How the McLaren driver started his racing journey with a remote-controlled car

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri mentioned that he initially became interested in racing after his father bought him a remote-controlled car.

The Aussie, in his debut season in the sport, caught everyone's attention as he became only the third driver after Charles Leclerc and George Russell to win F3 and F2 titles in back-to-back seasons.

While appearing on the Beyond The Grid podcast, the McLaren driver stated that he raced remote-controlled cars nationwide. He said:

"He [my dad] brought back a remote-control car from the US to Australia, and I started just driving that around the backyard and the school oval at one point when I was six or seven, and then I started racing not long after that and it all went from there, so it’s a bit of a different entry to motorsport."

He continued:

"The cars I raced initially were one-eighth scale and then I went to a one-tenth scale. They look like touring cars in a way. I think they do have Formula 1 cars, but the pinnacle of remote-control car racing is like touring cars and they're quick. They go up to 110 kilometers an hour at top speed and the acceleration is insane."

"They only weigh a kilo and a half so they’re pretty impressive pieces of kit you stand on a driver's stand with your radio, and you control from that. It gets pretty intense."

"I think the technical side of things helped at the start" - McLaren's Oscar Piastri on what he learned from remote-controlled cars

The McLaren driver stated that he learned a lot on the technical front while racing nationwide with remote-controlled cars. He said:

"I think the technical side of things helped at the start because there are probably more things you can change on a remote-controlled car than there are on most race cars. You can change the springs on the shocks, and you can change toe, the camber. You've got tire warmers and tire additives so you can put stuff on the tires to make them gripper."

The McLaren driver added:

"You did all of that because you had to be quick. I wasn't an expert but I had a brief understanding of what certain setups did. I knew what a racing line was so when I went into karting, obviously, it's very different standing with a remote-control car compared to sitting in the car or go-kart but the idea of a racing line and set-up stuff like that, I had an introduction of what to do."

The knowledge and skills he gained from racing remote-controlled cars surely paid dividends in his racing journey to F1.