Oscar Piastri’s high hopes of making history at Melbourne Grand Prix

Hometown hero Oscar Piastri has spoken of his high hopes of breaking a decades long Aussie drought at the Melbourne Grand Prix after lighting up the Albert Park circuit on Friday.

Hometown hero Oscar Piastri has spoken of his high hopes of breaking a decades long Aussie drought at the Melbourne Grand Prix after lighting up the Albert Park circuit before a record crowd of thrilled fans on Friday.

Melbourne born and bred Piastri turned heads and sent a message of intent to rivals as he put his McLaren F1 speed machine to the test in two practice sessions at the Australian Grand Prix, raising hopes he will be in striking distance of the front row in Saturday’s sold out qualifying.

In an exclusive Herald Sun interview, Piastri said he was hungry to do what the likes of fellow Aussie F1 aces Daniel Ricciardo and Mark Webber failed to before him – become the first local to win the Melbourne Grand Prix since it roared into town in 1996.

“I mean, I hope so – let’s see,’’ he said.

Piastri was second fastest in the final qualifying session of the day, behind Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and ahead of teammate Lando Norris.

The former Oakleigh Go Kart Club member knows there will be a spotlight on him at home but was trying to think of Melbourne as just another race as he hunted history.

Piastri in the pit garage on Friday. Picture: David Caird

He was “in good shape’’ in mind and body and now it was time for business, knowing he could challenge for the driver’s world crown as well as home glory.

“Obviously exciting to try and have more success this year,’’ he said.

“I think last year, all in all, was a nice improvement on my rookie season.

“Definitely there are still some things to improve on, as every driver will have.

‘’I’m excited.

“I feel like last year I had all the tools by the end of the season, it was just about using them more often basically.

“I didn’t have that feeling at the end of my rookie season. I still feel like I had some gaps as a driver.

Piastri leaves the pit garage during P2. Picture: David Caird

“The big thing has been trying to work on how we bring that altogether more often, how we can eke out a little bit more performance as well.

“I’ve proved to myself and others that if I’m in a race winning position then I’ve got those tools to be able to pull it off.

“So I’m excited to try and work on that again this year.’’

Day two of the Aus GP drew an estimated attendance of 125,548, the highest Friday on record.

The Papaya of Piastri’s McLaren was the colour of choice among fans trackside, who roared their support for the local whenever he appeared on screen.

Melbourne Grand Prix chief executive Travis Auld said: “From the number of papaya shirts around Melbourne, it’s clear that fans are hoping for a podium finish for Oscar Piastri.”

Piastri placed fourth in first practice, behind Norris, Carlos Sainz of Williams and Leclerc.

The last time Australia had a home Grand Prix hero was 1980, when Alan Jones was first past the chequered flag at Calder park raceway.

But that race was not officially part of the F1 championship Jones would go on to win that year.

Piastri on track during practice ahead of the F1 Melbourne Grand Prix. Picture: Rudy Carezzevoli

And the record books show no Aussie has officially finished on the podium at Albert Park in the past 29 years, with Ricciardo stripped of his second placing in 2014 for a fuel breach.

Asked what areas he could this year fine tune to find more success, Piastri said half the battle would begin before the race even starts and Saturday would be key.

“I mean if you look at where I probably gave up points last year, it was in qualifying,’’ he said.

“I think I often made life more difficult for myself on a Sunday by where I qualified.

“That is the main area but it’s not just about going and qualifying better.

“There are methods and processes to improve because it’s not just as simple as ‘make sure I qualify better’. I mean, I was trying to qualify as good as I could last year too.

“I think we’ve done some really good work over the off season in terms of what that improvement looks like … now it’s time to put that into action.’’

With Saturday and Sunday sold out, this year’s Grand Prix is expected to surpass last year’s record breaking event.

The Aussie star is hoping make history during Sunday’s race. Picture: Mark Stewart

The Grand Prix Corporation estimated more than 452,000 people attended last year’s race and race chiefs are confident this year will surpass that mark.

With 34c forecast on Saturday and up to 20mm of rain for Sunday’s race, Piastri admitted weather could “throw some spanners in the works”.

“But I think the underlying pace of the car looked strong … so yeah, I think things are looking good,” he said.

“But we don’t want to just try and aim for the podium, we want to aim for the top step.”

Russian, Israel, Palestine and Ukrainian flags have been banned at this year’s Grand Prix.

Gates open at 8.30am on Saturday, with a SuperCars session at 9.05am.

Originally published as Oscar Piastri’s high hopes of making history at Melbourne Grand Prix