Formula One: The importance of being Oscar – and beating England

How does Piastri present himself? As an old man in a young man’s body. He’s reclining on a sofa and chatting away like he’s sipping coffee on a late-night TV show.

Oscar Piastri chats with fans at Melbourne’s Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit on Thursday ahead of Friday’s first practice session. Picture: Getty Images

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Oscar, wild? Not really. His mum reckons he’s an old man in a young man’s body. Immensely mature. Perpetually unfazed. Beautifully serene. Calm in the centre of Formula One’s storm. The Oscar surnamed Piastri doesn’t have half the flamboyance or interest in colourful conversation of the Oscar surnamed Wilde, even if you can imagine him sitting in poet’s corner at Albert Park and effortlessly demonstrating the importance of being earnest.

Right now he’s walking into F1’s perfumed paddock. It’s just after 11am. The great local hope for the Australian Grand Prix, destined for the stars and not the gutter, basically says four words. Yep, yep, yep and yep. Quick photo? Yep. Sign this green and yellow cap? Yep. Sign this massive cardboard head? Yep. Reckon you can win on Sunday? Yep. His hometown Melbourne crowd is going a bit bonkers but the understated old man in the 23-year-old’s body keeps his composure and shuffles on down to the McLaren garage.

You call this a garage? It’s like the foyer of the Grand Hyatt. Spotless, immaculate, radiant. Where’s the discarded ping-pong table? The unwanted furniture? The makeshift gym? Piastri will hop into his racing machine for the first time on Friday. Practice starts at 12.30pm. He can go hog wild when his helmet goes on.

Presently he’s joining Red Bull’s four-time world champion Max Verstappen and Australia’s Alpine rookie Jack Doohan for an interview session with the world’s F1 media. There are about a trillion journalists here.

How does Piastri present himself? As an old man in a young man’s body! Crossing his legs, reclining on a sofa and chatting away like he’s sipping coffee on a late-night TV show.

Question from the floor from a British inquisitor. Piastri and his McLaren teammate may develop in an in-house battle for this year’s world driver’s championship. And Australia face England in the Ashes next summer. In which venture is his nation most likely to succeed?

“Phwoar,” Piastri grins. “I’d like to think both of them. I mean, to get in early, the Ashes isn’t even going to be a contest. The trophy is staying in the same place. For our season, obviously I’m confident in what I can do as a driver. Last year I think I proved to myself, in a decent portion of the year, what I’m capable of. I really took confidence from the wins and some of my better races. Now trying to do that every race weekend is kind of the goal. With Lando (Norris), it’s obvious he’s incredibly talented and it’s never going to be easy going up against him. But I’m confident in my own ability to prevail this year.”

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri poses with the crowd of supporters. Picture: David Caird

The fine print is the blurred ­nature of McLaren’s so-called “papaya rules”. The rules of engagement between Piastri and Norris. McLaren boss Zak Brown decided last year that Norris would get preferential treatment in race tactics. It was Piastri’s role at certain stages to help the ­Englishman win – but it’s a clean slate for this season.

“Whoever is faster on track is going to be who wins and who finishes higher if it’s not winning,” Piastri says. “We’re very clear on how we go into a season. That’s racing each other and hopefully fighting for wins. It’s all very clear. We’ve discussed it and we’re starting from zero again. We’re both going to be trying our best to win.”

Piastri was fourth in last year’s driver’s championship. Norris was second. Word is that McLaren has the fastest car and the Australian GP will be fought out between Piastri and Norris. Could be wild. There hasn’t been a local winner since Alan Jones in 1980. An Australian hasn’t finished on the podium since the great race moved to Albert Park in 1996.

Is Oscar talking himself up? Not really. “We’ll see,” says the old man in the young man’s body. “I know what you want me to say. And everyone’s headline can be that. But no one really knows what to expect. The weather on Sunday is going to be different every hour by the look of things. We’re expected to be somewhere up the front. Whether that’s right at the pointy end … we’ll wait.”