Nine-time Grand Prix winner Oscar Piastri was just a young teenager when his father and himself made a decision that would quietly define the rest of his life.
It wasn’t a dramatic moment, no grand speeches or guarantees of success – just a young boy weighing homesickness against ambition, and choosing a future that felt impossibly far away.
Today, the McLaren charger is renowned for his composure under pressure, a driver whose calm presence helped fuel a near-title run in 2025. But that serenity was forged long before Formula 1, in boarding school dormitories thousands of miles away from home.
A Choice That Changed Everything
At 14, Piastri left Australia for Europe to chase motorsport’s highest levels, initially with his father by his side. That support, however, came with an expiration date.
“My dad moved over with me for the first six months, and then more or less gave me the decision of: Either you can stay here, go to boarding school and keep chasing your dream, or you can come back home with me,” Piastri recalled on a recent Off the Grid podcast with F1's Lawrence Baretto.
The choice was stark. Comfort and familiarity on one side; uncertainty, loneliness and opportunity on the other.
“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 continued.
“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.”
So Piastri stayed. His father returned to Melbourne. And a teenage racer began learning how to stand on his own two feet.
Learning to Park Emotion at the Door
That independence would later become a defining trait. As Piastri climbed the junior ladder – winning titles in FIA Formula 3 and Formula 2 before reaching Formula 1 – his temperament set him apart as much as his talent.
“There’s been a conscious effort, not being too fired up and getting too emotional, but also having some emotion and some passion in there,” he explained.
“Because, obviously, if you don’t care, then not much good is going to happen either. 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, in some cases.”
Living alone as a teenager forced clarity. Racing wasn’t just something he loved – it became the reason behind every sacrifice.
“It was kind of simple in some ways,” Piastri said. “This is how I achieve my dream. So I kind of had to remove the emotion of what I was doing out of it, in some ways.”
That didn’t mean the absence of doubt or longing.
“But it did make the occasional weekend or week, where you want to go home, just see everyone again, sleep in your own bed, see your family…” he admitted.
“That was tough at points, but again, it was always with a much bigger picture in mind, of trying to become a Formula 1 driver, if I could do it.”
Boarding School, Far From Home
Even now, Piastri admits the experience he embraced would be unbearable for many.
“I think for most kids, the idea of living at school sounds pretty torturous...”
He felt that hesitation himself.
“At the beginning, I wasn’t so keen on the idea. It was more one of those things where, you know, I’ve got to suck it up if this is what I want,” he said.
“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.”
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A decade after making that choice, the lessons remain visible every time Piastri straps himself into a Formula 1 car – in the stillness of his radio messages, the restraint in wheel-to-wheel battles, and the maturity of a driver who learned early that dreams demand more than talent.
They demand the courage to stay, when going home would be easier.
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