Speaker A
Right. If I asked you at 14, do you believe you'll be a Formula 1 driver or an F1 world champion? What would you have said?
Oscar Piastri shares his journey from karting in Australia to becoming an F1 driver, discussing sacrifices, challenges, and the realities of the sport.
Key Takeaways
- Becoming an F1 driver requires significant personal and family sacrifices, especially for those from outside Europe.
- Success in F1 is not just about driving skill but also managing media, sponsorship, and engineering aspects.
- Maintaining mental composure and consciously appreciating one's achievements is crucial in a high-pressure environment.
- Collaboration between drivers, teams, and governing bodies is improving but ongoing adjustments to regulations are expected.
- Early decisions, like moving abroad at a young age, are pivotal in shaping a racing career.
Summary
- Oscar Piastri reflects on his unlikely dream of becoming an F1 driver and world champion at age 14.
- He highlights the difference between childhood karting and the complex professional world of F1, including engineering, media, and sponsorship demands.
- Piastri discusses the emotional and personal sacrifices involved, especially moving from Australia to Europe at 14 to pursue his career.
- He emphasizes the importance of consciously appreciating his achievements despite the intense pressure and competition.
- The conversation touches on the loneliness and personal costs of an F1 career, referencing teammates and other drivers.
- Oscar comments on recent F1 regulation changes and their impact on car performance and driver collaboration.
- He shares insights into the decision-making process with his family when choosing to move abroad for racing.
- The interview reveals the balance between chasing dreams and managing the realities of professional motorsport life.
- Oscar expresses gratitude and happiness for being able to race competitively at the highest level.
- The discussion provides a rare personal perspective on the mental and emotional resilience required in F1.
Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown
Speaker A
Honestly, probably no. I just wanted to race cars for a living. Try and look at it from a very realistic point of view. I knew that as long as I got close to my potential, I could win races.
Speaker A
Having respect for one another and being friends with one another are two very different things. Realistically, I probably only had to beat Lando. Obviously, Max was back in the picture later in the year. 24 times a year, you've got to go on track and
Speaker A
prove that you're better than... Do you believe you will one day be a Formula 1 world champion?
Speaker A
Never fear a storm. Be ready to adapt. The skill is staying true to ourselves.
Speaker A
Oscar, welcome to High Performance. Thank you. Well, here we are. Another season of F1 is underway. I'm always interested when I've watched someone like you come through from the junior formula, and now here you are, and this is
Speaker A
the first time you and I have had a chance to sit down and chat.
Speaker A
Like, how is this life compared to the dream you had for it when you were an 11-year-old sitting in a go-kart?
Speaker A
There's a lot of elements that are just as cool as you would think. Like, you know, when you generally take a step back and think about what I'm doing, it's pretty cool. I'm driving the fastest cars in the world. I think what
Speaker A
is different is like there's a lot of behind-the-scenes work. There's obviously the hard work that goes in on kind of an engineering and performance side of things. There's obviously all the kind of marketing and media and sponsorship side of stuff as well, which, you know,
Speaker A
when you're an 11-year-old kid, you basically just jump in your go-kart, do laps, and go home again, and that's kind of it. So that part is certainly different to what you, I guess, dream of as a kid, but it's all part of it.
Speaker A
I think the other biggest difference is like when you're actually in the situation, you have to consciously take a step back to appreciate what you're doing. Like when you're in the moment now, I go, "Okay, I'm driving my car."
Speaker A
Like I kind of ignore the fact that it's an F1 car and the fastest car in the world, and I just go, "This is my job.
Speaker A
I'm trying to do the best job that I can." The feeling of sitting in the car and what I'm trying to achieve is the same as when I was 10 years old, but, you know, 10-year-old me would be
Speaker A
looking at that going, "This is the best thing ever." So, that’s probably the biggest difference: you have to consciously take that step back because once you're in F1, obviously I am for race wins and championships,
Speaker A
but they're not so far off in the distance. They're kind of within touching distance.
Speaker A
And have you consciously done that step-back moment because the life you're living doesn't come for free, right? I remember talking here actually to your teammate Lando, and I said, "How's life?" And you know what? He just went,
Speaker A
"Hm, lonely." Mhm. Fernando Alonso has been on the podcast. At the end of the conversation, the question was, you know, what's the cost of doing this? And he said, "Well, personal relationships, you know, at the time, he said, I don't have kids, for
Speaker A
example." He obviously, yes, he does now. M. So, have you taken those moments to step back and realize that this doesn't come for free? Therefore, you have to find the joy in those things that the 10- or 11-year-old you would not
Speaker A
have believed you were doing for a living.
Speaker A
Definitely. Yes. I think, yeah, for me, I take a lot of joy and happiness from, you know, being able to drive race cars for a living and, you know, was fortunate
Speaker A
enough to be in a competitive team, you know, fighting for wins, podiums, championships. And that's the kind of stuff that, you know, you've always dreamed of as a racing driver, but like you said, it doesn't come for free.
