When Oscar Piastri informed his mother Nicole that he had signed a contract with McLaren for 2023, they immediately realized there was ‘a little problem’. The Australian was set to replace his compatriot Daniel Ricciardo, one of the most popular drivers, at the British racing team. “Everyone loves him.”
Ever since her son started racing in Formula 1, Nicole Piastri has gained a significant following on social media. The ‘mother of’ amusingly and uniquely comments on her racing child’s performances. In the podcast The Red Flag, she reveals how her son Oscar broke the news of the contract he had signed with McLaren and its implications.
‘Parties’
“It was a Saturday evening and I was Ubering his sisters and their friends to various parties,” explains Nicole Piastri. “Oscar was on FaceTime. I have no idea how long that lasted. When the last child had stepped out of the car, he asked, ‘Mom, is everyone out of the car now?’ I thought he was going to tell me something terrible. Oscar said, ‘Mom, you might want to stop and pull the car over?’ I thought, ‘Oh no, what’s happening?’
She is prepared for the worst, but soon breaks into laughter when her son tells her that he has just signed his first Formula 1 contract. “I was like, ‘Oh my God, so what color are we wearing? Navy blue and pink then, because I think of Alpine (where Piastri was under contract as a test driver in 2022). ‘He said: No, it’s orange’. My heavens, McLaren. That was totally new to me, I didn’t see that coming. Great, but then it dawned on me what that meant and I was like, ‘Oh no, wait.’
Her son immediately understands what she’s referring to. He’s going to replace his extremely popular compatriot Daniel Ricciardo at McLaren. “I said, ‘I love Daniel’. To which Oscar replied, ‘Yes, everyone loves Daniel, that’s going to be a problem’. Oscar said that of all the Formula 1 drivers ever, Ricciardo is the worst one to replace.”
So far, Piastri is doing quite well at it…
