The Whopping Million-Dollar Investment That Guided Alpine Junior Oscar Piastri to F1

We might have another Australian driver on the F1 grid very soon. There are widespread rumors that F2 champion and Alpine reserve driver Oscar Piastri will join the grid in the 2023 season.

A place in F1 is what the talented and skillful Australian driver deserves, as he won F3 and F2 titles back to back. Yet he lost out a chance to get a drive in Formula One to fellow F2 graduate Zhou Guanyu. It was speculated that he did not really bring in the same amount of sponsors as the Chinese driver to F1.

Piastri revealed he will be on the F1 grid because of his talent and not money. “I want to get to F1 purely on merit, not because we could buy myself a seat. It’s been part of the game for a long-time, but I didn’t want to get to F1 because I paid to get there. I wanted to get there because I had the results,” said Piastri.

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But it has been an expensive journey to the pinnacle of motorsport for the bright young talent.

How much money did Oscar Piastri spend to get to F1?

Piastri comes from a well-to-do background in Australia. His father, Chris, is the founder of an automotive software company. But it was costly for his parents to fulfill their kid’s dream of coming to F1.

He mentioned he spent around $6 million to help his son get to F1. But just like any other parent; he did not comprise on his son’s dream to race at the pinnacle of motorsports.

“My parents never, ever put pressure on me from a financial point of view. But I’m quite a realistic person and I was aware of how much money was being spent. I never felt guilty, I guess… I was extremely grateful to be given that chance, that opportunity.”

‘”I’d be lying if I said that [$6m sum] wasn’t an extraordinary amount of money. The entry barrier to F1 is very, very high,” said the Alpine reserve driver.

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We have no doubt that we will see the young talent on the F1 grid very soon. He will surely earn millions in the future and justify the amount that was invested in his journey.