We’ve photographed Oscar Piastri in the gym. Not just any gym, of course; it’s the typically just-so fitness centre in the depths of the McLaren Technology Centre, softly lit and bedecked with inspirational slogans etched into the glass. It’s in rooms such as this where Oscar has been busily laying down the groundwork for his entrance to Formula 1.
There’s no question that F1 machinery is a physical step up from the world of junior single-seaters: while power steering mitigates that step to a degree, the g-forces are higher, the races longer, and the rigours of travel more intense. Much of the conditioning required can only come from driving… and seat time isn’t something Oscar enjoyed in great quantities through the last season where, having won the Formula 2 championship in 2021, he was warming the bench as Alpine’s reserve driver before McLaren swooped to the rescue.
“Last year effectively he had a year off,” says Oscar’s physio Kim Keedle – who, like Piastri, is a Melbourne native. “It was a bit of a strange year because he was still travelling to all the races. When you’re travelling it’s hard to train, to have really good quality. The gyms aren’t great in hotels. He was
