Oscar Piastri emulates Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen, and Sebastian Vettel in major career achievement

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri joined an elusive list featuring Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel, and Max Verstappen after he won the Lorenzo Bandini Trophy. The Aussie driver has made a stellar start to the 2025 season and won four of the six completed races thus far.

The 23-year-old has displayed exceptional racecraft on his way to winning races and has largely stayed away from making too many mistakes. Heading into the European leg of the season, Piastri was presented with the Lorenzo Bandini Trophy for his efforts.

The trophy was established in 1992 and is usually given on the basis of how the drivers performed in the sport. Oscar Piastri posted a picture of himself at the ceremony in Brisighella, just south of Imola, on X and wrote:

"Honoured to receive the Lorenzo Bandini trophy. Grazie a tutti!"

Expand Tweet

The McLaren driver expressed his gratitude at the ceremony for the award and even made a cheeky jibe, saying:

“Hopefully, that’s not the only time we hear the Australian anthem this week, so thank you all for being here. It’s a real honor for me to receive this. It’s been very, very big for me. To meet some people where the Piastri family is from has been a very special experience today, so I’m excited for this weekend.”

Piastri joined a host of drivers who have won the Lorenzo Bandini Trophy, including Max Verstappen, Sebastian Vettel, and Lewis Hamilton, who won the award in 2016, 2009, and 2010, respectively. He also became the third Aussie driver after Mark Webber and Daniel Ricciardo to take the trophy home.

Oscar Piastri previews the Imola GP this weekend

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri stated that he was approaching the upcoming Emilia Romagna Grand Prix with 'positivity' as he has won the last three races in a row.

As per PitPass, the five-time F1 race winner said of the race in Imola:

"I go to Imola with a lot of positivity and confidence as well as the determination to keep pushing. It's an old-school track with iconic corners like Acque Minerali and Piratella and I'm excited to drive it in the MCL39. I've got good momentum behind me and I'm extremely focused heading into this first race of the European swing of the season."

Oscar Piastri has not been outqualified by his teammate Lando Norris in the last two editions of the race weekend in Imola and would hope to maintain the feat this weekend as well.

The Aussie has a lead of 16 points over his British teammate and sits on 131 points, scoring five podiums from six outings. Oscar Piastri's P9 in Melbourne is his lowest finish of the 2025 season thus far.

About the author

Devang is a Formula 1 and NASCAR journalist at Sportskeeda with 3500+ articles and over 5 million reads under his belt. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism and Mass Communication and has a total experience of 3.5 years.

To keep up with the sport’s developments, Devang watches every single session and comes up with unique angles for the stories, from the readers’ perspective, using his expertise in the field. He strives to report accurate, ethical and relevant data by reading information from verified sources in the field, ones that are also trusted by industry experts.

Currently, his favorite drivers on the grid are Charles Leclerc and Daniel Ricciardo; he is particularly impressed by how the two drivers rarely lose their cool and approach everything with a smile on their faces. He classifies himself as a ‘Tifosi’ and is a Charles Leclerc fan.

Devang is a sports buff and when he is away from his keyboard, he watches other sports like cricket, tennis, badminton, and football, to name a few.

Know More

Edited by Hitesh Nigam