Oscar’s season began on home turf in Melbourne, just a stone’s throw from his childhood stomping grounds. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the happy homecoming he’d have been hoping for, as despite showing excellent pace throughout, a spin on the grass dropped him outside of the points-paying positions. He showed his mettle, refusing to be beaten by the grass, and putting on a resilient fightback to ninth.  

He’d not have to wait long to bounce back, and he did so in style, as just a few days later in China Oscar rose from third to second in the Sprint race, before setting the fastest ever lap of the Shanghai International Circuit during Qualifying to post a new track record, in the process registering his maiden Pole for a Grand Prix in F1. That proved to be the foundation for an impeccable victory, as Oscar controlled the race to lead home the 50th one-two Grand Prix finish in Formula 1 for the team. It was an early sign of what an on-song Oscar could do behind the wheel of the MCL39.  

Grands Prix in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and Miami belonged to Oscar. Oscar converted Pole to a comfortable victory in Bahrain, winning by over 15 seconds, in the process giving the team a home triumph for the first time.  

In Saudi Arabia, Oscar superbly challenged Max Verstappen at the start of the race and inherited the lead once his rival was sanctioned for cutting the track to stay ahead. The win put Oscar in the lead of the Drivers’ Championship for the first time in his career.  

Another brilliant scrap with Verstappen followed around the streets of the Miami International Autodrome, as Oscar challenged the Red Bull driver for several laps before cannily finding a way through. Oscar bagged another win, securing a hat-trick, and the Miami Grand Prix victory was particularly emotional as it was the first win attended in person by his Father Chris. Though, the less said about Oscar’s attempt at the ‘Griddy’ dance, the better…  

The Spanish Grand Prix had not been a happy hunting ground for Oscar in his first two seasons in F1, as through fortune, circumstance or performance, the results were underwhelming. But in 2025 Oscar hit the front of the field during FP2 and never looked back, setting the fastest time during all three parts of Qualifying to score an emphatic Pole position. Oscar led away from top spot and kept a comfortable gap to the rest of the field, only relinquishing his track advantage through the mandatory pit stop phase. A late Safety Car period threatened to upset the apple cart, but Oscar stayed ice-cool to lead away at the restart, setting a new lap record shortly afterwards, to seal his fifth victory of the season. 

It was a close fight between Oscar and Lando around the sweeping curves of coastal Zandvoort as F1 returned from its summer break. At the end of Qualifying, it was advantage Oscar – he had set Pole by a margin of just 0.012s, but it gave OP81 critical road position at the tricky and twisty track. In a race punctuated by four Safety Car and Virtual Safety Car periods, Oscar retained his advantage throughout, keeping away from the trouble that befell several other front-runners to notch up another win. Oscar was never headed throughout the course of the 72-lap Grand Prix and, having registered the race’s Fastest Lap, he secured his first career Grand Slam. In doing so, Oscar became only the 27th driver in history to record the feat, and the first McLaren driver since 1998 to do so, highlighting the rarity of such an achievement.

Oscar endured a challenging run of Grands Prix across the latter stages of the season, but remained resilient and put in the hard work to unearth solutions and remedies. At a previous happy hunting ground in Qatar, where he had scored his maiden Sprint race win in 2023, Oscar was faultless. Oscar stormed to the fastest time in Sprint Qualifying, controlled the Sprint race, and followed it up with Pole position. In an atypical Grand Prix, where mandatory stint lengths on each tyre set were implemented, the team made a strategic mistake that cost both drivers dearly, but there was no doubt runner-up Oscar warranted the victory. Oscar followed it up with another strong display at the season-ending race in Abu Dhabi to again finish second, securing his 16th podium of the year, to put the seal on third position in the Drivers’ World Championship.