The Butterfly Effect: Oscar Piastri coming of age before our eyes – while he’s on top of the world

Oscar Piastri is in an interesting position. A work in progress who just so happens to be working on his progression while leading the Formula One drivers’ championship.

Oscar Piastri answers questions after a disastrous Imola Grand Prix.

Monaco Matin is the local newspaper. Not a bad old rag, really, but we need a word with the editor. Mate, you’re doing it wrong. Sports sections are meant to be on the back page. You’ve buried your Formula One coverage on page 34 in the week of the Monaco Grand Prix. Quelle horreur!

Arts and entertainment get prime real estate in le journal. At the time of writing, not a word has been written about Oscar Piastri. A large cardboard cutout of the 24-year-old Melburnian lingers with intent at Baggage Carousel 8 at Nice Cote d’Azur Airport but since then I’ve neither heard nor read a single peep about him. Most billboards feature the noggins of the late Princess Grace or, rather less photogenically, Max Verstappen. He remains the king of F1 until officially dethroned.

Piastri is in an interesting position. He’s a work in progress who just so happens to be working on his progression while leading the drivers’ championship. He’s no longer a caterpillar but not yet a butterfly, and there’s the question over his quest to win the two biggest and brightest prizes in F1: the Monaco GP and the world crown. Can he do it in the chrysalis stage of his career?

Piastri is in deep thought as his team-mate Lando Norris walks past the podium.

He was slumped in his seat, emotionless, saying nothing in the cool-down room after finishing third at Imola,stripped of the momentum he’d gathered while dominating the previous three races. The horror. His McLaren teammate Lando Norris was upbeat after claiming the in-house battle for second. Red Bull’s Verstappen was as ebullient in triumph as Robbie Williams at Knebworth: “All right! I’m back! Good!”

McLaren principal Andrea Stella has arrived at Monaco acknowledging Verstappen’s resurgence. “I have to say we’re a little surprised,” he says. “I have to be honest here. The pace of Red Bull is very competitive. The (Imola) race was very much decided by the swap of position between Oscar and Max in corner one.

“After that we tried to chase him, but effectively we didn’t have enough race pace to be able to beat Max. We attempted to unlock various scenarios, but at no stage did we have enough race pace. We just have to keep working … keep our heads down … keep working on ourselves.”

Monaco looks like a dream but parts of it smell like an ashtray. Hasn’t anyone around here heard that smoking is bad for you? A stroll around the track shows why overtaking is nearly impossible. Regular traffic is still using the waterside street circuit on Monday. On the road near Bella Vita Brasserie, where fat cats are sipping wine in the midday sun, you couldn’t overtake someone on a scooter, let along squeeze past in an F1. I have no idea who the fat cats are. They just look like fat cats.

Ayrton Senna after McLaren’s win in the 1993 Monaco Grand Prix – Senna’s fifth around the street circuit.

The Monaco Automobile Club has a gorgeous window display of historical artefacts pertaining to the greatest GP. I stride to the entrance to discover what else is inside. Perhaps part of Alberto Ascari’s car that crashed into the water in 1955 before he swam to safety? Perhaps Ayrton Senna’s helmet from his record-breaking sixth win? Perhaps the boots Kimi Raikkonen wore to walk straight onto his yacht to watch the rest of the race, shirtless, and with drink in hand, after bombing out in 2006? I cannot tell you. The club is private. The horror. You get turfed onto the street if you so much as look at the joint.

Hold page 34: Red Bull is baaack like Jack Nicholson in The Shining … but Piastri has decent memories of the Monaco GP. He finished second to Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc last year for his first podium of the season. A year later, he’s won six GPs and sits atop the rankings, quite the meteoric rise. We’ll say it until we’re blue in the face, as deep blue as the water in the harbour: qualifying is everything on the weekend.

With Monte Carlo’s stunning vista in the background, Michael Schumacher purrs around the street circuit in his Ferrari ahead of his win in the 1999 Monaco Grand Prix.

Piastri qualified second last year. Finished second in the race. He couldn’t pass Leclerc but nobody could pass him. The race result replicated, in exact order, the top 10 from qualifying. “A tricky race,” Piastri said at the time. “It was nice to have a podium, and what better place? The pace at the beginning can be incredibly slow. I had one little half-look at overtaking Charles before the tunnel … I didn’t have a small enough car to fit into the gap.”

Nelson Piquet once likened the Monaco circuit to riding a bicycle around your living room. A lap starts with a brief sprint up Boulevard Albert before you crawl around the tight Sainte-Dévote corner, named after the little white chapel to your left. A 90-degree right-hand bend allows nothing more than first or second gear. The intricacies will help Piastri, a patient and technically proficient driver, on a track that doesn’t usually suit the tearaway Red Bulls.

Verstappen and Piastri at the start of the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, moments before Piastri surrendered a lead he could not reclaim. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

Norris says of Verstappen’s revival: “What was our biggest strength two weekends ago turned into not being good enough at Imola. It shows how quickly things can change. We’ve said it the whole year. We aren’t getting complacent because we know how good they can be. At times, when things click and when they get it right, they’re ahead.”

Red Bull boss Christian Horner is strutting around like a peacock. His wife, Geri Halliwell, had less of a swagger when she was a Spice Girl.

“Imola was the first time I can remember, in a long time, when we’ve had the pace to really pull away from the McLarens,” he says. “We’ve managed to put some performance on the car and get the car into a better window.

“As soon as you take away the sliding, you’re able to manage the temperature a lot better. It’s very encouraging and a great result for the effort that’s gone in behind the scenes. I think we’re gaining. We’re building a bit of momentum, which is important at this stage in the championship.”

The drivers are in town and will sprinkle down to the track in the coming days. I’m feeling underdressed. Forgot to pack my pinstripe boardshorts. Am in desperate need of white Lacoste tennis shoes, tight white slacks and a white polo shirt by Tommy Boss or Hugo Hilfilger or whatever they’re called. If you’re in the market for a pair of Gucci sunglasses, you’ve found the right place. How much are these? “Sir,” I am told. “Might you like to come back when you are serious about making a purchase?” The horror.