Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix: The Oscar Piastri brand is growing off the track as the Australian McLaren star continues his F1 rise
His star continues to rise on the track - and his face is plastered across billboards around the city. This is how McLaren’s Oscar Piastri is also becoming Australian sport’s hottest commodity.
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Mark Webber has revealed the global commercial strategy for his protege Oscar Piastri – the “boy next door with big ambitions” – who has the potential to become the most marketable athlete in Australia on the world stage.
Ahead of this week’s season-opening Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix, Piastri’s face can be seen plastered across billboards around Melbourne as his off-track value continues to soar.
Selling eponymous healthy hamburgers and partnering with a global credit card company, brand Piastri is growing as fast as the Australian star’s papaya machine.
The hometown hero underlined his status as one of the rising stars of Formula 1 when he claimed two grand prix wins last year in just his second season in the sport as he helped steer McLaren to its first constructors’ title in 25 years alongside teammate Lando Norris.
Former Red Bull star Webber, who alongside his wife Ann manages Piastri, said commercial interest in the Melbourne-born racer had grown “massively” in the past 12 months with brands eager to partner with the 23-year-old.
Piastri has commercial deals with smart phone accessory brand Quad Lock – the first to partner with the Aussie star – and local healthy hamburger chain Grill’d, who are selling the ‘Oscar Piastri Burger’ in the lead-up to the Australian Grand Prix.
He is also featured in advertising and social media campaigns for global credit card company Mastercard in the lead-up to the Albert Park race.
“Having international brands recognise Oscar’s profile in all corners of the world where he now competes is a beautiful burden for him to have,” Webber said.
“Brands are wanting to be associated with him … he is the boy next door with big ambitions and big goals and obviously he has achieved so much so early in his career, so that’s the exciting bit for everyone.
“When you’ve got someone that is competing on the world stage, we know how challenging that is for Australian athletes.
“Obviously Oscar doesn’t live here (in Australia), but he is still very patriotic, he loves representing Australia and to have the Australian national anthem played at that level (Formula 1) is incredibly rare and he has done it already twice.
“I think that companies recognise the fact that is few and far between and also it is pretty much impossible not to like him, so people are very keen on that.
“That’s what he’s worked hard for …. obviously Oscar has got the final say, we work through these things with him, and the alignment has been brilliant with all three (brands).”
RIGHT BALANCE
While eager to capitalise on commercial opportunities for Piastri, Webber said it was critical to strike the right balance between the young star’s on and off-track goals.
Piastri finished fourth in the drivers’ championship standings last year and was touted as a future world champion in his first season on the grid.
Webber said on-track performance remained the top priority for Piastri as, without it, the commercial opportunities dried up.
“Formula 1 is very popular and he is incredibly popular so we just need to get the balance right,” Webber said.
“Obviously, his time is very important to him and we recognise that. I recognise that as well that as an athlete you need to get the balance right.
“Performance is number one …. but you have got to get the columns balanced and the stopwatch is very important.
“You have got to keep your eye on the prize in terms of your commitment to the team, your commitment to your own career and understanding that there is always time for getting the balance of that right, strategizing during your career and also the legacy piece after your career in terms of how that might look for you.”
Webber said his choice would always be for Piastri to focus on his racing and preparation.
“I would rather him (focus on racing), I think he would as well. If the trophies dry up, we are in trouble,” Webber said.
“In terms of performance, we want to be focusing (on that). The team is very important, so that’s where the focus has got to be.
“It’s very hard for people to understand how competitive what he is doing is. It is the elite of the elite, so for us to consider other opportunities, they are big decisions and he recognises that, but they are nice decisions to have.”
MOST MARKETABLE
After his second grand prix win in Azerbaijan last year, which followed his maiden victory in Hungary, marketing experts predicted Piastri had the potential to become Australia’s most marketable athlete on the world stage.
Leading sports marketing expert Tristan Hay said Piastri had the “world at his feet” as one of the country’s most bankable stars.
Webber said Piastri would naturally find his place as one of Australia’s most marketable athletes by virtue of the fact he was competing in one of the world’s biggest sports.
“I think in competition he certainly very much needs to be respected,” Webber said.
“Is he going to be one of the biggest (marketable stars)? Of course, in Australia just as an athlete, as a sportsman in terms of marketing naturally that will happen because he is in one of the biggest sports in the world, if not the biggest sport in the world.
“Every two weeks, he competes globally. If he is at the sharp end …. if he is spraying some champagne here or there, that just drives the water line up for him.
“How hard core we go on a Monday to Friday in terms of his brand is obviously a strategy piece which we will just keep playing out.
“It has taken us a while to move there and that has been completely intentional for him to have the first few years to get going. It is baby steps and it is a tactic which is critical for his performance.”
Webber said Piastri’s management was in a position to be “selective” about the commercial opportunities it took up and what brands he decided to partner with.
“Not in an arrogant way, but especially this time when he comes down here (Australia) of course, you have just got to get the balance right,” Webber said.
“He is not aware of most of the requests and that’s our job. He gets basically the last five percent of what comes in.
“I wouldn’t say we’re fussy, but we’re in a position to be selective and that has to work both ways because you don’t want to be diluting the exclusivity which we want to associate him with the brands we have.”
Piastri’s official OP 81 merchandise has also proved popular and Webber revealed sales of his gear was also very strong in India, the United States and the United Kingdom.
HOME RACE DEMANDS
As a two-time grand prix winner now, Webber said the demands from team partners had increased on Piastri, especially ahead of his home race at Albert Park.
“Obviously to win two races in your second year, he is in a pretty elite club there,” Webber said.
“Domestically here in Australia, the demands from within the (McLaren) team partners goes up because, yes, he is a race winner now, which he wasn’t obviously at the start of last year.
“It’s not just the phone calls within separate endorsements outside his McLaren contract, but also the partners within the team are obviously now demanding – and rightly so – more time of Oscar.”
Webber, who raced for Red Bull between 2007 and 2013, felt Piastri was well-prepared for the demands of his home race.
“It will be very straightforward, it will be an exciting race for him,” Webber said.
“I have spoken to Ash Barty about this, I have spoken to Pat Rafter. Greg Normans, Lleyton Hewitts, Mark Webbers, Daniel Ricciardos – we all know the drill.
“We know what it comes with (competing at your home event) … he will just do his best and that’s all we can ask of him.
“There are so many outside forces that control the result, but it’s something which he has prepared well for in the off-season.
“He hasn’t been here as a race winner though before, so that’s awesome. It’s all upside.”
Webber said Australia was fortunate to have had the driver presence it has had on the Formula 1 grid in the past two decades, which should be celebrated.
“There is not a huge amount of pressure on Oscar, actually. We don’t have 18 (Australian) drivers on the grid, we’ve got what we’ve got so be happy with how he performs and what they do and obviously Jack (Doohan) is there as well,” he said.
“The boys are going to do their best, they are going to do absolutely everything they can, they can’t do any more than that.
“We are in such an awesome position that since we’ve had the race in Melbourne, we’ve always generally had – we had a bit of a gap before I arrived – but we’ve had myself and Daniel (Ricciardo) and Oscar and now Jack.
“Not a lot of grand prix have a home driver so that is a beautiful thing so we should just enjoy it and let him enjoy it, which I’m sure he will and the energy will be really positive.
“He is a Melbourne boy, too, so that is great. Once he has got his helmet on, he is in a beautiful bubble and that’s him executing and enjoying his trade.”
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