One of the greatest achievements as an athlete is having a statue or place named after them in their honour.<\/p>\n
McLaren<\/a>'s Oscar Piastri, however, might be the first to ever claim a newly discovered ancient wasp as his namesake.<\/p>\n Scientists have officially named a prehistoric wasp species Gwesped piastrii<\/em> after the Australian Formula 1<\/a> star.<\/p>\n READ MORE:<\/strong> Crichton axed as Joey makes sweeping Blues changes\ufeff<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n READ MORE:<\/strong> Sinner stunned as French Open favourite knocked out\ufeff<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n READ MORE: \ufeff<\/strong>Concerning hidden trend Piastri needs to reverse<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Discovered as a fossil trapped in amber in Northern Myanmar, the ancient insect was named in honour of its striking colour, which resembles McLaren's iconic papaya orange.<\/p>\n The \ufeffGwesped piastrii<\/em> is a newly-discovered species that lived during the middle Cretaceous period, a time period more than 100 million years ago. <\/p>\n The scientific research article in Palaeoworld <\/em>explained the naming decision. <\/p>\n https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DY4nIM_jXC5\/<\/a><\/p>\n "The specific epithet honours Mr Oscar Piastri<\/a> for his achievements in Formula 1, and because the colour of the amber piece recalled to the first author the iconic McLaren orange," the article explained.<\/p>\n The Australian driver apparently had no idea the announcement was coming, taking to Instagram to comment with a characteristically deadpan, "Wasn't expecting that one."<\/p>\n "I am a part of biological history," said Piastri when asked about the wasp namesake in a McLaren social media video.<\/p>\n "It is pretty buzzing, yeah. I'm so excited I might sting someone."<\/p>\n The Australian had a weekend to forget in Canada, finishing 11th after a tyre blunder and 10-second penalty for causing a collision with Alex Albon<\/a>. \ufeff<\/p>\n Piastri will next be on track at the Monaco Grand Prix<\/a>, set for June 5-7, which kicks off the European leg of the Formula 1 season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"