F1
Back home, Piastri opens the memory box
A home premiere for Oscar Piastri © Xavi Bonilla / DPPI
The man of the weekend is surely him: Oscar piastri. The Melbourne native will race on the streets of his hometown for the first time in Formula 1, during the Australian Grand Prix. Better yet: the pilot McLaren will experience his first home race in car. Since his exile in Europe at the age of 14, Oscar Piastri has never participated in a single-seater event in his home country.
Obviously, the rookie is more than impatient to experience this weekend “very, very special”. “The last time I raced in Australia, I was still karting. I think it was seven years ago. So yes, it's good to go to a circuit in Australia. »
The Albert Park circuit is no stranger to him… “I came in 2015. I was a 'grid kid' for Daniil Kvyat, so I held his flag. It broke down during the grid lap, so I never got a chance to see it. I hope I have better luck. »
Piastri, hero in his country?
In the tradition of Brabham, Jones, Webber and Ricciardo, Oscar Piastri will become the 5th Australian to participate in his national Grand Prix in Formula 1. The one who will celebrate his 22nd birthday on April 6 hopes to achieve a good performance, he who pleasantly surprised during qualifying in Jeddah with an 8th place on Grid.
“The qualifications gave me a lot of confidence in the way we work. I didn't change much from Bahrain, but the qualifying results were very different, and obviously I reached Q3 this time [in Jeddah]. So yes, it was a good confidence boost” he confided during the press conference in Melbourne.
In front of a crowd that will be dedicated to his cause – a record should be broken on Sunday with 140 spectators expected – Oscar Piastri wants to make his audience proud and score his first points of the season.
“We will do our best, of course. I think, compared to the previous two circuits, this one should be more like Saudi Arabia. We showed that we can go into Q3 and fight for the final points on our good days. So I hope we have a clean race and my front wing doesn't take out Lando [Norris] this time. »
ALSO READ > A McLaren “Spec B” before the summer break
Dorian Grangier
A young journalist nostalgic for the motorsport of yesteryear. Raised on the exploits of Sébastien Loeb and Fernando Alonso.
Read also
Comments
*The space reserved for logged in users. Please connect to be able to respond or post a comment!
0 Comment (s)
To write a comment
0 View comments)