Speaker A
You know, especially if you're not from Europe. You've got that added step of moving to Europe at some point. And, you know, for me, that came at the age of 14. So, it was pretty early to be
Speaker A
making that decision. And I think that was a good thing in some ways because I was young, naive of kind of, you know, as far as I knew, I was going overseas to go and race the best
Speaker A
guys in the world. And that was, you know, that sounded awesome to me. But then, yeah, once you kind of look back on it, yeah, it's a pretty tough decision to make. You know, not being able to see your family very regularly.
Speaker A
Even now I go back home for a couple of weeks a year over Christmas.
Speaker A
So, you know, in those... how long it's been now, 10 years, I've probably spent in total seven or eight months seeing my family away from a racetrack. You know, I've seen them at the racetrack, but
Speaker A
it's a bit different when you're at a racetrack versus just relaxing at home. So, there's definitely decisions you have to make along the way. But at the end of the day, I decided that I wanted to be an F1 driver
Speaker A
and that I was willing to give up certain things to make that happen. And I'm certainly glad that I was able to accomplish that. But, yeah, I'm pretty happy driving race cars.
Speaker A
I'm sure you are. And, you know, people obsess over the decisions you make now, the teams to join, the decisions you make behind the wheel.
Speaker A
I think this decision at 14 to leave Australia, travel to the other side of the world without your family to pursue your dream is a really fascinating moment. And I think people don't think about the fact that if
Speaker A
you're, if you're a Spaniard or you're a Brit or you're a Frenchman or you're Italian,
Speaker A
yeah, well, you're still in the same continent. You can whip home at a weekend. That option is not available for you.
Speaker A
Yeah. As soon as we finish this conversation, you're pretty much about to fly off to Miami, so people will be listening to this ahead of that race. Look, they've announced a few regulation changes. You had an issue in
Speaker A
Melbourne with, you know, the car delivering a lot of power. Oliver Burman had the same thing in Japan. From what you've seen and the changes they've made, is it enough?
Speaker A
It's hard to say now. I think there's definitely some rule changes that are a step in the right direction. I think some of the stuff around the kind of power you get from the boost button,
Speaker A
I'll be honest with you, there's a lot of rules I still need to actually look through and see what specifically that changes. So it's still complex, and, you know, with the engines we've got, there's always going to be a
Speaker A
compromise somewhere. And I think it's been, I think for me the biggest thing has been the kind of coordination and collaboration between the drivers, teams, F1, and the FIA. It's been actually quite refreshing, I think, for
Speaker A
especially some of the older guys to see the collaboration, but time will tell. I think there probably will need to be some further tweaks. How easy they are to implement this year, we don't know. But I'm sure there'll be some
Speaker A
changes probably next year or in the future, but it's definitely going in the right direction. So hopefully, hopefully we see that on show in Miami.
Speaker A
So go back to that 14-year-old. What was the decision-making process you can remember going through at that point?
Speaker A
Well, it was kind of a, let's say, joint-ish decision between me and my parents, especially my dad. He took me to all my karting races. He was my mechanic when I was racing in Australia. You know, my
Speaker A
mom was very supportive in kind of allowing me to chase my dreams, but, you know, not particularly interested in motorsport. She was interested in my racing, obviously, but also very supportive in that I've got three younger sisters. And
Speaker A
you know, it would have been quite easy for her to turn around and say, "I can't, you know, I can't look after the girls and kind of not se...
Speaker A
before in 2014. Um, which was kind of the litmus test for basically whether my dad was going to, you know, put in the time and the money to to try and give me a crack at racing in Europe. And that race went
Speaker A
well. I finished third. And then I did a few more races the following year in 2015 which also went reasonably well.
Speaker A
But we could kind of see that compared to the guys that were you know I did the European Championships and I think one other race and you know all the other guys all the other kids were racing every second weekend basically
Speaker A
and you you could kind of tell that we were doing a good job for the amount of kind of effort and time we were putting in but to do it properly or you know to get ultimate success we needed to do it
Speaker A
properly. and the only way to do it properly is to commit to it and and move to Europe. So, um, for me at the time, you know, there was kind of the the weighing up of, you know, I'm going to
Speaker A
be leaving Australia. I'm going to be leaving my friends behind. Uh, you know, not being able to see my my sisters in particular, not seeing my mom that much.
Speaker A
My dad was there for the first 6 months, um, pretty much full-time, and then I went to boarding school after that. So the idea of going to live at school wasn't the most appealing at uh at 14 years old. But I knew that uh you know I
Speaker A
I had to weigh up do I want to continue on this path firstly racing against the best guys in the world which I'm really enjoying and you know at this fork in the road either I keep doing this and
Speaker A
kind of keep making those sacrifices or I go back to Australia and probably try and race fair supercars. Um that probably would have been the plan but um I had the I guess the passion my family was supportive in in well they
Speaker A
were supporting me both with time uh you know effort with with my sisters and making it work and financially as well. Um so I kind of thought well if they're willing to to help me with this and I really want to do it then why not?
Speaker A
There's plenty of opportunities here if I do a good enough job. So, I better make sure I do a good job.
