“I do definitely still pinch myself”: Oscar Piastri looks back on his journey from Australia to the streets of Monaco after maiden F1 win 

Oscar Piastri became the 115th F1 race winner after a strong weekend in Hungary. Both the Aussie and McLaren were excellent throughout the race and were able to battle the competition seemingly well without many issues.

The Australian debuted on the Formula 1 grid in the 2023 season with McLaren. While he did manage to win a sprint race last year, a Grand Prix victory seemed out of reach as Red Bull asserted their dominance. However, McLaren look extremely competitive this year and have bagged in two wins; Lando Norris in Miami, and Piastri in Hungary. Interestingly, both were the drivers' maiden F1 wins.

Reviewing his journey in motorsports, Oscar Piastri mentioned that he feels lucky to be a part of the sport. He also talked about his journey from racing in go-karts and walking down the streets of Monaco to becoming an F1 driver.

"I actually had a moment recently reminding me how I've come from the other side of the world, racing go-karts, to now walking through the streets of Monaco being an F1 driver. It was a pretty cool moment," he told Autosport.

Piastri revealed that he "pinches" himself at times, reminding himself about the "coolest job in the world."

"I definitely recognise how lucky and how fortunate I am to have made this work, because there are hundreds, if not thousands, that try and it doesn't work out. And there are tens of thousands probably that don't even really have the opportunity to try."

"So, I do definitely still pinch myself about how cool this is. At times it can be intense, but I do get to do the coolest job in the world."

Piastri's racing history spans a long way before he made his way to the F1 grid. He won three championships in consecutive years. In 2019, he was the winner of the Formula Renault Eurocup, and following this were the Formula 3 and Formula 2 championships.

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Lando Norris on his teammate Oscar Piastri's first F1 race win

Despite starting in pole position, Lando Norris lost the lead of the race on the opening lap. Piastri led the race for a very long time, however, the team's strategy gave the advantage to Norris.

After a string of questionable and rather confusing team radio exchanges with Norris, he gave back the position to Oscar Piastri in the closing stages of the race. Reacting to his win, he said:

"Just super happy, I’m happy for Oscar too – I know he won in Qatar [in the Sprint last year], but I think he’ll also say that this win is a lot more than a Sprint win," F1 quoted him.

"His first proper win, it’s a special moment, so [I’m] happy for him and for the whole team. An incredible weekend for all of us so, yeah, super happy."

With Oscar Piastri's win, McLaren remains strong this season. They have had the fastest car for multiple races this season and continue to extend the lead in second place in the World Championship.