2 September 2026 19:00 (UTC)
OP81 is set to start his 81st Formula 1 Grand Prix this weekend. So do you know all 81 facts that we’ve compiled?
The Italian Grand Prix at Monza is set to mark Oscar’s 81st Grand Prix start in Formula 1. While not traditionally a milestone number like 10, 50, or 100, it takes on extra significance for Oscar, who has raced with the No. 81 since he made his debut with the team at the 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix.
To mark the occasion, we’ve compiled a range of facts - 81 to be precise - about our No. 81. How many did you know?
1. Oscar was born on 6 April 2001, five days after the Brazilian Grand Prix, which had been won by McLaren’s David Coulthard
2. Oscar was a Grid Kid at the 2015 Australian Grand Prix – though his driver, Daniil Kvyat, never made it onto the grid due to a reconnaissance lap issue
3. Oscar’s first single-seater victory came in British Formula 4, at Oulton Park, in 2017
4. Oscar is a fan of the AFL (Australian Football League), supporting Richmond
5. Oscar initially ran No. 11 in karting, as the shop he went to only had No. 1s available, but switched to No. 81 after another driver was entered as No. 11
6. Oscar used No. 81 for his British Formula 4 season in 2017
7. When Oscar took the lead of the Italian Grand Prix in 2023, he became the first rookie to lead a Grand Prix lap in 10 years
8. Oscar is a massive fan of cricket and regularly attends Australian national games during the winter – or in Oscar’s case, summer – break
9. Oscar grew up in Brighton, just a few miles away from Albert Park, home of the Australian Grand Prix
10. Oscar claimed a Grand Slam at the 2025 Dutch Grand Prix – taking Pole position, Fastest Lap, the Grand Prix victory, and leading every lap - the first McLaren driver to do so since 1998
11. Oscar has scored a podium finish at 18 different circuits in Formula 1
12. Oscar claimed three titles in as many years, in Formula Renault (2019), Formula 3 (2020) and Formula 2 (2021)
13. Oscar finished 44 successive Grands Prix between 2023 and 2025, the second-longest stretch in history
14. Oscar is one of only 28 drivers to take a Grand Slam – there have been more World Champions than that
15. Oscar’s first F1 points came on home soil, in Melbourne, in 2023, when he finished in eighth position
16. Oscar has only ever had Lando as a teammate, and the pair are the second-longest teammate partnership in McLaren history, behind Mika Häkkinen and David Coulthard
17. Oscar led the Drivers’ Championship for 15 Grands Prix in 2025
18. Oscar finished every single racing lap of the 2024 season – the only driver on the grid to do so
19. Oscar became the 15th Australian to start a Grand Prix when he made his debut in Bahrain in 2023
20. Oscar’s nine Grand Prix wins to date put him level with compatriot and manager Mark Webber
21. Oscar’s six Pole positions to date put him level with compatriot and 1980 World Champion Alan Jones
22. In 2026, a newly discovered species of wasp, located in Myanmar, was named Gwesped piastrii after Oscar
23. Oscar claimed multiple podiums as a rookie in 2023 – the first driver to do so since Lewis Hamilton in 2007
24. Oscar dedicated his 2025 Belgian Grand Prix victory to his Grandfather, Hugh, who was attending his first race outside of Australia
25. Oscar says Italian cuisine, and more specifically pasta, is his favourite
26. Oscar moved to the UK as a 14-year-old and attended boarding school in Hertfordshire
27. Oscar won the Formula 3 title without taking a Pole position – but topped Qualifying five times in Formula 2, including a record-equalling four in a row
28. Oscar first started out racing remote-controlled cars before making the move to karting
29. Oscar’s hat-trick in 2025 – winning three successive Grands Prix – made him the first McLaren driver to accomplish this feat since 1998
30. Oscar’s favourite track is Spa-Francorchamps – and he holds the track record, which he set during Sprint Qualifying in 2025
31. Double coat Tim Tams are Oscar’s favourite
32. Oscar has a 100 per cent podium record at Qatar’s Lusail International Circuit, scoring two P2s and a P3. He has also won all three Sprint races held at the track
33. Despite Melbourne’s famed reputation for serving some of the best coffee in the world, Oscar does not drink coffee… or tea, either
34. Oscar describes his favourite gelato flavour as “anything that has some element of chocolate in it”
35. Oscar’s Formula 1 Grand Prix debut came in Bahrain, in 2023. His first Formula 1 test was also at the same venue, with Alpine, in 2021
