 followers on X alone.
“Yeah, it’s cool,” Piastri told Formula1.com
“I mean I kind of made… That’s where I made my social media name for myself on Twitter a few years ago, and now my mum’s doing the same, mainly by making fun of me, but that’s okay, she’s my mum, she’s allowed to!”
As of September 2024, Piastri has stood on the winners podium after F1 races twice.
He took his first chequered flag from teammate Lando Norris at the Hungarian Grand Prix in July this year.
He claimed his second victory on September 16 at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix He described the race as the toughest of his career to date.
“I had to work hard for that one … trying to hold Charles back for two thirds of the race wasn’t very fun,” he told Sky Sports F1 after the race.
“But when you cross the line first it makes it all worth it. I worked incredibly hard. So I’m very happy to pull it off.”
Piastri has an estimated net worth of $4 million.
The majority of his earnings reportedly comes from his McLaren F1 team salary of $750,000. He also earns money from sponsorship and endorsement deals.
He’s the fifth Australian to win an F1 grand prix, following in the footsteps of Jack Brabham, Alan Jones, his manager Mark Webber, and Daniel Ricciardo.
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