Nine-time Grand Prix winner Oscar Piastri was the recipient of The Don Award at Sport Australia Hall of Fame Induction and Awards Gala Dinner at Crown Melbourne on Monday night, November 17, while seven-time World Surfing Champion Layne Beachley AO was honoured with The Dawn Award.
The Don Award, introduced in 1998 and named for the Sport Australia Hall of Fame’s inaugural Inductee Sir Donald Bradman AC, honours an Australian athlete or team whose achievements and example over the past 12 months have most inspired the nation.
Oscar Piastri’s stellar 2025 season has launched him into Formula 1’s elite, igniting national pride and fuelling Australia’s motorsport renaissance.
Piastri, from Melbourne, drives for the championship-winning McLaren team and is one of only 15 Australians to compete in Formula 1. This year Piastri claimed victories in China, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Miami, Spain, Belgium and Netherlands. His childhood dream of becoming Australia’s third F1 world champion after Jack Brabham and Alan Jones, is now within reach.
Oscar Piastri. Photo: Sport Australia Hall of Fame
Like Sir Donald Bradman, Piastri is carving out his own legacy, transforming Australia’s Formula 1 aspirations into reality and inspiring the next generation of champions.
Piastri is the 33rd recipient of The Don Award, joining luminaries including Cathy Freeman OAM, Ashleigh Barty AO, Patty Mills AM and the Fox Sisters (Noemie Fox OAM and Jessica Fox OAM).
“Winning an award in the name of Sir Donald Bradman is a massive privilege,” Piastri said.
“Everyone in Australia knows exactly what he represented and the legacy he has in Australian sport, so it’s not lost on me how major this award is. It’s always an amazing feeling to represent our country on the world stage and do well for ourselves.
“Thank you to everyone that waves the flag and cheers me on at all the Grand Prix races around the world. To be a recipient of The Don Award is a great honour, and I look forward to representing our country for many years to come.”
Sport Australia Hall of Fame Selection Committee Chair Bruce McAvaney OAM said:
“Every year we experience remarkable sporting moments and stories and the most compelling in 2025 has been 24-year-old Oscar Piastri. His rise across the past 12 months to become one of the most formidable and exciting drivers in F1, is nothing short of outstanding.
“It’s an elite and foreign world to most of us but we feel linked to this young man’s challenges and triumphs lived out in a spotlight that very few sports attract. His superb skill and sportsmanship are matched with a rare maturity and poise in an adrenaline-fuelled arena.”
Sport Australia Hall of Fame Induction statement: Oscar Piastri
Oscar Piastri has always been devastatingly fast, but the rising Formula 1 superstar’s acceleration into the top echelon of world sport has been almost off the charts this year.
The fiercely driven, hugely talented Melburnian has not only inspired the nation with his on-track deeds throughout the 2025 Formula 1 championship season, he has also helped to fuel what has been a modern motor sport renaissance in Australia.
That makes him a fitting winner of The Don, an award named after Sir Donald Bradman, to honour a current Australian athlete or team who, by their achievements and example in the last 12 months, have best caught the imagination of the Australian public.
Piastri’s success in 2025 has fostered a sense of national pride and excitement, with Australian sporting fans celebrating his Grand Prix victories – often with blurry eyes due to late nights and limited sleep – no matter what the time zone his races have been run in.
His relatively humble beginnings have played a part in his popularity, too, having graduated from karting to Formula 3 and Formula 2 success and a more recent transition to Formula 1.
At just 24, and in his third Formula 1 season, Piastri has already drawn comparisons with some of motor sport’s most revered figures – Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton.
After Piastri won the Dutch Formula 1 Grand Prix in late August – his seventh victory this year – McLaren’s team principal Andrea Stella said the Australian reminded him of seven-time world championship winner Schumacher for his composure and his relentless drive.
Piastri modestly accepted the compliment, but got back to work, knowing for all that he has achieved at such a young age, he needs to keep raising the bar.