Speaker A
And what about the the self-belief? I mean, there's something magic about naivity when you're 14, right? If I asked you at 14, do you believe you'll be a Formula 1 driver or an F1 world champion? What would you have said?
Speaker A
Um, honestly, probably no. Really? Yeah. I I was realistic and I think until I got to F2, my goal my my I always kind of split into my dream and my goal. My dream was always to be an F1 driver, but my goal was
Speaker A
always to just be a professional racing driver. I just wanted to race cars for a living. I didn't really mind if it was an F1 car, a super car in Australia, GT cars, indie car even. Um although with age I'm not so sure I'd go racing
Speaker A
the car now but I wanted to be a professional racing driver and I was very realistic that you know my chances of getting to F1 are incredibly small.
Speaker A
Um, so I'd kind of accepted that from a young age, but I also thought, you know, even if I don't make it to F1, I'm just going to get as far as I can up the junior ladder. And, you know, if I don't
Speaker A
make it, then hopefully there's an opportunity that comes from racing in F3 or or F2. And I didn't really let myself kind of dare to, you know, turn that dream into a goal until I got to F2 and
Speaker A
started to fight for the championship there that I went, okay, the next and even then it was kind of more a logical step of going, okay, well, the next thing, you know, if this goes well, say if I win this year, the only step left
Speaker A
is F1. Um, rather than going like, I'm in F2 now. Okay, now I really want to get to F1. it was kind of, okay, well, things are still going well in the junior ranks, so the next step is is F1,
Speaker A
and that's a pretty cool place to to land. So, I was very realistic early on that that the chances of making it happen were we're going to be small, but um you know, I guess the saying of well,
Speaker A
somebody's got to do it, um is is very much true. And I think when you're a kid, it seems very far away. And that kind of feeling of uh you know someone does have to fill those seats on the
Speaker A
grid um feels incredibly distant and and hard to achieve but as you get a little bit closer you go okay I can actually be one of the people to to do this.
Speaker A
I also think that self-belief is such an important tool in someone's you know armor. We've had over 400 conversations on this show and so often the people that we sit and speak to tell us that well they believed it before it
Speaker A
had happened cuz otherwise it would never have happened. Mhm. So now you've been this close to making it happen. Do you believe you will one day be a Formula 1 world champion?
Speaker A
I think so. Yes. Yeah. Um, again, I I guess I may be a little bit different in that I I don't spend that much time thinking about the kind of or I try not to anyway about the hypotheticals or, you know, of course I
Speaker A
want to become a Formula 1 world champion but I try and look at it from a very realistic point of view and uh, you know, That's a combination of, you know, I need to do my job. But in this sport,
Speaker A
for good or bad, if you don't have the car to achieve it, then you can kind of believe you're going to be F1 world champion all you want. But and if you don't have the best car or one of the
Speaker A
best cars, then again, you can believe that it's going to happen all you want, but it's probably not going to happen. Um, so I think for me that's more where I come from is is just that sense of realism
Speaker A
and I'm a big believer in just trying to do the most with what you've got. And um, you know, take Suzuka this year for example.
Speaker A
Um, you know, you look at it in the history books in 10 years and it'll say, "Okay, I finished second and at this point I've won nine F1 races." But honestly, I would probably put that second place higher in my list of
Speaker A
personal achievements than probably 50% of those wins that I've had so far just because I know that I didn't leave anything on the table in that weekend.
Speaker A
Um, I got the absolute most out of myself in practice. I got very close to the absolute most in in qualifying. I got the absolute most out of the race and we were quick enough to finish second. Me and the car and the team,
Speaker A
that was all we had. Um, and again, the history books will say I got beaten by 15 seconds. But, you know, that's where our sport is a little bit funny and where you have to be very disciplined in in kind of
Speaker A
focusing on the right things because again, I left that weekend happier than I probably left half the races I've I won in my career. Um, and that's a really big important factor for me is making sure you leave every weekend
Speaker A
knowing that you've done absolutely everything that you can regardless of whether you've won the race, whether you finished 10th, whether you finished 15th even. Um, as long as you can leave the weekend going, knowing that I did absolutely everything I could in my
Speaker A
control, that's good enough for me. You know, there was a point a little while ago where I looked at all the supplements in my kitchen cupboard. And my wife laughs about this even now, and she's like, "What has happened here?"
Speaker A
And honestly, I didn't realize that all of the supplements I was taking had got so complicated. But I think it's cuz I was trying to be a dad, trying to be a partner to Harriet, trying to run a
Speaker A
couple of businesses, trying to find time to host this podcast. And I suppose really what I needed was less things in my life, and just a few things that actually work. And I think there's a myth I'd like to debunk at this point,
Speaker A
right? And it's that high performance doesn't mean trying to chase everything. It doesn't mean finding every hack. It doesn't mean squeezing more into every single day. Sometimes the best performers, and they've told us this when they've been in this studio, they
Speaker A
just prioritize simplicity. They only master the fundamentals. And to be honest, I think I've learned this the hard way through trial and error. And I think I now realize that nothing is more fundamental than fueling your body with
Speaker A
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Speaker A
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Speaker A
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Speaker A
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Speaker A
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Speaker A
And something that I hear time and time again is that when it comes to your health, you need to be proactive, not reactive. That's why I'm so proud to have partnered with Randoc's Health. I actually recently used their everyman
Speaker A
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Speaker A
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Speaker A
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Speaker A
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Speaker A
That's code HP20 for 20% off at randoxalth.com. So when we talk about belief, right, do you remember the moment that you went from turning up on a Thursday thinking, hope things go my way and I get a decent
Speaker A
result, to turning up on a Thursday thinking, if I do my job, I know I win this race.
