Oscar Piastri received a rather unusual tribute off the Formula 1 tracks. Researchers named a wasp fossil after the McLaren driver, linking the Australian to an insect that lived about 100 million years ago.
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This fossil, called Gwesped piastrii, was discovered in amber in the Noije Bum Hill area, in the Hukawng valley, in the Kachin state of Myanmar. The piece preserved the insect from the mid-Cretaceous period, making the discovery significantly older than famous dinosaurs like the T-Rex.
According to the researchers responsible for the study, the tribute to the McLaren driver was motivated by his results in Formula 1 and also by the appearance of the amber found. According to the scientists, the coloration of the material resembles the traditional orange tone used by the British team.
The fossilized insect measures only 1.15 millimeters in length. Despite its small size, the specimen drew attention for its excellent preservation inside the amber, allowing specialists to identify enough characteristics to classify it as a new species.
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It was also highlighted by the scientists that the fossil is approximately 30 million years older than the T-Rex. The famous dinosaur lived about 68 million years ago, while the discovered wasp belongs to an estimated period of around 100 million years.
The work was conducted by three researchers from different institutions around the world. The study involved Corentin Jouault from the University of Oxford, Di-Ying Huang from the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Paleontology in China, as well as the Brazilian Celso O. Azevedo, affiliated with the Federal University of Espírito Santo.
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