“Oscar’s brain is a supercomputer,” says Oscar Piastri’s early mentor, James Sera, who helped the McLaren driver navigate his early career in his native Australia. It is an unusual response when asked about the McLaren Formula 1 driver’s most crucial characteristics.
When posed the same question, the man who oversaw Piastri’s career when he moved to the UK latches onto the same theme. “It is his feel, his dexterity – the supercomputer; the brain,” responds Rob McIntyre.
Two people independent of each other using the exact same term to characterise the 23-year-old might be somewhat unusual. But perhaps it is not so unusual, for Piastri at least.
The Melbourne native’s ascent to the top of the F1 podium has been so rapid that it is perhaps understandable to forget he is only in his second season. Not only that, but F1 observers have also been blindsided by the incredible levels of maturity that defy his age, alongside a remarkable degree of calmness.
When McLaren was trying to manage the outcome of the Hungarian Grand Prix, Piastri was measured in his reaction to the situation. More supercomputer than superhuman, processing away behind the wheel and detached from emotion.
Piastri never allowed himself to panic as negotiations between McLaren’s pit wall and Norris continued in Hungary
Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images
Piastri is an undeniable talent and one that those who know him best saw at an early age when he raced radio-controlled cars in Australia, winning the second class and progressing to the top level when he was nine years old. It was then, around 2011, when he first met Sera having been sought out by Piastri’s father, Chris, to help with his fledgling career.
“A mutual friend involved in karting and RC racing had told Chris to come in and see me about getting Oscar into karting, as at the time, Oscar was around nine years old and was racing RC cars,” Sera tells Autosport. “I was running a business in karting, selling, servicing and coaching drivers all around the country. So after a very short conversation with Chris, he committed to buying Oscar his first go-kart.
“I was then involved in Oscar’s early career between the ages of nine and 14 before he left for Europe to race for Ricky Flynn. Oscar was a great kid. From the moment we met, it was a great relationship and we went away karting most weekends of the year together.
“It was clear…
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