Piastri’s cool in a dynamic sport

“I dreamt of this day as a little kid back in Australia,” the nation’s motor racing superstar, Oscar Piastri, wrote after his first Formula One race win in Hungary in July 2024. “A truly unbelievable feeling.” On that occasion he became only the fifth Australian driver to win an F1 Grand Prix. Early on Monday, Australian time, Piastri, 24, flashed past the checkered flag first in the Miami Grand Prix for his third consecutive F1 win and fourth this year (China, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Miami). The win extended Piastri’s points lead in the F1 championship that will be decided at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in December. Only two Australians have claimed that illustrious prize – Alan Jones in 1980 (21 years before Piastri was born in Melbourne in 2001) and the legendary Jack Brabham in 1959, 1960 and 1966.

Piastri has sparked and renewed the interest of many Australians in F1. His races in all corners of the world have become unmissable events that sports fans tune in to watch, no matter how unsociable the hour, setting the alarm to enjoy the suspense and excitement. Aficionados of the sport have noticed that his “race craft” has caught the eyes of his rivals and McLaren teammates, such as Britain’s Lando Norris whom he beat into second place in Miami.

As with most Aussie sporting heroes, as the public gets to know Piastri it is taking him to its heart. On the paddock, his cool, quiet demeanour has earned him the nickname “Iceman”. Piastri’s is a quintessentially Australian story, reflecting our multicultural character. On his father’s side his heritage is Italian, Yugoslavian and Chinese; on his mother’s side it is Irish and Scottish. Piastri’s racing career began as a child with remote-controlled miniature cars. From age 10, he honed his skills behind the wheel at the Oakleigh Go-Kart Racing Club circuit in Melbourne’s southeast.

It probably will help him keep cool and calm, but in the lead-up to Abu Dhabi Piastri is determined to avoid thinking about the F1 world championship. Yet as Will Swanton writes: “It takes a lot of thinking to avoid thinking about the things that are so important they keep returning to your thoughts.” Australians also will be thinking about it, cheering him race by race as the circuit moves to Italy in a fortnight.