It was in the leafy Eastern suburbs of Brighton, in Melbourne, Australia, that a nine-year-old Oscar first honed his racing skills: not initially in karting, but in remote control car racing.  

Stood on milk crates so that he could see his car over the circuit’s barriers, and racing against adults much older than him, it provided Oscar with a tantalising first taste of competitive driving.  

Oscar’s grandfathers were mechanics, and his father, Chris, owns a vehicle diagnostics company, ensuring he developed a passion for cars from a young age. Had he not successfully made it through the junior categories, there’s every chance he’d still be found in a racing team’s garage in a different role.  

This passion was further fuelled by his love of watching Formula 1, but it was RC Racing that opened his eyes to the world of motorsport. From here, he would transition to karts and cars, via a move to Europe.

“My earliest racing memories would be from racing remote control cars,” he recalls. “I liked trying to beat other people and being competitive. Driving those still came with the same sense of winning and satisfaction.  

“The most satisfying part of racing is getting the most out of yourself, and when that is more than everybody else, that is a pretty satisfying feeling. I think that’s why all people in any sport play sports: they want to be the best. And that not only goes for sport, but for anything.”  

The taste of victory is a feeling he experienced often during a trophy-laden junior career, with the Australian becoming the first driver to win Formula Renault Eurocup, Formula 3 and Formula 2 in consecutive seasons. That success made him more determined, but also wiser.  

“I enjoy it a lot, and I’ve done it from a very young age, so I definitely think I wouldn’t be able to live without it, that’s for sure,” he says when asked about his deep-rotted love of racing. “I wouldn’t say that I am obsessed, though, because I think it is important to have some breaks from it and to do other things.

“You can sometimes have too big a dose of something. It’s very cool and a lot of fun, but there’s a lot of pressure on racing for me now, so you need breaks to be able to perform at your best.  

“When I am at track, I am thinking about racing pretty much all of the time, in terms of how I can improve myself, what I could have done differently during a session, or ideas of what might make the car feel a bit better. Sometimes, those just come randomly. But again, with our season being so busy, you’re at the track a lot of the time, so when you are away from the track, you sometimes need to have periods where you’re not thinking about it.” 

CEO Zak Brown was delighted to secure the impressive youngster ahead of the 2023 campaign, and despite spending a year on the sidelines as Alpine’s Reserve Driver, Oscar has picked up where he left off in junior racing and continued his upward trajectory at McLaren.  

After some impressive early showings during a tough start to the season for the team, Oscar has come into his own since his car was upgraded ahead of the British Grand Prix. Since taking to the wheel of the improved MCL60, he has qualified in the top 10 in five of the last six races and scored points in four of those.

The Aussie rookie also earned his first trophy at the Belgian Grand Prix, finishing second in the F1 Sprint, when he became the first rookie to lead a race since Esteban Gutiérrez in 2013.

As much as anything, though, it is his mindset and personality that has impressed those at McLaren, with Zak recently stating: “With Oscar, there are a couple of things that have been uber-impressive: his patience and his confidence.  

“He can look at Lando's data, and then come Saturday, he’s a tenth off him in qualifying. So, he's got a great ability to learn on Friday.”  

And these comments were echoed by our Team Principal, Andrea Stella, who recently said: “The analytical behaviour, looking at things, trying to learn, and at the same time always remaining very calm. He is able to absorb things, execute things, always staying very calm, which I think is a strong point of Oscar.”

Tying him down to a new, longer-term deal and rewarding his early success quickly became a priority for Zak, Andrea and the team this season. We are seeing Oscar evolve and improve with every race, and that is a consequence of years of hard work and his own unique natural abilities, which have been carefully refined over the years.  

But there are also elements of other drivers in there, too. Oscar has an insatiable desire to learn and improve and is able to take information on board quickly. He grew up in an era of greats, watching the likes of Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso, Sebastian Vettel and his manager, Mark Webber, on television, but as he got older and his career became more serious, he developed an appreciation for more vintage drivers too.

Additionally, outside of Formula 1, Oscar is interested in a wide array of racing series, all of which add to his learning. Whether this be the Supercars Championship in his native Australia or watching drivers he grew up racing against in series such as IndyCar, Formula 2 or Formula 3. Although, admittedly, that has become more challenging with his increased schedule this year.  

“Everybody goes racing in a different way,” he explains. “I try to stay very calm and as focused as I can, and not get too emotional. I think I'm very calm at the track and on the track, and I would say that I am the same in normal life as well. I think a lot of my personality traits come across in my driving, and in my radio communications in particular. 

“I’ve always tried to take things from lots of people. [Ayrton] Senna was very naturally quick and very, very aggressive. [Alain] Prost was very methodical. [Michael] Schumacher was very hardworking and great at building the team around him. [Lewis] Hamilton has been really consistent and strong across the board.” 

On and off the track, Zak and Andrea have been pleased with the progress made over the past 12 months at McLaren, from the upgraded MCL60 to the improved team structure and investment in our facilities. Recruiting Oscar - and now tying him down to a long-term contract - has to be right up there with those achievements.