When Oscar walked into the McLaren Technology Centre for the first time in December, it was uncharted territory for all involved. 

Unlike Lando, and Stoffel Vandoorne before him, Oscar had not been on the team's books prior to joining. You have to go back to 2014 to find the last time we signed a rookie who hadn't previously been a reserve or development driver for the team (Formula Renault 3.5 Series winner Kevin Magnussen, for those wondering).

Oscar only met his new team for the first time at testing last December, and getting him up to speed will take time and patience, but having spent the past 12 months watching on and waiting for this opportunity, there's no shortage of determination to make it a success.

Having followed his rise up the junior ranks, CEO Zak Brown is hopeful that the rookie will prove to be an inspired coup. The 21-year-old from Melbourne remains the only driver to win the Formula Renault Eurocup, Formula 3 and Formula 2 titles in successive seasons and has been identified as the man, alongside Lando, to forge the most exciting driver line-up on the grid.

Here's how he got here and what we can expect from him…

Scaling up  

Most drivers begin by racing rental karts, but Oscar started on an even smaller scale, with the Australian initially embarking on a career in competitive Remote Control Racing.

He raced RC cars on a national stage, winning the second class of a national championship at the age of nine – the driver who came second was eight years his elder.

He and his father were introduced to go-karts by a fellow competitor, and despite spinning on his out-lap, Oscar had his own within a week. He'd built up a rough knowledge of racing lines through RC racing, and it didn't take him long to transition from the outside of a car to the inside of one.

He picked it up quickly and, within three years, had taken the difficult decision to move to Europe on his own to pursue a career in motorsport. Aged just 14, he relocated to Hertford in England and joined a local boarding school.

He was signed by Ricky Flynn Motorsport - who had previously led Lando to multiple karting titles - and competed in events across Europe, enjoying solid results as he adjusted to living on the other side of the planet.

Unlocking his potential  

It was in single-seater racing that his potential became obvious.

Having tested the waters with an entry in UAE Formula 4 at the end of the 2016 campaign, Oscar stepped up full-time in 2017 and finished as British F4 vice-champion, winning six times.

Within two years, he'd won Formula Renault Eurocup and earned a place in the then-named Renault Academy, exposing him to experienced F1 drivers, including Daniel Ricciardo and Fernando Alonso, both of whom are now former McLaren drivers.

Still raw and relatively unknown, Oscar was introduced to Mark Webber through their shared trainer. The pair hit it off, and Webber took his countryman under his wing, becoming his manager ahead of Oscar's F3 debut with reigning champions PREMA Racing.

Maximising his skillset  

There was little time to hone his skills during a heavily disrupted COVID-19 season, which delayed his debut by several months and shortened the season to a brutal nine rounds in 11 weeks.

Without the time to pour over data between rounds, Oscar focused on maximising what he knew – using his race pace and the reliability of his PREMA to score points regularly. He was one of nine different race winners from 18 races, taking two victories and a further four podiums, clinching the title in a tense season finale.

He did this despite never taking pole, instead relying on astute tyre management, raw pace and consistency. The latter is arguably his strongest, most defining attribute - he finished outside the points just three times, and two of those were due to retirements.

Another defining characteristic is his calmness. You’ll struggle to find any examples of him raising his voice on team radio, but you will find plenty of praise for his cool demeanour - Tom Stallard noted it after his first test with the team.

Increased exposure  

On and off-track, Oscar's star was on the rise.

His Twitter following grew from 795 to 11.6k - it's now 271.9k - during the shortened season. This was thanks in part to what was dubbed at the time as the 'DRS saga', where he documented his love-hate relationship with DRS. His ability to put a positive spin on a frustration - such as his struggle with DRS that season - is another noteworthy trait.

On track, he'd committed to a second season with PREMA, this time in F2. With the calendar closer to normality, he used the continuity of that relationship and a full pre-season to focus on improving his weaknesses.

Number one on the list was qualifying. He worked extensively on his one-lap pace in testing, and it paid off handsomely. Having not taken pole once in F3, Oscar took five consecutive pole positions in F2, topping every qualifying session from Round 4 in Silverstone to the season finale in Abu Dhabi.

This showcased his ability to take onboard information and iron out weaknesses. Stepping up to F1 will prove a much greater challenge, but the foundations are there.

As well as his five poles, Oscar clinched six wins and a further five podiums, dominating the title race and winning with two races to spare. As with his previous two championship successes, his consistency shone through – he scored 14 top-fives from 23 races, at least one podium every round, and only finished out of the points four times.

Securing a seat  

By the time he had sealed his F2 title, Oscar already knew there wouldn’t be a spot for him on the 2022 F1 grid, but he resisted the urge to race in a different discipline, wanting his full focus to be on F1.

He continued to train and soaked up knowledge as part of a Reserve Driver role for the Alpine F1 team, which included test days and race attendance, but his priority was to secure a seat on the grid, which presented itself at McLaren.

He linked up with the team at the end of the F1 season to begin an extensive preparation programme, which included the Abu Dhabi Young Driver Test and private tests. Early work focused on extracting the most out of the car and managing the differences between our machinery and anything he had driven previously.

This transitioned into tyre management and strategic work, with a mix of longer, race-style runs and short, qualifying simulations with low fuel. Piastri's Race Engineer Tom Stallard has been impressed by what he's seen from Piastri so far, highlighting the Australian's demeanour and work ethic.

More patience will be required as Piastri gets up to speed, just as when he first moved to England, but the potential is there to be unlocked.

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