Piastri out to end Aussie F1 curse, all eyes on McLaren dynamic that could ‘blow up’
Oscar Piastri is hoping to break an Aussie Formula One curse this weekend, as all eyes centre on the dynamic in the McLaren garage.
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Oscar Piastri is aiming to become the first Australian F1 driver to win his home race in nearly half a century when he suits up for McLaren at the Australian Grand Prix this weekend.
The F1 season kicks off at Albert Park and hopes are high for Piastri and McLaren, who won the constructors championship last season and look like the team again to beat this year.
It’s a new look grid with six rookies and Lewis Hamilton at Ferrari, and fans are hoping for a closely contested season with McLaren, Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull set to fight it out in the final year of the current regulations before rule changes in 2026.
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No Aussie driver has won in Australia since Alan Jones in 1980, but that was a non-championship race in the year he won the F1 world title.
No Australian driver, including Mark Webber and Daniel Ricciardo, has finished on the podium at their home race since it was added to the F1 calendar in 1985.
Fresh off signing a contract extension with McLaren, Piastri could well be the man to break that drought.
“McLaren look like they’ve been testing well so I think Oscar and Lando are probably the guys to beat,” Supercars legend Mark Skaife told news.com.au.
“Oscar had really good progression and the car’s obviously getting better. McLaren shape up very strong.
“Charles Leclerc will be super fast, in fact I reckon he’s probably the guy to beat (in Melbourne). Then what happens with Mercedes? There’s a lot of incumbent pressure on George Russell as the team leader.”
Former F1 race winner Juan Pablo Montoya says the dynamic between Piastri and Norris has the potential to “blow up” if the teammates get tangled in a championship battle.
“Once you let them race, you open up a can of worms,” Montoya said. per Oddspedia.
“The way McLaren have controlled the drivers has been really good and they’re working together really well. But at some point, that’s going to stop.
“When that stops, if they’re really close, that’s when they really need to keep the drivers on a tight leash.
“I think if they can keep them in a tight leash at McLaren, they’re going to be really good with the drivers understanding that there’s nobody above the team.
“If they have a car to win the drivers’ world championship, I think it can blow up pretty bad. I think it would be good for TV.
“McLaren should win Melbourne GP - there could be so many stories in this race. If it’s a really smooth weekend, I think McLaren should win it. But there are so many fascinating elements.
“It’s Piastri’s home race. Is he going to step out of Lando’s shadow?”
Martin Brundle said on Fox Sports’ coverage: “You have to assume Oscar and Lando will take points off each other like they did last year.
“They all want to be world champion. Either you have a clear No. 1 and No. 2 in the team, or you manage a situation like Norris and Piastri.
“There will be some ground rules. But they don’t want to drive like robots down into the first corner and you can’t just be watching each other because you’ve got to think about Max (Verstappen) and Lewis (Hamilton) and George (Russell).
“If you apply too many rules, they’ll start stepping on their own tails.”
‘Play on’: Legend defends controversial ac
Motorsport is taking over Melbourne this weekend, with the Supercars also in action at Albert Park alongside Formula One.
Tickford Racing’s Cam Waters is the early championship leader after pulling off an epic last gasp win on the finish line at Sydney Motorsport Park.
Waters knocked Broc Feeney off the track but redressed the mistake by giving Feeney back the race lead, only to have Will Brown hot on his tail.
He then managed to get some side draft off Feeney around the final stretch and just got in front to win the final race by a nose.
Waters and Skaife said it was hard and fair racing and applauded the “play on” approach from race officials.
“There was a lot going on, I didn’t make it easy for myself,” Waters told The Formation Lap.
“But I thought it was best to readdress. I knew I had to try and keep Will behind me, which he wasn’t too pleased about, but bugger him.
“It was awesome they allowed us to play on. I had the incident with Broc at Turn 4. Once I could readdress and got Broc back in front, they saw it as play on, game on.
“I think it’s about having respect when you’re racing. If you get into someone’s rear bar and push them wide, obviously that’s bad. But if you’ve got a bit of overlap and there’s a bit of rubbing, I think that’s awesome for the category. It’s what the fans want to see.”
“What we want is hard but fair racing and that’s what we got,” Skaife told news.com.au.
“The decision for Cam Waters to redress the mistake he made and then for that race to play out that way, it doesn’t get any better.
“I’ve been advocating for many years for the judiciary to have a sense of a ‘play on’ style attitude. You essentially play to the whistle as you do in other sport.
“That was a real demonstration of what really hardcore racing does and what we want from the spectacle. It couldn’t have been any better and one of the closest finishes in history.”
On Thursday Feeney won the first of four Supercars sprint races this weekend.
“It’s exciting. The place is completely sold out for the four days,” Skaife said.
“Between Formula One and Supercars, it doesn’t get any better.”
Sport fans won’t have to get off the couch for 72 hours as Kayo Sports has wall-to-wall sporting action across the weekend as the winter codes kick off in earnest.
There will be a full slate of AFL and NRL games, along with the Australian Grand Prix culminating on Sunday afternoon and golf fans will be glued to the famous island green at the 17th hole at the The Players Championship as the golf world gears up for next month’s Masters.
FORMULA 1
The Australian Grand Prix returns as the F1 season opener with live coverage on Fox Motorsport showing all the actions across F1, F2, F3, Supercars and Carrera Cup.
Friday 14th March
F1 Australia Practice 1 from 12pm AEDT live in 4K, on Fox Motorsport, available on Kayo Sports and Foxtel.
F1 Australia Practice 2 from 3:45pm AEDT live in 4K, on Fox Motorsport, available on Kayo Sports and Foxtel.
