$30 Trap Fails to Lure Oscar Piastri as F1’s “Tasty Old Man” Leaves McLaren Prodigy Safety Conscious

Oscar Piastri has been enjoying quite a debut season, that not many prodigies can manage. But amidst impressive performances, and outperforming Lando Norris, the Aussie doesn’t seem very ecstatic, celebrating his rookie year success. Often, Piastri gives a sedate and calm reaction to whatever top performances he achieves. Although, his off-track appearances also provide some nice anecdotes and moments. One such moment happened on one of his recent podcast appearances that left him very safety conscious and willing to lose a $30 bet!

Piastri lately gave a nice meme material-like reaction emulating John Krasinski’s character from the sitcom The Office. The McLaren prodigy seems to have that unique wit and sense of humor which came out when he sat down for a fun conversation on the podcast, The Fast And The Curious. And let’s just say that his comments from the episode left a lot of people ‘curious’.

Oscar Piastri plays it safe by refusing to address the F1 driver in person as ‘Tasty Old Man’

In the most recent episode of The Fast And The Curious podcast, they once again extended an invitation to Oscar Piastri as a guest. During the show, he delved into a variety of topics, including dream team-mates, personal superstitions, and even some gossip about Zak Brown. Among the queries posed by the hosts was whether or not Oscar was aware of the F1 driver who goes by the nickname “Tasty Old Man.”

To which he replied,  “I’m going to go with Fernando [Alonso] since he’s the oldest.” While his guess wasn’t bad by any means, especially considering Alonso’s age and how he has aged like a fine wine. But to the McLaren prodigy’s surprise, his answer was wrong. As the driver in question is indeed, Sergio Perez, of Red Bull!

Upon finding out the identity of the driver in question, the 22-year-old instantly played down any possibility of him calling Perez by that name. Perhaps out of respect, Perez’s seniority, or due to his down-to-earth nature. However, the real reason just might be something else.

The podcast host didn’t shy away from presenting a challenge, that was most likely a trap, as he bet $30 to him to simply just walk into one of the F1 briefings and address him with this nickname. But unfortunately for the host, the young Piastri was having none of it. As Piastri stated, “To be honest, your money is very safe, pretty sure. But thank you!” 

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Piastri might have politely declined the host’s trap, but the reason behind it might be related to Sergio Perez and his passionate fans. See, Perez’s fans tend to make an enemy out of anyone who dares go against their local hero. Considering how Max Verstappen had to up his security before heading into the Mexican Grand Prix, thanks to death threats. Maybe that’s why Piastri thought that taking a jibe at Perez was simply not worth the trouble. What a wise young man!

Can Piastri go from being a wise young man to a fast young driver at the Brazilian Grand Prix?

Considering that Piastri’s season so far has been quite successful, heading into the Brazilian Grand Prix, can Piastri bound back amidst recent misfortunes and underwhelming results? That’s a question in everyone’s mind. With McLaren having the third-best car, and him most likely having a desire to bounce back after two bad results, that’s certainly possible!

Moreover, considering that the Brazilian Grand Prix 2023 will be the last sprint format of this season, Piastri just might want to finish his season on a strong note. And let’s not forget his liking for this format. According to abc.net.au, he stated, “It’s a sprint weekend which I enjoy, and it gives us more chances for points.”

He further added, “I’ve never raced here before, so I’m excited to get on track at such an iconic circuit.”. It’ll be interesting to see whether he’ll be able to fulfill his wishes. Especially considering that a highly motivated Lewis Hamilton and an unstoppable Max Verstappen will certainly not make life easy for him.

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With some good banter moments to start off his Brazil weekend, Piastri will hope to make some hay at Interlagos. Whether or not he could challenge Verstappen is difficult to say, but surely a cheeky moment on the podium may be cool from the Aussie!