Oscar Piastri shares truth behind cool, calm and collected persona

Race winner Oscar Piastri has confessed that his cool, calm, and collected persona is the result of conscious effort, a coping mechanism of sorts from his early days in Europe.

The Australian developed a reputation for being unflappable during the early stages of his F1 career, backed by a somewhat unemotional and restrained demeanour, even over team radio during the heat of battle.

Oscar Piastri admits current persona a coping mechanism

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In many ways, it’s an act. A caricature of the true Oscar Piastri who, away from the spotlight cast upon him by F1, is sharp-witted and personable.

But a childhood spent learning life lessons in Europe, half a world away from his family, saw the Melburnian develop something of a front; a means of coping with the sacrifices necessary to make a career in Formula 1 from Australia.

“There’s been conscious effort not being too fired up and getting too emotional, but also having some emotion and some passion in there,” Piastri admitted in the latest episode of Off The Grid.

That’s not to say he is apathetic. “Obviously, if you don’t care, then not much good is going to happen either,” he reasoned.

“Just finding that sweet spot has been a learning experience.

“Part of that comes from, I guess, how I’ve grown up, especially once I moved to Europe.

“I learned a lot of life lessons and how to get around in life by myself.”

Piastri made the move from Australia to the UK aged just 14. For the first six months, he lived with his dad, who then returned to Australia, while Piastri Jnr moved into a boarding house – it was that or give up on his childhood dream.

“I was enjoying my time racing in Europe and racing against the best guys in the world, and I felt it would have been a shame to go back,” Piastri said.

“I was obviously sad to be moving away from home, but I was also excited to go and try and chase my dream, and going to Europe is definitely the best way of trying to achieve that.

“It was kind of simple in some ways. This is how I achieved my dream. So I kind of had to remove the emotion of what I was doing.”

There were pangs of homesickness but were quickly put in perspective against the bigger picture he was chasing; a career in Formula 1.

That meant living away from home, in a boarding school, and developing a degree of emotional separation.

“I wasn’t so keen on the idea,” Piastri admitted of boarding school. “[It] was more one of those things where, you know, I’ve got to suck it up if this is what I want.

“But actually, when I got there, in some ways, it was kind of like living with friends, which was nice and kind of also allowed you to take your mind off of racing.”

It was while at school that he met his partner, Lily, who has remained a constant in his life as it has accelerated up the motorsport ladder.

“Lily’s been a great addition by my side,” Piastri said.

“She’s been there right from the beginning, which has been really nice as well.

“For her to grow up with me in this crazy world that we’re in just been really nice to have.”

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Piastri is now increasingly recognised no matter where in the world he goes. While growing into his new-found fame, it remains unfamiliar and uncomfortable to an extent.

“It’s a lot more normal than it was 12 months ago or 24 months ago, but it is still a little bit strange,” Piastri said.

“Obviously, at the track, you expect the attention, but you know, there has been times where you kind of go in the supermarket or whatever, out of nowhere, someone’s asking for a photo or an autograph or whatever, or even just asking, ‘Is that really you?’

“For me, it’s always interesting when I’m around people like my friends, that don’t come to many races, it’s always funny for me, seeing the reaction from them.

“They’re like, you’ve been spotted so many times. Yeah, it comes with the territory.”

To Piastri, fame is reluctantly accepted, in many ways akin to his time at boarding school; an element that is essential but not central to his broader ambition.

And to deal with it, he’s using the same skills he developed all those years ago.

He has taken a step back emotionally, and presents a cool and calm persona.

A survival skill developed to help him through the trials of youth and the junior formulae, has today has become something of his public character.

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