“When the pressure isn’t on, it’s easy to look great, but when the pressure is really on, and the consequences are bigger, that is when you see the cream rise to the top,” Piastri said. He added: “Just because I am calm doesn’t mean I am not ruthless.”
Piastri has made for compelling viewing in 2025, with an intoxicating mix of all the required ingredients for a successful Formula 1 driver – fearlessness, calmness, determination, relentless hard work and resilience against the odds.
After an unlucky start to this season, finishing ninth at Albert Park – not far from where he grew up and first fell in loves with cars – he won four of the next five Grand Prix races including a hat-trick of wins in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Miami.
His quest to become the third Australian to win a Formula 1 world championship has been at the heart of ambitions since he was a kid from relatively humble beginnings, with our 1980 world champion Alan Jones praising his qualities as he has continued to reel off the wins.
“He (Piastri) has all the qualities you need, in my opinion, to be super successful in Formula 1,” Jones said this year. “Every now and then, someone comes along who is successful no matter what they do. And he is one of those.”
His ability to keep in control of his emotions – even in high pressure moments when duelling with McLaren teammate Lando Norris on the track with the Formula 1 title on the line – has been something that those closest to him have long admired.
It’s an inner strength he has carried with him since he was a kid with big dreams and a sense of dare. His desire for continuous improvement is also an example to aspiring athletes as well as sports fans who have always admired fierce competitors with a sense of fair play.
Layne Beachley: Dawn Award
The Dawn Award, established in 2021 and named after Dawn Fraser AC MBE, recognises an individual, team or organisation who demonstrates courage and bravery and has changed sport for the better.
Layne Beachley’s story is one of extraordinary courage, resilience, and determination that transformed women’s surfing forever. Born into challenging circumstances, Beachley channelled her pain into passion, claiming her first world championship at 26 before dominating the sport from 1998 to 2003 with six consecutive world titles – a feat unmatched in surfing history.
Like Dawn Fraser, Beachley challenged the status quo, displayed a never-say-never attitude, and inspired others through her actions. Her bravery in confronting personal demons and physical challenges, combined with her commitment to empowering others, proved that women could dominate their sport, inspire nations, and overcome any obstacle to achieve greatness.
Beachley is just the fifth recipient of The Dawn Award, following Evonne Goolagong-Cawley AC MBE, the late Peter Norman, the Sydney 2000 Olympics Women’s Water Polo champions and basketballer Lauren Jackson AO.
“I was pleasantly surprised and a little overwhelmed to be quite honest. Dawn is one of my absolute heroes, so to receive this award in her name fills me with immense pride and joy,” Beachley said.
“I refer to her as the matriarch of sport in this country and I’m very proud to be receiving this award in her honour.
“When I joined the pro tour in 1990, I was shocked by the state of women’s surfing and committed to changing the sport’s trajectory. Through compromises, sacrifices and battles, we achieved pay equity in 2018. Now women can truly aspire to be seen and respected in what was once a male-dominated environment. It’s incredibly satisfying.”
Sport Australia Hall of Fame Selection Committee Chair Bruce McAvaney OAM said:
“Layne is the living epitome of what the Dawn Award stands for. The obstacles she has overcome on her journey to the pinnacle of surfing have added a new chapter to the history of the sport – and left a profound legacy for all who’ve followed, including this year’s world champion, Molly Picklum.”
Layne’s courage and perseverance kept her at the top of world rankings over two decades and I can’t think of a more deserving recipient for an award that recognises strength of character, drive and ability.”
Sport Australia Hall of Fame Induction statement: Layne Beachley
Layne Beachley’s journey in and out of the surf has been an enduring source of inspiration for Australians.
As a seven-time world surfing champion, including a stunning six titles in succession, Beachley helped to transform the sport.
However it is her capacity to overcome adversity in her life – and bravely speak about it – as much as her stellar sporting career, which will forever be her legacy.
It’s why Beachley is a fitting winner of 2025’s The Dawn – an award named after Sport Australia Hall of Fame Legend Dawn Fraser – which honours an individual or a team for their bravery, courage and capacity to change sport for the betterment of others.
