Oscar Piastri will make his debut in the second round of the FIA Formula 4 UAE Championship at the Yas Marina circuit this weekend.

The 15-year-old Australian is one of two new drivers who will join the championship along with American karter David Malukas.

Piastri has joined Dragon F4 for the five-round, 18-race UAE F4 schedule.

“I’m excited because it’s my first car race, but with European karting it doesn’t get much bigger in terms of the level of competition so I’m used to the pressure,” Piastri said.

“At the end of the day it’s still a race car, but with karts you can get away with sliding through corners.

“With F4 it’s more about precision driving.

“I’ve gone through data and watched some onboard vision of the Dragon F4 car at the circuit so I’m really looking forward to getting into the car now and getting some testing done myself.”

The Young Racing Driver Academy star Piastri, who has based himself in England, finished sixth at the CIK-FIA Junior World Championship in Bahrain last month.

Piastri claimed numerous titles in Australia including the CIK Stars of Karting, taking second in his first Australian Nationals in Junior Clubman, plus wins in the City of Melbourne Titles, the Victorian State Titles and South Australian State Titles, and claimed third in the X30 Junior IAME Final in 2014.