Saturday 15th March
F1 Australia Practice 3 from 12:10pm AEDT live in 4K, on Fox Motorsport, available on Kayo Sports and Foxtel.
F1 Australia Qualifying from 3:15pm AEDT live and ad-break free during racing, in 4K, on Fox Motorsport, available on Kayo Sports and Foxtel.
Sunday 16th March
F1 Australia Race from 1:30pm AEDT live and ad-break free during racing, in 4K, on Fox Motorsport, available on Kayo Sports and Foxtel.
AFL Round 1
Every game is live on Fox Footy, available on Kayo Sports and Foxtel.
Friday 14th March
Hawthorn Hawks v Essendon Bombers from 6:30pm AEDT live and ad-break free during play, in 4K, on Fox Footy, available on Kayo Sports and Foxtel.
Saturday 15th March
Geelong Cats v Fremantle Dockers from 12pm AEDT exclusively live and ad-break free during play, in 4K, on Fox Footy, available on Kayo Sports and Foxtel.
Sydney Swans v Brisbane Lions from 4pm AEDT exclusively live and ad-break free during play, in 4K, on Fox Footy, available on Kayo Sports and Foxtel.
Collingwood Magpies v Port Adelaide Power from 7pm AEDT exclusively live and ad-break free during play, in 4K, on Fox Footy, available on Kayo Sports and Foxtel.
Western Bulldogs v North Melbourne Kangaroos from 7:10pm AEDT exclusively live and ad-break free during play, in 4K, on Fox Footy, available on Kayo Sports and Foxtel.
Sunday 16th March
Adelaide Crows v St Kilda Saints from 12pm AEDT live and ad-break free during play, in 4K, on Fox Footy, available on Kayo Sports and Foxtel.
Melbourne Demons v GWS Giants from 3:10pm AEDT live and ad-break free during play, in 4K, on Fox Footy, available on Kayo Sports and Foxtel.
West Coast Eagles v Gold Coast Suns from 6pm AEDT live and ad-break free during play, in 4K, on Fox Footy, available on Kayo Sports and Foxtel.
NRL ROUND 1
Every game is live on Fox League, available on Kayo Sports and Foxtel.
Friday 14th March
New Zealand Warriors v Manly Sea Eagles from 5:00pm AEDT live and ad-break free during play on Fox League, available on Kayo Sports and Foxtel.
Penrith Panthers v Sydney Roosters from 7:55pm AEDT live and ad-break free during play on Fox League, available on Kayo Sports and Foxtel.
Saturday 15th March
St George Illawarra Dragons v South Sydney Rabbitohs from 2:30pm AEDT exclusively live and ad-break free during play on Fox League, available on Kayo Sports and Foxtel.
North Queensland Cowboys v Cronulla Sharks from 5pm AEDT exclusively live and ad-break free during play on Fox League, available on Kayo Sports and Foxtel.
Canberra Raiders v Brisbane Broncos from 7:25pm AEDT exclusively live and ad-break free during play on Fox League, available on Kayo Sports and Foxtel.
Sunday 9th March
Parramatta Eels v Wests Tigers from 3pm AEDT live and ad-break free during play on Fox League, available on Kayo Sports and Foxtel.
Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs v Gold Coast Titans from 6pm AEDT live and ad-break free during play on Fox League, available on Kayo Sports and Foxtel.
SUPERCARS
Friday 14th March
Supercars Melbourne Race 5 from 2:39pm AEDT live and ad-break free during racing, on Fox Motorsport, available on Kayo Sports and Foxtel.
Saturday 15th March
Supercars Melbourne Race 6 from 5:18pm AEDT live and ad-break free during racing, on Fox Motorsport, available on Kayo Sports and Foxtel.
Sunday 16th March
Supercars Melbourne Race 7 from 10am AEDT live and ad-break free during racing, on Fox Motorsport, available on Kayo Sports and Foxtel.
NBL PLAYOFFS
Sunday 16th March
NBL Championship Game 3 Illawarra Hawks v Melbourne United from 5pm AEDT live on ESPN, available on Kayo Sports and Foxtel.
NBA
Friday 14th March
Golden State Warriors v Sacramento Kings from 1pm AEDT on ESPN, available on Kayo Sports and Foxtel.
Saturday 15th March
Miami Heat v Boston Celtics from 10am AEDT on ESPN, available on Kayo Sports and Foxtel.
Denver Nuggets v Los Angeles Lakers from 12:30pm AEDT on ESPN, available on Kayo Sports and Foxtel.
Sunday 16th March
Golden State Warriors v New York Knicks from 11:30am AEDT on ESPN, available on Kayo Sports and Foxtel.
Tuesday 18th March
New York Knicks v Miami Heat from 10:30am AEDT on ESPN, available on Kayo Sports and Foxtel.
GOLF – THE PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP
Friday 14th March
The Players Championship Round 2 from 10:30pm AEDT live & exclusive on Fox Sports, available on Kayo Sports and Foxtel.
Saturday 15th March
The Players Championship Round 3 from 10:30pm AEDT live & exclusive on Fox Sports, available on Kayo Sports and Foxtel.
Sunday 16th March
The Players Championship Final Round from 10:30pm AEDT live & exclusive on Fox Sports, available on Kayo Sports and Foxtel.
WSL TOUR
Saturday 15th March
WSL Championship Tour Portugal Day 1 from 6:30pm AEDT live on Fox Sports, available on Kayo Sports and Foxtel.
Originally published as Piastri out to end Aussie F1 curse, all eyes on McLaren dynamic that could ‘blow up’
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