As Beachley explained on her own website: “Women hold up half the sky, yet we fail to receive half of the opportunities advanced to men.”
“Fortunately, there are female pioneers, trailblazers and renegades who shatter this belief and pave the way for future generations of female leaders to follow.”
In a life and career marked by triumphs and challenges, her resilience, fierce determination and a commitment to empower others has always shone through.
Like Fraser, she challenged the status quo of her chosen sport, displayed a never-say-die attitude in overcoming hurdles to achieve greatness, and inspired others with her deeds during and after her surfing career.
Beachley’s rarefied place in world sport has never been in question. But her status in Australia received special recognition when she was voted third – behind No.1 Fraser and athletics great Betty Cuthbert – as Australia’s greatest ever female athlete at an awards ceremony in Canberra in 2013.
The poll was decided by a combination of public vote, input from athletes and research conducted by advocacy group Sports for Women, highlighting Beachley’s exalted status.
Her challenges were personal and professional, and each combined to make her tougher, stronger and better.
She was adopted at birth after her 17-year-old unmarried mother felt she had no option.
Then her adoptive mother Valerie Beachley passed away suddenly when she was only six, and she was brought up by her adoptive father Neil, alongside her brother.
She fell in love with the beach, learning to surf not long after she learnt to swim. And it was there that she felt a sense of belonging combined with a surge of freedom.
But the challenges on the waves were one thing; the challenge of taking on the boys in the surf was something else.
That steeled her resolve even more to be the best she could be as she blazed a trail for the next generation of female surfers in the process.
She turned professional at 16, and a decade later won her first world championship, going on to win the title six years in a row, from 1998 to 2003, before a serious neck injury and torn medial ligaments in her knee brought her to the crossroads.
Then, refusing to bend to the physical challenges or the threat of younger opponents, some of whom took on the sport because of her, Beachley made a triumphant return to become world surfing champion for a seventh time – at the age of 34.
Her influence has extended to philanthropic endeavours, including the Layne Beachley Aim For the Stars Foundation and the Awake Academy, as well as her advocacy for gender equality and mental health.
Layne has been the Chair of Surfing Australia and is a current member of the Freshwater Boardriders club, where she has also been involved in projects to regenerate the Freshwater environment through bushcare works.
As Beachley explained: “A willingness to fail, consistently challenge myself and spending quality time with quality people who believe in me more than I believed in myself enabled me to overcome those challenges and taught me to choose a more positive mindset.
“Choice, not chance, determines our destiny.”
2025 Awards
The 2025 Induction and Awards Gala Dinner also celebrated the elevation of cricket trailblazer Belinda Clark AO and basketball champion Andrew Gaze AM to Legend status, as well as seven new inductees: two-time Grand Slam champion Lleyton Hewitt AM; four-time AFL premiership winner Jason Dunstall; Commonwealth Games and Netball World Cup winner Laura Geitz; three-time NRL premiership winner Cameron Smith AM; Australia’s most capped Socceroo Mark Schwarzer OAM; Olympic and X-Games Snowboard gold medallist Torah Bright OAM; and renowned sports medicine practitioner Dr Peter Harcourt AM.
The Sport Australia Hall of Fame has launched a new award celebrating Sport’s Unsung Heroes as part of its 40th Anniversary celebrations, in partnership with Code Sports and sponsored by Sportscover. This national initiative invited Australians to nominate volunteers, coaches, officials and community champions who make sport possible. The winner received $10,000 and attended the Sport Australia Hall of Fame Gala Dinner.
A broadcast special, Heroes & Legends – Sports Australia Hall of Fame 2025, will air on Seven on Saturday, December 6, following Day 3 of the Brisbane Test. This TV special features in-depth interviews with the 2025 Inductees, Legends and Award Winners.
The Sport Australia Hall of Fame Induction and Awards program is proudly supported by the Australian Sports Commission incorporating the Australian Institute of Sport, and supported by Crown, Harvey Norman, Sportscover and Deakin University.
Photos: Sport Australia Hall of Fame