Nice guys can finish first: Oscar Piastri ‘tough enough’ to win in Monaco

In an exclusive interview before the Monaco Grand Prix, Oscar Piastri says, ‘I’m not here to prove how tough I am. I’m just here to drive race cars and win … I’m tough enough.’ 

Formula One driver Austraian Oscar Piastri in Monaco. Picture: Getty Images

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“Yeah, I could be world champion this year,” grins Oscar Piastri.

We’re sitting in McLaren headquarters at the Monaco Grand Prix. He’s chewed the fat with a packed room of international print journalists. He’s shuffled outside to be quizzed by another large throng of electronic media.

Everyone from The New York Times to the BBC wants a piece of him. He pulls up a pew to discuss how a nice young bloke from Melbourne is handling the intense global spotlight of leading the Formula One drivers’ championship.

Most important question comes first. Where are you staying in this little slice of paradise? Hotel or superyacht?

“No!” he laughs. “I’m staying at home! Staying at home!”

What? You bought a place here?

“Yep. I’ve been here for just over 12 months now,” he says. “This is my ‘second home Grand Prix’. So, yep. This is me now.”

This is Piastri now as a worldwide superstar. You don’t get much bigger than being top dog in F1. This is Piastri now attempting to become Australia’s first champion since Alan Jones in 1980.

Not so fast, however, according to England’s seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton, ­warning the pressure is about to become “unimaginable” as Piastri fends off his lightning-quick ­McLaren teammate, Lando Norris, and Red Bull’s four-time world champion Max Verstappen.

“There’s pressure,” Piastri says. “But I feel like I’m ready for it. I’m confident. It’s hard not to be, with the way things are going at the moment. It’s going to be a tough fight between myself, Lando and Max, but if we keep doing what we’re doing, I think we’re going to be all right in the end.

“I’m learning more about myself and I’ve dug a bit deeper in a few areas. My fitness, how I get myself in the right mindset, how to drive a car faster, I’m searching for more all the time. I’m evolving.”

Evolving into the F1 champion of the world?

Max Verstappen. Picture: Getty Images

Lando Norris. Picture: Getty Images

“Being put in a winning position for the first time, I feel like I’m handling it pretty well,” says the 24-year-old. “Actually, I’ll be honest. I really like where I am. This is where I’ve always wanted to be. It’s kind of a nice thing to be going through.”

Piastri leads the rankings from Norris and Verstappen, the daring, flat-out, elbows-out Dutchman who bursts with competitive mongrel. Which begs another question. Perhaps you’re too much of a nice guy to pull this off?

“The idea of nice guys, tough guys – I think racing is an interesting sport where you can almost be two polar opposites,” he says.

“Who you are in the car, and who you are out of the car, can be very different. I do think I’m a pretty nice guy in day-to-day life. In the car, it’s not so much about being tough or being a bad guy. It’s about being decisive and aggressive … and being smart. I’m not here to prove how tough I am. I’m here to drive race cars and win.”

He gazes up at the mountains bordering his second home and says: “I don’t find it difficult to switch from one way of thinking to the other. Outside of racing, when I need to put my foot down, I’ll put my foot down. It’s just that when you’re in a race car, you need that mindset the entire time. I don’t find that to be difficult.”

There remains the perception among F1’s millions of fans that Verstappen is tougher. Which is no insult to Piastri. Verstappen just may be the roughest and toughest driver who ever lived. It’ll pile prestige upon prestige for the nice young bloke from Melbourne if he wins the world title from one of the all-time greats.

“I know how Max is going to race,” Piastri says. “Not just against me, but against everyone. And he probably knows how I’m going to race. In all honesty, I don’t think there’s too much difference in toughness. I don’t know what’s really going on in anyone else’s car, and nobody really knows what’s going on in mine. It’s impossible to say how tough anyone actually is. I’m tough enough.”