Australian Grand Prix: And the Oscar goes to … top of the world?

Can Oscar Piastri be world champion? ‘One hundred per cent,’ says McLaren boss Zak Brown. ‘And I wouldn’t bet against him this year.’

McLaren's Australian driver Oscar Piastri at Albert Park on Friday. Picture: AFP

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“Let’s go get ‘em,” says Oscar Piastri before the Australian Grand Prix. “That will be my approach. Let’s get out there and race against the best in the world and see what we can do. I try to win every race but I’m really looking forward to this one. We love our sport in Melbourne. I’ll be excited to be feeling the love at home.”

Piastri is ready and willing. His McLaren MCL39 is able. There’s zero doubt the introverted young fellow can win the season-opening race despite a forecast for torrential rain on Sunday that could turn the GP into dodgem cars at speeds in excess of 330km/h. “It’s going to be an interesting weekend,” the 23-year-old Melburnian says.

Come for a walk in the paddock. The 10 team garages are lined up in order of importance. The prime real estate belongs to McLaren as the reigning constructors champions. Then comes Ferrari, Red Bull and Mercedes in a colourful line of diminishing authority, all the way down to the last-ranked Kick Sauber, trying to find their jumper leads out near the garbage bins.

There’s an enormous buzz around McLaren’s HQ … cameras and microphones and general hysteria and Oscarmania … and Friday’s opening practice sessions have highlighted the reason.

Before the first run at Albert Park, Piastri gives his garage a thumbs up. Go get ’em. His car is coloured like a Richmond Tigers’ jersey. His helmet is green and gold. Not all cards are laid on the table in practice, a little powder is kept dry, but we nonetheless receive a gauge on which teams and drivers have speed to burn. It’s McLaren and the all-star line-up of Piastri and Englishman Lando Norris. Zero. Doubt.

The Oscar in practice session goes to Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc for a quickest lap of 1min 16.439sec but Piastri is only 0.124sec in ­arrears. Norris is next. Go get ’em. It will indeed be a thoroughly interesting weekend. The spanner in the works is the weather forecast.

“I think this year is going to be an incredibly competitive year of F1,” Piastri says. “It’s going to be very, very tough.”

His mother, Nicole, believes his quiet nature doesn’t necessarily suit the glamorous and glitzy business side of F1. Personality-wise, he’s too cruisy for life in the fast lane. “I think he’s naturally an introvert, so that’s a little bit challenging,” she says. “He’s pretty quiet. He loves coming home and he loves the home crowd … I think he probably more enjoys being around the fans than the corporate stuff.”

Piastri during the first practice session, on Friday. Picture: AFP

The best place for an introvert in F1? In the cockpit. Piastri’s not so cruisy in there. McLaren boss Zak Brown, a gregarious Californian, believes the 23-year-old is a future world champion. Zero. Doubt. “One hundred per cent,” Brown says. “And I wouldn’t bet against him this year. The camaraderie, the vibe in the garage, the team atmosphere feels really good. We’re going to be very competitive. Oscar is very fast.”

Piastri told The Australian recently, “World championships are definitely the dream. My first dream was reaching Formula One. I’m very proud to have ticked that box. The next dream is to become a world champion.”

Mechanics surround the car of McLaren's British driver Lando Norris. Picture: AFP

Confession? I’m no revhead. I wouldn’t know a spark plug from a lug nut. But I’m getting hooked on F1. Sport is best when its full throttle. No throttles are fuller than these. The cars are a sight and sound. The drivers are bold and intriguing. You don’t hit 300km/h without a little courage in your veins. What you cannot do is win races with an inferior car – and we have learned beyond all doubt that McLaren has delivered Piastri one of the best for his home GP.

Go get ’em. Piastri’s greatest threats will be the rain, rain – go away! – plus Leclerc, Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton (fifth in practice) and Norris. Piastri and Norris have identical cars and equally ambitious eyes staring at the same prizes. “It’s nice that so many people are thinking about us and talking about us,” Norris says. “But it makes no difference. If I go out this weekend and do a bad job, who cares what people have said in the past? People can talk all they want. we expect to be up there fighting. But I definitely don’t think we’re ahead by the margins that everyone is saying.”