F1 driver Piastri awarded top honor in Australian sport

Formula One driver Oscar Piastri has received Australian sport's highest individual honor, winning The Don Award for 2025.

Piastri was named the winner of The Don Award at the annual Sport Australia Hall of Fame ceremony in Melbourne on Monday night, becoming the first motorsport athlete to receive the top honor.

The Don Award has been presented annually since 1998 to the Australian athlete or team whose achievements are judged to have most inspired the nation.

A driver for the F1 World Constructors' champion McLaren team, Piastri has won seven Grands Prix in 2025 and currently sits second in the drivers' standings with three races left in the season.

Piastri's nine career Grand Prix victories are the equal third-most by any Australian, and if he can surpass teammate Lando Norris to win the drivers' championship, he would become the first Australian to do so since 1980.

The 24-year-old, who did not attend the ceremony in Melbourne, said that winning the award was a great honor and a massive privilege.

Bruce McAvaney, chair of the Sport Australia Hall of Fame Selection Committee, said that Piastri's rise to become a world championship contender has been the most compelling Australian sporting story of 2025.

Seven-time surfing world champion Layne Beachley became the fifth recipient of The Dawn Award, which has been awarded annually since 2021 to an individual, team or organization who demonstrates courage and bravery and has changed sport for the better.

Two-time tennis Grand Slam singles champion Lleyton Hewitt, Winter Olympic gold medalist Torah Bright and Mark Schwarzer, the most capped player for Australia's men's national football team, were among seven new inductees to the Hall of Fame.