36. Oscar’s grandmother is a popular member of the Papaya Family. Why? She always bakes Lamingtons for the team at the Australian Grand Prix
37. Oscar has called Fred Again his favourite musical artist
38. Oscar scored points in 42 Grands Prix consecutively – more than half of his career so far – between the 2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix and 2025 Italian Grand Prix
39. Oscar’s Formula 3 season lasted only 11 weeks due to the pandemic – during which there were 18 races. He beat future Williams’ racer Logan Sargeant to the crown
40. Oscar celebrated his first Grand Prix win with a delayed flight, burgers and games of Monopoly with Lando and Alex Albon
41. If Oscar could bring back one F1 track from the past, he says it would be Hockenheim
42. Oscar made his public McLaren test debut in the post-season Abu Dhabi test in 2022, completing laps in that year’s MCL36, having already undertaken TPC running
43. Oscar currently lives in Monaco
44. Oscar won F1’s Grill the Grid competition in 2024, 2025, and 2026 – he knows his F1
45. Oscar became the 22nd driver to win a race for McLaren when he won the 2024 Hungarian Grand Prix
46. Of the 82 Qualifying sessions he’s driven, Oscar has reached Q3 in 74 of them - that’s a remarkably consistent hit rate of 90.24%, the highest in F1 history
47. Oscar says his favourite ways to relax are sleeping, watching TV, and chilling on the beach
48. Oscar considers his sporting idols outside of racing as Michael Jordan and Michael Phelps
49. Oscar has called The Gentlemen his favourite film
50. Oscar likes to watch tennis – and has labelled Roger Federer as his favourite growing up
51. All nine of Oscar’s Grand Prix wins have been at different circuits
52. Oscar became the 115th different driver to win a Formula 1 Grand Prix
53. Oscar’s first win was at the Hungaroring – a venue where five other drivers also secured their maiden victories
54. Oscar has scored 903 points so far in his F1 career – across 68 different races
55. Oscar has taken three Sprint race victories in F1
56. Oscar took eight successive podiums in 2025 – the longest streak by a McLaren driver since 2007
57. Oscar set the Fastest Lap at the inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix in 2023 – his second Fastest Lap of the season as a rookie
58. For anyone who has watched Clarkson’s Farm, Season 5, you’ll know reversing a tractor-trailer does not come naturally to Oscar
59. Oscar made it through to Q3 at every Grand Prix in the 2025 season
60. Oscar’s first single-seater race was in UAE Formula 4 at the Yas Marina Circuit in 2016
61. Oscar was awarded the prestigious Trofeo Bandini in 2025
62. Oscar is fiercely Australian – but competed under a British license in 2019, meaning the British National Anthem and flag were used for his victories
63. Oscar has led at least one racing lap in each of his seasons in Formula 1
64. Oscar has scored points at every circuit he has raced at in Formula 1
65. Before Oscar, the No. 81 had been used for a World Championship Grand Prix (outside of the anomalous Indianapolis 500 in the 1950s), just once - by Maurice Trintignant, at the 1951 German Grand Prix
66. Oscar has won the FIA Rookie of the Year Award twice – for his exploits in Formula 2 (2021) and Formula 1 (2023)
67. Oscar started 131 races in his junior career, from UAE Formula 4 through Formula 2
68. The renowned cricket fan only managed to catch one game of the 2025/26 Ashes series. It was the only game Australia lost
69. Oscar holds the track record at Zandvoort through his exploits during Qualifying in 2025
70. Oscar has set the Fastest Lap of the race nine times during his F1 career
71. Oscar’s pre-race meal is pasta with tomato sauce and chicken
72. Oscar’s seven Grand Prix wins in 2025 were the most in a single season by an Australian driver
73. Oscar is one of only seven drivers to have taken a podium finish on his birthday – finishing third in Japan in 2025, when he turned 24
74. Oscar has 6.5 million Instagram followers – enough to fill the Melbourne Cricket Ground 65 times over
75. Oscar says that he has fallen asleep in the simulator before
76. Oscar is 5ft 10in
77. Oscar has qualified on the front row of the grid 17 times
78. Oscar has labelled Silverstone’s Copse as his favourite corner on the calendar
79. Oscar has raced in the United States 10 times in Formula 1 – more than any other country
80. Oscar’s first racing lap of the 2026 season – excluding Sprints – was spent in first place, having taken the lead in Japan. He has finished on the podium there in each of the last three seasons
81. No, his name is not Oscar Pastry
