Read time: 11.8 minutes

Challenging for the title in only his third season in Formula 1, Oscar has now firmly established himself as one of the sport’s best, and he will no doubt come back even stronger in 2026 as he looks to follow in the wheel tracks of Australia World Champions Sir Jack Brabham and Alan Jones.

In the end, things didn’t quite work out for him, but finishing third, only 13 points adrift of McLaren teammate Lando Norris and 11 behind multiple title-winner Max Verstappen, is a ringing endorsement of how fast the 24-year-old has matured. Zak Brown predicts “multiple titles” for him, and it’s easy to see why.

Oscar already had a tremendous reputation when the team signed him for 2023, having become the first driver to win the Formula 3 and Formula 2 Championships in successive years, and he cemented his standing by showing immediate pace when he joined Lando.

On just his second Grand Prix weekend, on the demanding and very fast Jeddah Corniche Circuit in Saudi Arabia, where one blind corner leads to the next, he astonished seasoned observers by making Q3 and qualifying fifth, ahead of Lando. And this, before the MCL60 had been armed with the mid-season upgrades that set the team on the path to two consecutive Constructors' World Championships.

That pace in very quick corners has always been one of Oscar’s hallmarks, and is reminiscent of Alan Jones, but there was much to learn that year about other key F1 aspects, the most difficult being gauging and managing the Pirelli tyres during long stints. That is always a blend between exploiting their grip without overtaxing them too soon - a traditional problem for rookies to resolve.

Like Sir Jack Brabham, Oscar looked confident from the outset, but where the former had been raised on dirt tracks like the Parramatta Speedway and thought nothing of dipping a wheel over the edge to shower and discourage pursuers, Oscar’s style was neat and precise, indicating his calm, calculating mental process.

He looked at home as he amassed 97 points and finished ninth overall in his rookie season. Highlights included fourth in Britain on his first outing in the updated MCL60, a remarkable third-place podium finish in Japan on the demanding Suzuka circuit, and second to Verstappen in the Belgian Sprint. He also delivered a stunning victory over him in the Qatar Sprint after starting from Pole position and then followed this up by finishing second to the Dutchman in the Qatar GP.

By any standards, it was an impressive season. And with his inquisitive mind, he kept all the receipts and studied every one of them over the off-season. Principally, he figured out how to use the tyres, but also how to improve his personal performance in slower corners.

His studies paid off, and took him to the next level in 2024. His career burgeoned just the way Jones’ had between 1978 and 1979, when he switched from the FW06 to the ground-effect FW07. Oscar scored his first victory in Hungary and was then unstoppable in Azerbaijan, pulling off the overtake of the season to beat Charles Leclerc to victory. That move would prove to be a very significant brick in the wall of McLaren’s victory over Ferrari to score our first Constructors’ title since 1998.

Azerbaijan was the sort of gutsy triumph that Jones loved, as Oscar took his one chance in the race and made it work. But where the ebullient Williams racer was known for occasionally losing his temper – he once hurled his briefcase angrily at his road car after a bad race – Oscar was becoming renowned for his calm, unflappable demeanour.

Nothing seemed to penetrate his calm outer shield, and as he continued to iron out his few weaknesses, mastering tyre management and becoming increasingly quicker in the slower corners, his standing in the sport rose. That was reflected in the 292 points he took home, as he finished fourth behind Verstappen, Lando and Leclerc in the Championship.

Having yet to earn a Grand Prix Pole, Oscar had earmarked his Qualifying pace as a key skill for improvement in 2025, and his work in this area paid off, as he scored six Pole positions to Lando’s seven and Verstappen’s eight this season. And he had a high conversion rate from Pole, winning four of these.

Claiming seven wins overall in 2025, as well as a further nine podiums, it has been a remarkable season, one which he capped off with a strong second in the Abu Dhabi finale. And you don’t doubt that he will come back stronger next year for the experience.

“Effectively, we could have had two Champions this year,” Team Principal Andrea Stella said. “The gap between the two was so small and I said after Qualifying in Abu Dhabi, where it was 30 milliseconds, that was the whole story of a season.

“Oscar would have been a worthy Champion in only his third season in Formula 1. He learned so rapidly, he had a couple of races where he struggled a bit in the famous low-grip tracks. But he learned very rapidly what to do. He became immediately competitive again. His trajectory is phenomenal and, definitely, we have a future multiple World Champion in Oscar.”

Australia has been blessed with many great drivers over the years, of which Oscar is the latest star. Of the 15 to start at least one Grand Prix, he is already fourth for wins with the fifth most starts. And he is following in some illustrious footsteps.

Sir Jack Brabham – often cited as founder Bruce McLaren’s mentor – became the first driver to win a Grand Prix in a car bearing their own name at the age of 40, in the same year he won his third World Championship. He had won his previous two, in 1959 and 1960, with Cooper, and ended his F1 career with 14 wins and a legacy that stands up to this day.

Alan Jones, famed for his no-nonsense, get-in-and-do-it mentality, was already an F1 winner when he joined Williams in 1978, but it was during his stint with the Grove-based team where he enjoyed his greatest success, winning 11 races and the World Championship in 1980.

Oscar’s manager and mentor, Mark Webber, is second for most F1 starts (215) and enjoyed his most productive spell with Red Bull, where he scored nine wins between 2009 and 2013. He and Oscar share that score, and the same straight-talking character that detests hyperbole and treasures being true to oneself.

And then, of course, you have Daniel Ricciardo, Australia’s most experienced F1 driver (257 starts) and one of the sport’s most beloved sons, an eight-time Grand Prix winner who delivered memorable moments on and off-track. A fearless overtaker and a true racer’s racer, Daniel delivered a key moment in McLaren’s resurgence, winning the team’s first race in nine years at the 2021 Italian Grand Prix.   

To have achieved what he has in three years, and to have bested World Champions while doing it, makes the strongest statement about Oscar Piastri as he honours that legacy. He will, as ever, keep the receipts and learn from the hard lessons of 2025, while quietly savouring the many great moments. And he will return in 2026, more focused than ever on the World Championship that so many see in his future.

With nine wins to his name already, he’s not far off the 15 that would make him Australia’s most winning driver, but he’s already achieved more in a single season than any of his predecessors. Informed of this fact in Abu Dhabi, he responded with his usual modesty: “Comparing different parts of different people’s careers is always difficult with different cars and stuff. But I think I can definitely be very proud of the season I’ve had.

“When I look at this compared to my first two years in F1, this year has been head and shoulders above them. Ultimately, whilst the end result is not quite what I wanted, there’s a lot of optimism and a lot of strength that I’ve gained from proving to myself what I can achieve. Those are the kinds of things that are not necessarily tied to results.

“So I can definitely take that forward. It’s only my third attempt at this in F1. Hopefully, I’ve got plenty more to go, but there are definitely lessons from this year that will only make me stronger.”