Oscar Piastri’s celebration shimmy after his third consecutive Formula 1 win at the Miami Grand Prix may not have had the finesse of an NFL touchdown routine, but it certainly had fans smiling.
After a commanding drive from fourth on the grid to victory at the Hard Rock Stadium circuit, the Australian left the cockpit of his McLaren ubder the cheers of his McLaren team and launched into a clumsy rendition of the “Griddy” – the viral dance move made famous by Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson.
Turns out, Piastri’s dance wasn’t just a spontaneous moment of joy – it was a promise fulfilled.
“It was an attempt at a Griddy, as you can tell, poorly executed,” Piastri said with a grin after the race.
“I met Justin Jefferson on Thursday, who has essentially made the Griddy world famous, and stupidly made a bet with him that if I won the race, then I would do one for him.”
The wager came after Piastri gave Jefferson a hot lap around the Miami circuit earlier in the weekend, during which Jefferson encouraged him to become the first in motorsport to perform the move post-victory.
“No one has ever done it in racing. You'll be the first one,” Jefferson told him. Piastri replied: “Well if I do it this weekend [win], I'll do it for you.”
©McLaren
True to his word, Piastri honored the bet. But, he admitted, preparation had been lacking.
“After qualifying yesterday, I didn’t practice because I thought that was definitely not going to be needed,” he said.
“So yeah, that was my first attempt at a Griddy live on world TV. I stayed true to the bet, but that’s the one and only time you’ll be seeing me do that.”
Jefferson was clearly impressed nonetheless, reacting on social media with: “OSCARRRRRR!!! LETS GOOOOO.”
Beneath the lighthearted antics, Piastri’s reflections on his Miami performance revealed a driver both elated and introspective.
Despite extending his championship lead over teammate Lando Norris to 16 points, he was candid about the weekend’s challenges.
“I think this weekend was not my best, and a lot of that was yesterday,” he said, referencing his fourth-place qualifying result. “The race today was pretty solid, but yesterday I was pretty frustrated with my performance.”
Starting from fourth, Piastri capitalized on McLaren’s unexpectedly strong race pace and a well-executed strategy to secure his fourth win in six races this season. But the Australian remained realistic about the circumstances that contributed to his win.
“Ultimately, yes, I won the race this weekend, but I think the likelihood of winning many races [after] qualifying fourth is pretty low,” he reflected.
“I did a lot of things right today, but there was definitely some good fortune there as well, and a very quick car. I don’t want to rely on that every single Sunday.”
The dominant pace of the McLaren surprised even Piastri.
“Clearly, this is the exception to the pace we’ve had this year. Yes, we’ve always had a strong car, but the pace we had today from lap one it felt like was unexpected, even for us.”
Still, the 20-year-old championship leader sees the Miami weekend as both a confidence booster and a learning experience.
“I’ll definitely take the performance and we’ll try and work out how to do that every weekend, but there’s still definitely things to work on from a personal side and from a team point of view.”
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