OSCAR’S ROAD TO F1

Over the course of the year, Oscar Piastri has been documenting his journey to Formula 1 through a series of regular columns in the magazine.

Here is the latest from the Australian Formula 2 champion in his own words from our last issue of the magazine for 2021:

Wow, what an end to an incredible year!

It’s pretty hectic here at Yas Marina; the F1 race has just finished as we’re doing this column and to say the place is buzzing is an understatement.

We’ve never seen anything like what’s just happened here, so it’s just topped off a fantastic weekend for my PREMA Racing team and me.

Although the racing in F2 at times can be heated, thankfully, the end of our season was a lot less controversial, although I did get crashed into heading out of pit lane for the final race – can you believe that?! – which required a last-minute, emergency nose change on the grid!

Securing the title in the first Sprint Race Saturday was satisfying, especially finishing on the podium after starting tenth. I admit, it sounds pretty good to be called “Formula 2 World Champion”!

Even though we’d had a successful run the previous two years, winning in Formula Renault Eurocup then F3, coming into this season, I thought it would be not easy to succeed as a rookie two years running.

But after winning the second Sprint Race at the first round in Bahrain in the way we did, then leading the Feature Race, it gave me a massive confidence boost and belief that we could challenge for the title.

There were plenty of highlights throughout the year, but specific moments such as my first pole at Silverstone stands out, as does winning my first Feature Race at Monza, PREMA’s home race.

The run we had in qualifying from Silverstone with five straight poles and the Feature Races from Monza, four straight, just underlined the hard work we put in as a team and how it all jelled together.

A massive amount of thanks goes to PREMA; it’s an incredible team, and having been lucky enough to work with them these past two years, it’s easy to understand why they’ve been so successful.

Not only do they provide a fast race car, but the atmosphere within the team has always been great, and it’s been an honour driving them.

Thank you, Rene Rosin and PREMA; leaving the team with a 100% winning record in the F3 and F2 Championships and so many good friends for life is a special feeling.

Winning three championships in a row is an achievement that I’m massively proud of; still, none of that success would have been possible without the incredible help I’ve received behind the scenes and sacrifices from my support team and, particularly, my family.

I can’t wait to get back home for Christmas and celebrate with them all while also enjoying the Aussie summer and who knows, I might even spend a little time on the couch 😉

Cheers, Oscar

If you have missed any of Oscar’s columns over the course of the year, the last 12 months of Auto Actions are still available digitally.