New wasp species named after Oscar Piastri in amber discovery

Oscar Piastri’s name has turned up in a place no Formula One driver ever expected, attached to a flat wasp preserved in Burmese amber from northern Myanmar and dated to about 98 million years ago. The species, Gwesped piastrii, is just 1.15 mm long, but it adds a new piece to the fossil record of insects from the middle Cretaceous.

The naming was deliberate. In the research article describing the insect, the epithet was said to honor Piastri for his achievements in Formula One and to echo the amber’s color, which reminded the researchers of McLaren orange. The wasp is the second species in the genus Gwesped, and the paper says the discovery helps refine understanding of morphological diversity within that genus.

That scientific detail gives the tribute weight beyond the novelty of a celebrity name. The new species was collected from Noije Bum Hill in the Hukawng Valley of Kachin State, Myanmar, part of the rich Burmese amber deposits that continue to produce insects from a critical slice of Earth’s history. The description says Gwesped piastrii can be separated from the previously known species by a higher number of flagellomeres and distinctive forewing venation, the kind of anatomical differences taxonomists use to sort out ancient lineages.

The timing gave the story an easy sports hook. Piastri, 25, had already won nine grands prix and was spending the weekend off at the Isle of Man TT races before returning for the Monaco Grand Prix weekend, set for June 5-7. Separate reporting said he watched qualifying from Bray Hill with his manager, Mark Webber. He had not yet commented on the tribute.

Taxonomy often lives far from the public eye, but names like Gwesped piastrii can pull a technical paper into wider view. In this case, the connection to a current title contender makes an ancient insect more memorable without changing the science behind it. The fossil still matters for what it reveals about an extinct wasp lineage, and the celebrity tie simply helps more people notice the discovery.