Oscar Piastri stitched up at F1 annual drivers’ dinner

Three drivers were nowhere to be seen at the traditional F1 drivers dinner, while Oscar Piastri also missed the memo.

Oscar Piastri was caught out when he missed the dress code for the traditional F1 drivers dinner before the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

The championship fight is hotter than ever heading into the final race of the year on Monday morning, but Oscar Piastri, Lando Norris and Max Verstappen were all smiles as they broke bread with their rivals.

It was only German veteran Nico Hulkenberg and Aston Martin pair Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso who were nowhere to be seen when drivers sat down for the annual end-of-season celebration.

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Situated near the middle of the back row, Piastri was an eye-catching figure in the photo, standing out in a sea of white shirts.

Piastri, Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda were the only drivers in the shot wearing colours while the rest of the grid looked co-ordinated in their monochrome threads.

The traditional drivers' dinner of 2025. Photo: Instagram, Lewis Hamilton.

Piastri’s unspectacular maroon zip-up jumper has made some noise across social media with some suggesting he was stitched up.

One Piastri fan joked on X: “Let’s all wear cool tones and not tell Oscar Piastri”.

Tsunoda, who is losing his Red Bull seat at the end of the year to take up a reserve driving role, was also happy to joke about the dress code.

The Japanese driver shared the photo on Instagram with a caption: “2025 driver dinner. white shirt dress code, not all of us got the memo”.

The image was first shared by Lewis Hamilton.

“Class of 2025. We’re the only people in the world to do what we do and for that we’re incredibly lucky,” he wrote on Instagram.

“I’m grateful for this group of drivers I have the privilege of racing against and even though we’re competitors, there’s nothing but respect and I’m proud to call them friends.

“Hope to give you all a great last race of the season.”

Norris also playfully posted: “Traditions (no food was thrown during this dinner)”.

Piastri’s typically dry humour was on display again.

Max Verstappen (left), Lando Norris (centre) and Oscar Piastri (right). Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images)

“In case you aren’t following the other 19 (drivers),” he posted on X.

Williams driver Alex Albon may have won the caption contest, writing: “Placing our bets for Sunday”.

Hulkenberg, Stroll and Alonso have not explained why they did not attend the event.

The trio all made separate posts on Instagram on Friday morning.

It was a calm before the storm for Verstappen, Norris and Piastri.

The British driver has one hand on the championship trophy with a 12-point lead on Verstappen and a 16-point advantage on Piastri.

The gap would be much lower for Piastri had McLaren not ruined his likely race victory with a botched pit strop strategy at the Qatar Grand Prix.

The drivers earlier in the day held their official F1 press conferences with Mercedes driver George Russell making the boldest statement.

The English driver addressed ongoing intrigue surrounding potential team orders at McLaren that would give Norris an advantage over his teammate in order stop Verstappen from stealing the title.

Russell, who is fourth in the championship, said: “I don’t think it’s acceptable or reasonable to ask a driver who’s also in with a shot of a championship in the very last race to move over for your teammate.

“I think if it were, in other seasons gone by - let’s just say Checo (Sergio Perez) and Max, or (Rubens) Barrichello and (Michael) Schumacher - when clearly one driver is the one going for the championship, and if in the last race, the guy who doesn’t have a shot of winning the championship moves over, that is absolutely reasonable, and I think every single driver would do that.

“But for me, I don’t think it would be fair at all. I think they both need to be given a shot. And if they lose out because of it, you just need to say the other guy did a better job, and that’s racing.

“That’s how it should be.”