McLaren’s Oscar Piastri may have just missed out on a first Formula 1 World Drivers’ Championship last season, but do you know what he has that no other driver has?
…Yeah, exactly, that’s right: a prehistoric wasp named after him.
A new research article revealed the discovery of a wasp frozen in Burmese amber that was found in Myanmar.
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Of course, this find was going to need a name, and according to Formula 1’s website, that name is “Gwesped piastrii” after the Australian driver.
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“The specific epithet honours Mr Oscar Piastri for his achievements in Formula 1, and because the colour of the amber piece recalled to the first author the iconic McLaren orange,” the article states. “It is to be treated as a noun in the genitive case… The descriptions of Gwesped piastrii contribute to refining our understanding of the morphological diversity within the genus.”
The man himself found out about the news during an off-week before the Monaco Grand Prix, and seemed pretty excited about the honor (as he should be).
I’m pretty sure Piastri would’ve taken a championship over the wasp, but, hey, this is still pretty damn cool.
Maybe this will be a turning point in Piastri’s season because the poor guy just can’t catch a break, it seems.
The year started with the 25-year-old failing to start the first two Grand Prix of the season in Australia and China.
It’s been a feast-or-famine season for him because while he had podium finishes in Japan and Miami, he finished P11 this past weekend in Canada. Of course, that wasn’t completely his fault, as the team gambled on intermediate tires to start the race, and that proved to be the wrong choice.
On top of that, Piastri went deep into the notorious hairpin at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve and straight into Williams driver Alex Albon’s sidepod, earning himself a 10-second time penalty in the process.
