Oscar Piastri’s Google ad slips in ruthless Alpine joke fans can’t unsee

A recent Google Pixel advert starring Oscar Piastri has gone viral after it landed a joke at the expense of the Alpine Formula 1 team - a squad the Australian driver rejected as he took a seat at McLaren.

The driver ended up racing for the Woking team after a messy 2022 contract saga played out on social media. While this resulted in one of the most memorable moments of the season, Piastri has - for the most part - kept quiet about the drama that took place. 

But in a comedy style that fit him perfectly, he let a deadpan punchline do the heavy lifting in this video, as well as a prop that fans didn't miss.

The video focuses on the use of a Google Pixel phone while Piastri pokes fun at his lack of visible emotion, something he's become famous for during his three years in F1.

"I know I don't always show it, but winning does excite me," he said with a straight face. The camera pans to a photo of him holding a trophy once again with a straight face. But it was the next clip that fans went crazy for.

The driver walked into a room as two men replace a painting of alpine mountains with a painting of a papaya fruit - a joke about the change of team. His voiceover continued: "So when I see a chance to get ahead, I will change things up."

The comment section did what it always does best when brands leave the door ajar. 

"Am I the only one that noticed the painting change from mountains (Alpine F1) to papaya (McLaren)?” a commenter asked, while another was more blunt: “The picture switch is absolutely diabolical... I love it”.

Later in the video, he asks Google's AI, Gemini, to come up with a race-winning speech that "sounds like me".

"Thanks," the machine replies, prompting a nod from the 24-year-old.

Piastri finished third in the 2025 F1 drivers' championship and will be hoping McLaren retains the momentum it built up the final two years of the ground effect era.  

"Switching to Google Pixel was an easy decision,” said Piastri in a separate video. "Am I a Formula 1 racing driver? Yep. Am I a professional actor with a full emotional range? Nope. But I’m excited on the inside to be on the winning team with Google Pixel."

“Oscar embodies the 'never settle' mindset that drives Google Pixel - he is relentlessly chasing the best, just like we are,” said Suzana Ristevski, Google Australia’s chief marketing officer.

Oscar Piastri, McLaren

Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Sutton Images via Getty Images

“We’re thrilled to bring such iconic homegrown talent to the brand. This is a uniquely Australian campaign - it’s full of delight and showcases the very best of Google Pixel in a way that we know will really resonate with local fans.”

Google has been a sponsor of McLaren since the 2022 season and continues on a multi-year deal.