Aussie F1 star Oscar Piastri reveals the stunning reason why he’s treating this weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix as one of his ‘home races’

Australian F1 star Oscar Piastri has revealed his Chinese heritage ahead of the upcoming Chinese Grand Prix, joking that the event will be a ‘home race’ for him.

The 23-year-old McLaren driver, who is placed sixth in the drivers championship, has had a strong start to the F1 season, posting two P4 finishes and two P8 finishes.

Gearing up for this weekend’s race at Shanghai International Circuit, Piastri revealed that he has an ancestral tie to China with his great great grandfather coming from the country.

‘My great great grandfather was Chinese so I think that makes this my 1/16 home race?’ Piastri posted to X.

It is known that the Aussie driver also has Italian and Yugoslavian heritage.

Piastri was born in Melbourne on April 6, 2001 to parents Chris and Nicole.

Father Chris owns a successful automotive software development company, and it was clear from the get-go that Piastri was obsessed with everything car-related.

That’s right down to his choice of bedtime stories, which were mainly car books. The keen youngster could even recite the horsepower, speed and other stats of his favourite models.

But they say every journey begins with a single step, and in Piastri’s F1 case, it was a purchase his father made overseas.

‘We bought remote-controlled cars when I was on a business trip in America and Oscar took to that incredibly. He started racing them and got third place in his first-ever event against 20 and 30-year-olds when he was just six,’ Chris told the Sydney Morning Herald in 2021.

He continued to race remote-controlled cars at a National level, winning the second-level of competition aged just nine, before it was time to graduate for the big boy karts. 

Piastri first began racing aged just nine at Oakleigh Go-Kart Racing Club, which is in Melbourne’s south-east; and it was immediately apparent he was going to be something special.

Piastri, who was born in Melbourne, also has Italian and Yugoslavian heritage

Oscar Piastri began his racing career with go-karts aged just 9 at the Oakleigh club in Melbourne in 2011

Oscar Piastri came third in an international karting competition at iconic Le Mans when he was just 15

The prodigious youngster believed he was instantly set up for success thanks to that remote-controlled car background.

‘Having raced remote-control cars, I kind of had a rough idea on racing lines and how the basic principles of driving worked,’ Piastri told Australian Associated Press.

Despite his great start to the F1 season, it has been teammate Lando Norris who has been leading the charge, claiming McLaren’s best result of the year.

Piastri struggled to eighth in Japan recently and will be hoping to improve in Shanghai, as the race returns to China for the first time in 5 years.