Speaker A
Probably after Melbourne last year, right? Um, again, what on, you know, in the history books, I finished ninth and it wasn't uh wasn't a race filled with great memories, but I left that weekend knowing that I'd taken a big step
Speaker A
forward from the year before. I knew I still had some steps and improvements to make, but I knew that I was really close to just being able to kind of maximize my potential. I think through my first two years of F1, there was always a bit
Speaker A
of a lingering feeling of a little bit of hope, a little bit of, you know, I need to do something a little bit extra or I need to do something a bit special.
Speaker A
But after Melbourne in 2025, I knew within myself and especially after China when I won, I knew that as long as I got close to my potential that I could win win races. And obviously a big part of that comes from
Speaker A
the car that you're in. Um and especially the first half of the season. I knew that if I got close to my potential then realistically I probably only had to beat Lando. Um and and that was it. Which you know is not an easy
Speaker A
task but it's a little bit easier when you've only got to worry about one or two people. Obviously Max was back in the picture later in the year but um 2025 was the first time in F1 at least
Speaker A
where I went. you know, if I get close to my potential here, I'm I'm going to win.
Speaker A
And when you go back to those first few races of last season, you're winning them, you're leading the championship, like it looks easy from the outside. I'm really interested from behind the visor.
Speaker A
How different does the job and the sport feel when that's the that's the the way that it's looking and the way that it's falling? Do you know what I mean?
Speaker A
Yes, I do. It's it's a double-edged sword, right? I would say there's obviously the the confidence you get from that and just the enjoyment. You know, at the end of the day, we're all here on the grid because we're trying to win races and
Speaker A
eventually championships. Um, so there's a lot of enjoyment that comes with that. I guess there's also kind of the expectation or you know the building expectation um of trying to keep that going. Um and you know at certain points last year
Speaker A
finishing second was almost kind of the worst place I could finish because I got beaten by my teammate probably and our car was a lot better than everyone else's on certain weekends and you know I I didn't do a
Speaker A
good enough job basically. So, you know, when finishing second feels like a bad weekend, um it's it's tough to or you know, it's tough and important to kind of look at it in a more holistic way and go, "Okay, yeah, it wasn't a good
Speaker A
weekend or whatever in the grand scheme of things, but I still just finished second in an F1 race thinking I probably didn't do as good of a job as I should have or I could have." Um, so yeah, it's a double-edged sword and
Speaker A
it's, you know, you've got to be careful to not get carried away either. And what's the secret to that? Cuz I remember watching thinking, I wonder whether even after four or five races, whether you were thinking, ah, I think I
Speaker A
might win the world title this year, and how dangerous it is for your brain to go, which is the most natural human thing in the world, isn't it? I think you there was definitely thoughts of I don't think there was ever really the
Speaker A
thoughts of I'm going to win the world championship or if there was or if there were I was very quick to go calm yourself down um because there's a long way to go but I again like after Melbourne I I
Speaker A
knew within myself that I it was within my power to win the world championship.
Speaker A
I didn't necessarily think or you know I wasn't certain it was going to happen but I knew that um if and it's a big if if you did a good enough job and if certain things go the right way um then
Speaker A
it can happen. Um, so I think that was more the the belief and again there's a good quote from from Nikki Louder that I saw this morning actually from the the Loris Awards where he dedicated his award to the losers uh and saying that
Speaker A
he always learned so much more in losing than in in winning which I think is true and it's very very hard to find you know when you you lose a race because of a mistake or because of something you did badly,
Speaker A
it stares at you in the face pretty obviously. But if you've won a race and there was things that didn't go that well, you've got to look a bit harder to go, okay, this still wasn't great. This wasn't great. You know, Miami for me
Speaker A
last year was a perfect example where I won the race, but I started fourth.
Speaker A
I went into the race going, there's no way I'm going to win this thing starting from fourth. A few things went my way.
Speaker A
Our car was incredibly quick in Miami and I knew that I'd done a good job of kind of the the circumstances I got dealt with in the race and and was able to win, but I knew that if I like I
Speaker A
could do that once or twice or three times in the year out of 24 races and maybe get away with it, but I could not win a championship based on weekends like that.
Speaker A
Um, in what respect? I didn't do a good enough job right before that. Um, I think in the race I did a a good job, but but people would look at that and go, "Well, you won the right. What do you
Speaker A
mean you didn't do a good enough job?" Like, what does winning a race and not doing a good enough job actually look like to you?
