Formula one: Fans up for an Oscar as Australia’s quietest athlete roars into Albert Park
Oscar Piastri will get the rock star treatment at the Melbourne GP. Here’s the fascinating thing ... he looks and talks like a choirboy.
Oscar Piastri makes $2m a year. He rocks up to the Australian Grand Prix wearing a luxury $500,000 watch with his Richmond AFL jersey. He’s making a big noise and rubbing shoulders with the rich and famous in the elite world of Formula One – but this has gotta be Australia’s quietest athlete.
The 22-year-old Melburnian has overtaken Daniel Ricciardo as the great local hope at the Australian Grand Prix. He knows the city and Albert Park circuit like the back of his hand – he used to play cricket and footy across the road and doesn’t exactly need Goggle Maps to get around – but he’s far removed from the F1 stereotype of fast-living, big-talking, self-promoting, larger-than life party animals. He’s just an extremely likeable young bloke … who barely makes a peep.
Quiet as a mouse. Speaking so softly you need to lean forward to hear him properly, Piastri on Thursday apologetically downplayed his chances of a dream hometown triumph when he puts the pedal to the metal for his McLaren team on Sunday.
“Being realistic, being in the fight for third quickest team is where we’re at,” he says. “We just don’t quite have enough at the moment. For now, as much as I don’t want to put people’s hopes down, I think anywhere better than fifth is going to require some good fortune.”
His Tigers jersey was one for the battlers. Then the fashionistas of F1 – there’s a few of them around here – pointed out the value of his timepiece. It’s a top-of-the-range one called the RM67-02 Automatic Winding Extra Flat courtesy of Richard Mille, the high-end Swiss manufacturer and sponsor of McLaren.
Five-hundred grand for a watch. That’s quite the watch. Does it sing and dance?
His appearance at Melbourne Walk at the entrance to Albert Park brought one young lass to tears. She bawled and sniffled and hooted and hollered like the Beatles were back at Festival Hall in 1964. Everyone adored him. All in attendance were up for an Oscar.
The fascination is that Piastri doesn’t look like a rock star. More your cherubic choir boy. But while the voice may be soft, the man is not. You’ve got to be hard as nails to drive these cars.
The only thing Piastri isn’t good for? A headline. Australia’s premier racing machine ain’t no quote machine. “It’s definitely a special race for me,” Piastri said.
“I think for any driver, a home race is good fun and a privilege. For me, it’s about 10 to 15 metres from where I grew up so, yeah, well and truly a home race and I’m excited to be back.”
It’s good fun and he’s excited to be back. We weren’t inclined to hold the back page, but his manner is endearing. He mentioned “good fortune” several times. If a good fortune is what you need to slip a Richard Mille on your wrist, a large dollop of good fortune is what Piastri and Ricciardo need to get on the podium.
If our quietest athlete does sneak into the top three, well, give the bloke a real Oscar. “It would be very, very special,” he said. We still didn’t have a decent headline.
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