Why Oscar Piastri will love David Coulthard’s advice to young racers trying to reach Formula 1

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Oscar Piastri leads the Formula 1 championship heading into the summer break of the 2025 season. The Aussie has come a long way after a rocky entrance to the sport.

Winning the F3 and F2 titles back-to-back as a rookie by 2021, he was denied a seat in F1 until 2023. The 24-year-old joined McLaren to partner with Lando Norris after Piastri had an infamous dispute with Alpine, who had announced him as a driver for that season without his knowledge.

Otmar Szafnauer felt Alpine made a huge mistake with Piastri and his contract. They will certainly be feeling that now as the Enstone team sits bottom of the constructors’ championship, while the Aussie is top of both standings with McLaren.

Under the guidance of manager Mark Webber, he has found a new level in 2025, having claimed six wins and four pole positions thus far. Webber is using his battles with Lewis Hamilton to help Piastri this season, as he faces teammate Norris for the title.

The 24-year-old has established himself as one of F1’s top talents, with his career certainly being one for young drivers to aspire to. David Coulthard might see it the same way, as his advice to up-and-coming talent will be something all too familiar to Piastri.

Oscar Piastri will love David Coulthard’s advice to young drivers about not showing emotion

Speaking via the High Performance Podcast, Coulthard shared how he has told his son to not show any emotion during races. It was a trait he adopted during his racing career to try and ‘get intel’ on his teammates, who consisted of F1 legends such as Mika Hakkinen, Damon Hill and Kimi Raikkonen.

“I would say to my son when he was racing: ‘Just don’t show any emotion if you’ve had some success and don’t show too much emotion when you’ve had disappointment,” he said.

“Because this is all little building blocks of knowledge for your competitions. I used to sit opposite, like this, opposite Mika, opposite Damon, or opposite Kimi, various teammates that I had.

“I had my engineers, they had their engineers, and you’re listening to your guys, but you’re definitely listening to their conversation because you’re wanting to get intel.

“Whether they were with the car, whether they were with the setup. You’ll get the information at the end of the day, but anything that helps give you a bit of guidance. ‘Are they in a happy day? Are they a little bit nervous?’

“Being competitive means you want to know the form of whoever it is you’re competing against and build up that knowledge to your benefit.”

Piastri is well-known for having a steely approach to F1. He rarely shares emotion in the paddock and during races, which has worked to his benefit, unlike Norris, who is notorious for being self-critical.

Piastri will love hearing Coulthard’s advice, as it highlights how successful his approach has been and will prove to be in the future. As he fights for the championship in 2025, many aspiring drivers may want to adopt the same mentality to reach his level.

READ MORE: McLaren driver Oscar Piastri’s life outside F1 from height to girlfriend

David Coulthard shares what was his best race in Formula 1

With 13 wins and 62 podiums, Coulthard enjoyed an illustrious career in F1, racing for the likes of Williams, McLaren and was a key part of Red Bull’s early years in the sport up until his retirement in 2008.

The Scotsman enjoyed tense competition with some of F1’s greatest names during his career, which sometimes got a little too heated. Coulthard almost had a physical altercation with Michael Schumacher after the pair collided at Spa in 1998.

Two years later, the pair would make the headlines again at Magny-Cours, as Coulthard passed the Ferraris of Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello to claim victory. As he overtook the former for the lead, he was seen waving a hand gesture to the German after he tried to force him wide.

Coulthard named that Grand Prix as his best race in F1: “Magny-Cours, 2000. Because the hunger, commitment, belief to overcome both Ferraris, give Michael a little wave as I passed him.

“To overcome what I felt was unsporting at the beginning, and to do it the right way, was just a sense of pride. I was at my fittest, I was at my most focused, I was at my hungriest.”