Speaker A
Uh, I think in that one specifically, mainly qualifying. You know, qualifying is such a big part of Formula 1, um, that in 95% of the races, I would say, starting fourth, you're not going to win the race. Um especially when you've got
Speaker A
a competitive teammate alongside you and you know Lando was starting ahead of me. Um you know there was races last year where I think we both pretty much knew that whoever was leading at the end of the first lap out of us two it was more than
Speaker A
likely going to stay that way. Um, so that's a really important part and I knew that I hadn't done a good job in qualifying and that if I was qualifying fourth every weekend again I could do that once or twice and
Speaker A
have a bit of action go on and and take advantage of it but I couldn't rely on that basically and and you know the next weekend I tried to improve my qualifying and um the rest of the year tried to do
Speaker A
the same and that sets up your race um and yeah just trying to make life as easy as possible for yourself. That was the biggest thing. Um, inside the SARS's rugby jersey, we had their captain Maro Toji on the show recently. They have the
Speaker A
letters TS T NS. The that no one nobody sees is the acronym that that stands for.
Speaker A
What is the that nobody sees in your world that think you think makes you a better driver?
Speaker A
Oh, that makes me a better driver. Um I I think it's probably I mean it covers so many things but I I think it's the hard work and the the data we go through the kind of preparation we we do which you know
Speaker A
obviously no one sees because we never share it because it's sensitive information right so Um, I don't know if any if people will ever really be able to appreciate that, but it's a bit different in that, you know, racing is
Speaker A
very different to a lot of sports like um, you know, tennis, for example. If you want to go get better at tennis, your number one thing you're going to do is go on a court and hit some balls.
Speaker A
Can't do that with racing. Um, the closest thing we've got is a simulator. it gets close, but when you talk about the really detailed, minute things you're trying to change, I'm not sure simulators will ever quite get to that
Speaker A
point. So, it's the kind of discussions you have with your engineers. It's the squiggly lines we look through, the data traces, the, you know, whether it be the mental work we do, the physical training. I think the physical training
Speaker A
people probably understand. um because people can relate to that a lot more. But you know, sitting in a simulator for 5 hours testing different roll bars or downforce levels and stuff, it's very hard for people that haven't driven a race car to relate to that. And
Speaker A
um or you know, trying this driving style change or or whatever. Um, so I I think it's just the amount of kind of in some ways the mental effort that goes into preparing the limited physical time you have in a
Speaker A
race car. Yeah. Um because you know even on a race weekend especially a sprint race weekend for example and especially with this new regulations of cars you know if you go into the session going okay let's see what happens and we'll go from there.
Speaker A
you're going to be absolutely nowhere and you need to do that time in the simulator. You need to discuss through, you know, different setup ideas. You need to discuss through different driving ideas so that when you're on that track for an hour, and I guess what
Speaker A
people also maybe sometimes don't see is, you know, we have a 1-hour practice session, but we've got two sets of tires per uh practice session essentially. One of them is generally a soft tire which is good for one lap or two laps. So
Speaker A
maybe two. Yeah. So you've got to all that preparation time to prepare qualifying is going into effectively let's say 3 minutes on the track and you've got to be so prepared and put so much effort into being able
Speaker A
to do that in real time alongside trying to drive a race car at however many hundreds of kilometers an hour. So, I think that's probably the that no one sees.
Speaker A
Yeah. And are you the kind of guy that will share everything with a teammate and want them to know everything or are you more uh protective of your generally? Yes. And you know, I think I think it's the way
Speaker A
of just modern teams anyway, especially at McLaren. You know, that's the way it's going to be whether I want it to be or not. And um you know I think it is a very good way of going about things
Speaker A
because you know it goes it's in a goes in a circle right there. Of course if you find something special that you think that no one else has found you're going to want to try and keep that to
Speaker A
yourself but we've got hundreds of people working in our team. Other teams got the same got on boards GPS like there's no secrets. you can't hide. Um, and again, it it goes the opposite way as as well. You know, you if you're in
Speaker A
that position where someone else has done something and you go, I need to work out how to do that, you want as many tools at your disposal as as you can get. So, yeah, I think everyone probably has their little moments where
Speaker A
they go, okay, I want to keep that one to myself. But at the end of the day, it if you start going down that route, eventually it'll bite you when you probably least want it. the the teammate dynamic is so interesting. Um
Speaker A
you and Lando, you know, went toe-to-toe for the title last year. How different does that relationship become when you both know, okay, one of us is now going to win the world title?
Speaker A
Um I in all honesty, I don't think it really changed really. Um which I just thought I don't think anyone really believes or struggles to believe.
Speaker A
I think it's very much down to how we are as people. Um I think we're both quite good at, you know, separating kind of the people and what happens on the racetrack versus off the racetrack.
