A day in the life of McLaren star Oscar Piastri; Lando Norris; Albert Park; F1; Mercedes; Ferrari; Williams; Red Bull
“It’s kind of almost my local gym. It has got everything I need,” said Piastri of the facilities. Like other elite racers, maintaining neck strength was one of his priorities.
“We did a test the other day and I did just over 50 kilos on one of my sides [of my neck]. I was pretty happy with that.”
While the city’s bedrock sport, Australian rules, launches into action with the first AFL match in Melbourne on Thursday night between Richmond and Carlton, this year’s grand prix at the Albert Park street circuit will have added zing, thanks to the continued hype around Piastri.
The city is being impacted by papaya fever, for black and papaya orange are the colours which adorn the McLaren cars.
Piastri, 24 next month, is preparing for his third F1 season, with two grand prix wins last year to his name. A drought-breaking win for an Australian on local soil is within reach.
McLaren, however, was restricting his appearances and movements this week to ensure his mind is not taken off his most important job: striving for podium glory at Albert Park on Sunday, and the prospect of becoming Australia’s first local race winner since Alan Jones in 1980.
Drive through any intersection in inner-city Melbourne and it’s hard to escape the hype. Piastri’s face is on many a billboard. Want to go out for a burger? Well, you can grab your “limited edition” Piastri Wagyu burger at one well-known burger chain. “Sink your teeth into a pasture-raised, premium Wagyu beef patty on a charcoal bun with supercharged OP chipotle mayo, crispy bacon …”
Piastri attending the men’s semi-finals at the Australian Open earlier this year.Credit: Tennis Australia/Fiona Hamilton
Oscar’s mum, Nicole Piastri, last year described the firstborn of her four children – the F1 star has three younger sisters – as “painfully mature”. “He’s like an old man in a young man’s body,” she said. Following Piastri around Melbourne on Wednesday and hanging on every word he uttered, you know what she meant.
Later, as he appeared on stage for another sponsor, Piastri gave a deeper insight.
“Going into the season there are realistically there’s probably eight drivers who can realistically achieve that [the title] this year,” he said.
He expanded on how valuable it has been to have Webber as part of his management set-up. Piastri said he’d been able to use Webber’s “hindsight as my foresight”.
Piastri arrives at a corporate function in a McLaren Artura painted by Melbourne artist Reko Rennie.Credit: Chris Hopkins
“He’s had a similar pathway from Australia, but for me the real benefit is obviously the stuff he learnt from his Formula 1 career,” Piastri said.
“Mark is still incredibly sharp in terms of picking up on all the little details and trying to help not just myself but the whole team improve.”
The Australian Grand Prix has been riding a wave of success this decade, with sold-out race weekends thanks in part to the impact of Netflix series Drive To Survive, which has driven renewed interest in F1, especially among female fans. Having Piastri atop podium or at least on it on Sunday would be more than a boon to the Australian Grand Prix Corporation.
“There’s huge hype around Oscar [for] round one,” said AGPC chief executive Travis Auld.
“That won’t worry Oscar too much, you won’t think.
“For a relatively small country to have two Australian drivers [Piastri and debutant Jack Doohan] on the grid is something that we don’t take for granted.”
