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A cheeky video campaign has been released in Australia featuring Oscar Piastri promoting Google Pixel phone. The campaign plays on Piastri's famously deadpan demeanour, positioning him as excited "on the inside" about switching phones.
The ads show Piastri is willing to make the switch to something better when it counts both on and off the track, with a playful albeit blatant reference of his famous team switch from Alpine to McLaren which caused a major stir at the time. Humorous and entertaining, the ad shows the McLaren driver using the powers of Google Pixel with Gemini AI to help with distinctly 'Oscar' tasks.
Maintaining his famous emotionless expression, the McLaren driver asks Gemini to help him edit photos to make him look "more excited". He also asks Gemini to help him draft a race-winning speech and Gemini suggests he simply says "thanks", to which Piastri replies "Perfect".
Fans on social media love the hidden Easter Eggs throughout the videos that include trophies from his remote-control car racing days, a book on a shelf in the background 'How to Hit the Griddy', and posters on the wall of his first three wins in Formula 1. The campaign sees Piastri poking fun at himself, showing self-deprecating humour that has landed well with fans.
It's the first campaign creative agency Emotive has done for Google Pixel. The videos were filmed in Mexico and were directed by Isaac Lock, who has worked with global stars including Dua Lipa and Victoria Beckham. Google Pixel says that their relationship with Piastri will be ongoing but couldn't disclose the value of the partnership. This is the second well-executed example of big brands partnering with Formula 1 drivers in a humour-led campaign in recent times.
Ahead of the 2024 Australian Grand Prix, Valtteri Bottas partnered with Uber Carshare in a campaign that played to Aussie stereotypes with tongue-in-cheek humour that the Finnish Formula 1 driver delivered perfectly. In those ads, Bottas said he is "very rich" and has "another car that is very fast" so he was sharing his second car for free, his iconic teal-blue ute that has everything Aussies need for a road trip. The "carefully considered modifications" that Bottas points out on his ute include mullet aeration technology, a meat pie warmer, an esky to keep drinks cold, a bike rack, fishing rod holder, freshwater shower, hills hoist, thong holder and even in-built sunscreen and bug repellent dispensers.
Bottas has been adopted by Australians as one of their own thanks to his South Australian girlfriend Tiffany Cromwell, an Olympic cyclist who represented Australia at Tokyo 2020. Poem Group, the creative agency behind the Uber Carshare ads, said the campaign increased Uber Carshare trips by 35 percent, generated 30 million video views with zero media spend and generated 830 pieces of global media coverage.
In 2023, Tourism Western Australia partnered with Daniel Ricciardo releasing the first of a two-part road trip campaign "Drive the Dream". The first short film sees Ricciardo with his best mate, Blake Mills, take a road trip through Western Australia's Coral Coast, and the second, released in 2024 ahead of the Singapore Grand Prix, was through the Margaret River region. Shot fly-on-the-wall style, the films invited viewers to explore Western Australia, Ricciardo's home state. Ricciardo is known for his big smile and playfulness in the Paddock, but in both films he showed a more subdued, reflective side. While the scenery is undeniably stunning, doing its job of enticing tourists, there were some moments that felt forced rather than relaxed and carefree. Still, the ads were touted as hugely successful.
The Western Australian Government cited the first iteration of 'Drive the Dream' had reached over 136 million people (as of September 2024), and on YouTube alone, the video has clocked up 152 million views to date, both impressive numbers. Results for the second road trip campaign have not been released; YouTube shows 44 million views. That said, Western Australia recently reported being the nation's top performing State for international tourism recovery receiving one million overseas visitors in the 12 months to October 2025.
The films, whilst beautifully shot, didn't quite land with fans in the same way as Piastri's and Bottas'. It could be the lack of humour and short, punchy one-liners. Or maybe fans are turned off by the product placements? Maybe they can feel the tension of two mates trying to enjoy the freedom of a road trip while having to perform and remember key messages in front of a crew at every stop. Perhaps it's unfair to compare government commissioned nine-minute scenery-driven films made for long-term goals of attracting visitors with boundary-pushing brands focussed on immediate sales like Google and Uber. Despite what race fans might think, if the ads are driving up bookings and drawing visitors, then they are doing what they set out to do.
Where Google and Uber have excelled is letting the ads be led by the drivers' personalities, allowing them to be themselves and leaning into their known character traits. Both have created fun and humorous ads that people remember and want to share. It will be interesting to see how many consumers are influenced to 'make the switch' to Google Pixel as a result of this latest driver-led campaign.
Piastri' Google Pixel campaign will run across the Australian Open broadcast and social platforms through the duration of the tournament.
Dianne Bortoletto is a freelance travel, food, lifestyle and Formula 1 journalist and host of Away We Go Podcast.