Speaker A
You know, our marketing days that we had to do together, for example, were were exactly the same. probably if anything you know like we get asked about our relationship as teammates quite a lot and I think probably it was
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actually better you know at the back end of last year than it was you know say the first 6 months that we were getting to know each other just because we know each other more and you know we spend so
Speaker A
much time uh around one another every year so it really didn't change much um because I I think, you know, we both knew the situation we were in of trying to beat each other and one of us only
Speaker A
one of us could win. We we we knew all of that, but it never it never got nasty. Um, and I think that's a really important thing because I think it would have been very easy for last year to
Speaker A
have got nasty and well there would have been probably the, you know, if it really got bad, the question of whether one of us was even sat here doing this interview wearing orange, but I think, you know, just the the team
Speaker A
dynamics is so important to protect going forwards. And you know, obviously we've not quite started this year the way we want, but it would have been so easy for the battle of last year to make it look 10
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times worse and 10 times worse for a long time. So, um I think we both knew that as well that and you should be proud actually of the fact that you both went through that pressure cooker.
Speaker A
Yeah. And and you're both here and you're okay with each other. I think that's it's not easy for that to Yeah. And I think again I think we you know we obviously had a couple times where we came
Speaker A
together but there was never you know I think in kind of title battles especially between teammates that have kind of turned sour there's normally been some element of games or trying to hide stuff or something like that. And I think for both of us there's
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we're just not really like that. But also we know like you know we've seen that play out as well. Um and you know I think it doesn't take much to get into that sequence of you know I'm going to do this and then
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the teammate goes oh well okay I know you did that so I'm going to do this and then it just escalates. And I think, you know, for both of us, even if we did have problems, I think they were never
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intentional. Um, and you know, even if we felt like we'd crossed the line either, we were, you know, good. We never had to confront each other. But I think we both kind of knew if we'd crossed the line ourselves and went, "My
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bad." And the team held us accountable for that as well. So, um, yeah, I think we had a a good system to keep things friendly.
Speaker A
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Speaker A
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Speaker A
description. What was the biggest lesson from the toughest moment last season? Um, I mean there was there was a few tough moments. I think I guess the pressure in some ways of um from from different angles, you know,
Speaker A
when you're ahead in the championship, you know, you're doing something right. That's why you have the lead, but you're also the one being hunted if you're behind and you know, you're trying to maintain that advantage. So you always
Speaker A
you can only look behind in some ways. So it's difficult to not do that, but then when you're behind, of course, you've got the the mentality of being the hunter, but you've also got the gap to to close. You've got to close it. Um
Speaker A
and I think just the kind of dynamics of that a little bit maybe was a bit of an eye opener. It's obviously a very long season. Um so which is more natural for you to be the hunter or the hunted? I I think the
Speaker A
hunted um I've I've always enjoyed being in that position because again I've said it a few times generally that means you're doing something right or something better than the people you're racing against. Um, and I guess there's that confidence of,
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you know, generally you're probably in that position because you've won races or, you know, been on the podium a lot or or things like that. Um, you know, if if it's chopping and changing every single race, then yeah, if you're the
Speaker A
huned by two points, then it's a bit different if it's by by 30. Um, but for me that's always been a nice position because you've got a little bit of buffer and you've you've got you've got the races and the results to back up
Speaker A
that position normally. Um, so I think that was probably the the biggest thing and then yeah, there was a few technical things, you know, a few tracks at the end of the year where I had to drive the
Speaker A
car very differently um that I probably didn't get on top of as quickly as I should have. Um probably some things as a team we'd do again um in a slightly different way as well. Um so you know there's there's
Speaker A
little bits everywhere. There wasn't one glaringly obvious thing but you put enough of those things together and uh sometimes it doesn't quite happen.
Speaker A
No indeed. And how are you um at recovering from these moments? I I think generally pretty good. Um, you know, definitely the few days after Abu Dhabi weren't the most enjoyable uh in in my life, but I think in some ways
Speaker A
having such a big reset this year uh was a good thing. Um because uh you know I think for me I I kind of reflected on last year and you know firstly obviously again going back to the looking at
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things when you're winning versus losing you obviously look at the things that were painful and the mistakes and then reflected on the things that were good and the things I you know want to try and maintain for this year. Um
Speaker A
and then once you do that then you know this the challenge of the regulations this year was so massive going into it that for good or bad you almost didn't have time to dwell on last season that much
Speaker A
which was was perfect for me because I didn't you know I had the kind of two weeks in Australia to to see my family see my friends reflect on uh 2025 and then get stucked back into the challenge
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of this year. And um you know, obviously the first two races this year didn't go well um in that I didn't start them, but I think Japan was in some ways a more just reflection of where I feel like I'm
Speaker A
at um this season and the the hard work we put in in the offseason, the way I kind of, you know, switched my focus from last year into this new challenge this year. Um, I I think that was a
Speaker A
really helpful thing for me to be able to just focus all my energy on. Um, so yeah, I've I've enjoyed in some ways having the new challenge. in some ways has been a bit of a a headache, but um
Speaker A
yeah, for me I feel like I used my time efficiently to reflect on last year, but then channeled that energy or any motivation I had from last year, let's say, into into attacking the new challenge.
Speaker A
Do you remember when you made that switch? Cuz we've spoken to some people on this show who are like, "But I give myself 48 hours and I can be the grumpiest, most horrible person on the planet for that amount of time." Mhm.
Speaker A
Other people, they just kind of let it be there until they feel better. I don't know what your approach is to dealing with those really difficult moments.
