Albert Park memories rev-ived for Oscar Piastri; Max Verstappen battles ill-health

Australian Formula 1 driver Oscar Piastri says Albert Park reminds him just as much of his junior football and cricket days growing up in Melbourne as it does of his experiences coming to the grand prix as a kid.

The 21-year-old will race in a car in Australia for the first time on Sunday, in the country’s biggest race. It’s a far cry from where his motorsport journey started; racing go-karts in Oakleigh while juggling cricket and football commitments with his schooling at Brighton’s Haileybury College.

Oscar Piastri takes selfies with fans at Albert Park on Thursday.Credit: Eddie Jim

Piastri, who drives for McLaren, said becoming the first Melburnian to compete in an Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park was surreal.

“I played Aussie Rules footy and cricket on some of the ovals that are now the paddock, so [it’s] very special to be at home this weekend,” he said.

“I was here last year as a reserve driver, and I was here in 2015 – I was a grid kid for Daniil Kvyat, so I was holding Danny Kvyat’s flag, and he broke down on the lap to the grid, so I never got to see him. But it’s pretty special to have someone holding my flag this time. Hopefully, I will have better luck.”

The keen Richmond supporter said he would resist the temptation to join 90,000 supporters at the MCG on Friday night when the Tigers face Collingwood in a blockbuster, instead favouring an early night in bed to give himself the best chance of performing at Albert Park.

“I came out here a little bit early, so I could get used to the jet lag, and see some friends and family, which was nice,” he said.

“I won’t be going to the footy on Friday, I’ll be trying to get a good night’s rest. But also behaving myself on food this week. It’s hard in Melbourne, but I went and saw my mum, saw my dad, had some home-cooked meals, which was nice. But I’ve been keeping it pretty sensible this week.”

Piastri struggled in the opening round at Bahrain, his first race in more than 12 months after sitting out 2022 as a reserve driver for Alpine, but improved significantly in Saudi Arabia, qualifying in the top 10 before an error on the opening lap dented his chances of picking up championship points.

But he said there were plenty of positives from last round to give everyone a clearer idea of what he and the team were capable of.

Oscar Piastri (second from left) at the official Formula 1 press conference on Thursday.Credit: Getty Images

“Qualifying gave me a lot of confidence [that] the way we were working was the right way,” he said.

“I think I didn’t really change that much from Bahrain, but the results in qualifying were much different, obviously getting to Q3 [the top 10 fastest] this time.

“It was a nice confidence boost. Sunday was obviously nice to see the end at least. I think first lap I could have done a few things differently and kept myself out of trouble a bit better, but I think the rest of the race; it’s nice to get a race distance under my belt at least, and definitely some learning and getting rid of some of the rust.”

Following some upgrades to his car ahead of Sunday’s grand prix, Piastri said he was hopeful of further improvement.

“I think it’ll definitely help us to move closer to the front of the grid,” he said.

“But we’re not underestimating [anyone]. Everyone else will probably have new parts as well, so we’ll see how much competitiveness we get from that.

“Compared to the previous two tracks, this should be more like Saudi. The tarmac is quite similar, the layout is a bit more similar to Saudi than Bahrain, so hopefully that’s good for us. [In] Saudi we showed we can get into Q3 and fight for the back end of points on our good days, so hopefully we can have a good race.”

As for coping with the media attention, Piastri said it helped to have former Formula 1 driver Mark Webber as his manager.

“We’ve been managing it very well. Having Mark in my corner is very useful, he’s been in my shoes plenty of times here in Melbourne,” he said.

“Obviously, the [McLaren] team have got experience with Daniel [Ricciardo] in the last couple of years as well, so I think we’re organised with that kind of thing.

“The rest has been very well managed. It’s not been too crazy, and [has] allowed me to focus on driving, which is nice.”

Red Bull drivers Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez stand either side of their reserve driver, Australian Daniel Ricciardo ahead of the grand prix in Melbourne.Credit: Getty Images

Verstappen concedes he’s struggling with a stomach bug

Formula One champion Max Verstappen is still recovering from a stomach bug that affected his race in Saudi Arabia and is looking forward to a break after Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix.

The Dutchman finished runner-up behind Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez at Jeddah despite feeling ropey through the race weekend.

Although feeling a lot better since Saudi and optimistic about Melbourne, Verstappen told reporters at Albert Park on Thursday he was looking forward to the unusually long, three-week break before the fourth race in Baku.

“Well, a couple of weeks ago, I would say that I was not looking forward to it,” he said of the break.

“But then I got really ill and (have) just been struggling a bit since that time, especially the last result.

“So for me now, this release is just getting back to like full fitness, getting a full program in.”

Verstappen won the first race in Bahrain ahead of Perez, meaning Red Bull is well clear in the championship standings and hoping to end a drought in Melbourne that dates back to Sebastian Vettel’s 2011 win.

Verstappen, bidding for a hat-trick of F1 championships, was forced to retire in last year’s race as Red Bull struggled with reliability early in the season before ultimately dominating.

The car is decidedly in better health than the same period last year, even if a drive-shaft failure during qualifying in Jeddah condemned Verstappen to starting 15th on the grid.

“We’ve never really been that good in the beginning of the year,” he said.

“I think we have a good chance, of course, for a result but we do need to execute a good weekend.”

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