Speaker A
I would say it's more just letting it be there. I think it's it's very hard to force things in general.
Speaker A
Yeah. Um, and uh, you know, you could perfectly say to yourself that, you know, okay, I'm going to give myself, you know, until midnight on Sunday night, and when it gets to 12:01 on Monday morning, I'm going to
Speaker A
reset myself. But you could have a thought at 12:05 going, damn, I wish I didn't do that in this race or this race. And like, you know, we're human.
Speaker A
We don't work by just switching off. And um you know, I think you kind of have to deal with your emotions and and your feelings when they happen. And that's I guess part of being human is you don't
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always know when that's going to happen. Um, so for me it was kind of just feel it out and you know even now there's still the odd thought of doesn't even necessarily need to be last year. It could be races or you know we all have
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moments embarrassing moments in our life where you know you have an interaction with someone you go I wish I had have said this instead of this or you know those random thoughts they happen about everything. So, um, yeah, for me it's
Speaker A
just dealing with them when they come up rather than trying to force a time period.
Speaker A
Um, because, yeah, you never know when they're they're going to come up, but it's, you know, it's always how you deal with those things rather than trying to shut them out and pretend they're not there.
Speaker A
And do you work with a a therapist or a mental coach or anyone like that?
Speaker A
Uh, mental coach, yes. Um, uh, her name's Emma Mari. Uh, I've worked with her for for quite a while now. Um, and yeah, she's done work with different AFL clubs in Australia and uh, and various other athletes. So, we've known
Speaker A
each other for for a while. And, um, yeah, I I think for me, I've always felt like my natural mental strength has been pretty strong. I maybe didn't always necessarily know that and I maybe needed some tough situations or people like
Speaker A
Emma to tell me sometimes. But I think there's there's been elements of that that come naturally and elements of that that are definitely kind of practiced and worked on as well. And what's the best either piece of advice she's given
Speaker A
you for some work that you can do mentally to keep yourself in a good place or maybe I know most of this stuff should rightly stay private like maybe something that she said where it's just made such sense to you that you think it
Speaker A
might be helpful for people listening to this to hear. I mean there's lots of great pieces of advice I I could give. Um but I think you know maybe some people think of kind of mental performance or even mental
Speaker A
health for that matter as trying to be positive all the time. Um or you know just look at things through a very positive lens. But I think again going back to the kind of giving yourself a set time or trying to force
Speaker A
things like I guess to put it bluntly if something's there's no point trying to say it's not Yeah.
Speaker A
Um you know it's not fooling anyone. You know you're not fooling yourself if you do that. So to put it more politely, you know, if you're in a tough situation or something bad's happened, there's no point trying to tell yourself that it's good
Speaker A
or, you know, that it's not bad necessarily. You know, there might be a silver lining to things that you you'll always find. And it's always important to try and find those, but to you know, if you crash out of a race,
Speaker A
like if you try and say, "Oh, well, it wasn't that bad or it was it was good actually." Clearly, it wasn't like like, and I think there's always Yeah, just being honest and real is probably the the biggest thing. Just
Speaker A
letting your emotions out. but then being able to do something about it and you know that's kind of how I always was anyway or how I am is you know I think emotions are I've phrased this in a way before that I
Speaker A
want I've changed a bit now and I think I phrased it that emotions are rarely helpful and I still kind of believe that to a sense but I think they are helpful as long long as you know how to control
Speaker A
them, how to deal with them, and channel them in the right way. Um, I think that's a a really important part of it.
Speaker A
And I think, you know, for me, again, it's about what you can control and what you can't control. If if I've got a problem and I can do something about it and I can fix it, then I'll fix it. If I
Speaker A
can't fix it, then okay, depending on the size of the problem, sometimes you go, I I really wish I could fix that.
Speaker A
But at a certain point, you have to go, I can't fix it. I'm going to focus on something else that I can fix. Um, and you know, that applies in racing. It applies in life. Um, and I think
Speaker A
generally it makes me feel a bit more comfortable sometimes. I mean, I think it's I think it's so interesting and you you certainly sound wise beyond your years. I remember talking to Johanna Cont, the former British number one tennis player. She
Speaker A
spoke similar to this. You said that um if your resistance to life is a 10, even if life is giving you the challenge of a two, if your resistance is a 10, it's 20.
Speaker A
Yeah. So if life is giving you a challenge of a 10 and your resistance is a 10, that's a big issue.
Speaker A
Yeah. Whereas if your resistance to life is zero right? Then the challenge can be 10. The 10 times 0 remains zero. Yeah.
Speaker A
So in your career, your reaction to anything, whether it is what happened in Monza or Baku, what happened at the end of the season or what happened in Japan, whether it's good or bad, negative or positive, more than what matters more than any of
Speaker A
those things is your own personal reaction to those things. Yeah, I agree. And I think again, it's kind of along everything, you know, I've kind of said, I always try to take the results out of it and think of
Speaker A
have I done a good job of the things I can control. Um, you know, if you get a penalty from the stewards, you can complain about it, cry about it all you want, but is that actually going to help you? Like, you know, if you get
Speaker A
a penalty on lap one of a 50 lap race, you know, you've kind of you've got two options. Can you um especially with a steward's hit penalty, um, you know, they're never going to change it. So, either you can complain about it for the
Speaker A
next 50 laps and say how unfair it was, or you can go, "Okay, I've got this penalty. Let me try and there's a fine line." You probably shouldn't say try and drive even faster because you're trying to drive as fast
Speaker A
as you can, but I've got this penalty. It is what it is. Let me try and do my job. And if I do a good enough job, maybe I'll be able to overcome that penalty. Maybe I maybe I won't. You're
Speaker A
not going to know. Um, but all I can do now is try and do the best job that I can. And I tell you, when you make me laugh, I know when you're getting news in the cockpit that's pissed you off cuz
Speaker A
there's no response, isn't it? I'm like, when's he when's he going to say something? There's always like 5 seconds of silence where you like processing what information are you giving me here and then yes the it it it depends you know if I
Speaker A
think I can have some element of influence or control in the situation then yes I will say something but if if I know that there's not there's if I know that I could talk for the next half an hour and
Speaker A
it's not going to change a single thing like I'm not going to waste the energy.
Speaker A
I'm just going to focus my energy on something I can do that might help me uh get over that situation.
Speaker A
And when things are tense and difficult, who in the world of F1 can you lean on?
Speaker A
Um Mark definitely. I think Oh, actually I have a question about Mark. Do you mind if I play This is from uh I don't know whether you know Rob or not, but we do an F1 podcast called High
Speaker A
Performance Racing and he had a question for you which relates to this. So I'll Yeah. Hey Oscar, it's Rob Smmedley. Um, so the question I wanted to ask you was, what is it like getting managed off my old mate Mark Weber? Um, is he a
Speaker A
taskmaster and how has your relationship changed with him since you came in as a rookie?
Speaker A
Um, the relationship's good. Very uh thorough is Mark. Um, I I think how's it changed?
Speaker A
I I think, you know, when I first got into F1, I think Mark was, you know, coming up with questions and ideas that literally hadn't even entered my brain.
Speaker A
And like I would hear him say it and go like, "How the hell did he think of that?" Or like, "How am I ever going to think of that?" Um, and I think just with experience, I'm, you know, I'm still, you know,
Speaker A
we're always learning every day. But I think, you know, now starting my fourth year, I have either the answers to a lot of those kind of questions that I wouldn't have had in the first couple of years or I know the questions to keep
Speaker A
asking. um which just comes with experience and I think you know there's naturally less and less for Mark to do on on a racing side of things um the more experienced I I become but I think especially in the first couple of years
Speaker A
just the kind of uh you know there's some lessons you have to learn the hard way and there's no other way of doing it but I'm sure there could have been plenty of other slightly annoying more tough lessons to
Speaker A
learn that uh you know I was probably spared because of Mark's experience and and Mark's guidance. So um yeah, there's probably always going to be you know situations or things that have gone smoothly that or almost problems that
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weren't problems that I'm never going to know about because Mark managed them for me. So um yeah, I think that's probably how it's changed in the last few years.
Speaker A
But you don't rely on any other fellow drivers for any advice or support? No, not really. I mean, I think, you know, I think, you know, going back to kind of relationships, you know, with different people on the
Speaker A
grid, I think there's always I think especially now in F1, there's a a massive level of respect between all the drivers. Um, but having respect for one another and being friends with one another are two very different things.
Speaker A
Um, and I think, you know, for me it's it's always hard to be genuine friends with somebody that 24 times a year you've got to go on track and prove that you're better than them basically or compete against them. Um, and I think
Speaker A
that's why probably a lot of, you know, some of the closest friendships in racing are between racing drivers that are in two different series or that have been teammates, you know, whether it be in the junior ranks or ex teammates in
Speaker A
F1 that are no are now no longer either in the same team racing as each other or kind of at different ends of the grid um because there's not that comp the same competitive tension between the two of
Speaker A
them. So, I get on with a lot of the the drivers. Um, and there's definitely some I'm, you know, more friendly with than than others. Um, but, you know, again, some ex teammates that that I've I've had in the junior ranks. Um, because,
Speaker A
you know, we're not racing against each other anymore. We can relate to each other a lot because, you know, we're both racing drivers, both doing the same job, um, you know, in different series.
Speaker A
So, there's a lot to talk about. And now there's not that awkwardness of going, "Oh, well, I really want to talk to you about this, but if I talk to you about it, is it going to give you ideas
Speaker A
on how you can beat me next time?" And all of those kind of things. So, it's a a tricky old business.
Speaker A
Yeah. Well, look, for someone that doesn't like sitting down and talking too much, I thought that was really interesting, mate. So, thank you so much for No problem.
Speaker A
giving me so much of your time. Really enjoyed it. Nice to finally meet you.
Speaker A
Yes. Nice to meet you, too. Thanks, mate.
Topics:Oscar PiastriFormula 1F1 driver journeymotorsport careerF1 regulation changesracing sacrificesmental resilienceF1 media and sponsorshipjunior formulaF1 personal story
