Piastri is young, fast and ready for F1®

As the days tick down to Oscar Piastri's Melbourne debut, there are a million reasons why Australian fans and McLaren's papaya army of supporters are so excited to see what the 21-year-old can do in season one – we'll restrict ourselves to five.

He's hungry

Imagine being the best in the world at your job for three straight years, then not being allowed to do that one thing that sets you apart. That's been Piastri's lot since December 12, 2021 – the last day of his Formula 2® campaign in Abu Dhabi that year.

Piastri's 2021 season ended as 2019 and 2020 did before it; champion in Formula Renault Eurocup in '19, he backed that up with a rookie Formula 3® title in '20, and then annexed Formula 2® as a debutant the next year. By the time the lights go out in Bahrain, it would have been 447 days since Piastri raced anything – and it satisfies that hunger for competition that will undoubtedly fuel Piastri's early F1® forays.

He's bloody quick

Let's speak in plain Australian English for Piastri, shall we? Yes, all F1® drivers are quick to a degree, or they wouldn't be there at all. But Piastri is historically quick, and his career trajectory follows the recent footpath trodden by two of F1®'s biggest stars. By winning F3® and F2® in back-to-back years, Piastri emulated Charles Leclerc (2016, 2017) and George Russell (2017, 2018) in annexing consecutive feeder series' titles as rookies before moving into the main game. Leclerc is now Ferrari's main man, a winner of five Grands Prix (including here in Australia 12 months ago) and seemingly a champion in waiting. Russell has already won a Grand Prix in his first year at Mercedes, and beat seven-time world champion teammate Lewis Hamilton over a season. Piastri's junior career was at least as good as both. Bodes well, doesn't it?

He's his own man

Piastri will be just the 15th Australian driver to start a Grand Prix, so there's a natural tendency to compare the rare Aussies who reach the summit to those who preceded them. Piastri doesn't have the 100-watt perma-grin of McLaren predecessor Daniel Ricciardo, nor is he Mark Webber, who turned a way of working into one of the most appropriate social media handles ('AussieGrit') imaginable. And that's OK. Ricciardo and Webber came at F1® from very different angles, yet ended up with strikingly similar statistics. How Piastri fares from here – his pedigree suggests he could do more than either of his compatriots – he'll do it his way.

"I think my character is pretty stable, it's a personality trait of mine to be pretty relaxed," Piastri said in a pre-season interview on mclaren.com.

He's ready for the pressure

Remember last year's ugly tug-of-war over Piastri's services between Alpine and his management that ended with Piastri joining McLaren? It was striking during the whole process how chilled Piastri was. Listen to him speak, and remember he won't celebrate his 22nd birthday until the Thursday after his first home Grand Prix. Reflecting on the fuss over his signature last year at McLaren's 2023 season launch, Piastri was as matter-of-fact about the pressure that goes with any F1® debut as can be.

"It was … an experience last year," he said. "Once we went through the (Contract Resolution Board) hearing and the results of that came out in our favour, it was just sorting out how the exit from Alpine would look. Once that happened, it was fully focus with McLaren. There'll be a bit of rust having not raced for a year … there are some things without racing that you just can't keep training. That's why I'm looking forward to getting back out on track."

He's got the right people in his corner

Webber did F1® the hard way; he famously didn't get there until age 25 and was a on a three-race contract when he did, so to carve out a career that went for 12 years was quite something from that start. Webber, and his then-manager/now-wife Ann, fought like hell to get to F1® and fought like hell to get into the right situation; he did a bit of fighting internally against Sebastian Vettel at Red Bull Racing, too. For Piastri, Webber has the real-world experience in the sport, knows what it's like to try to make it from Australia, can open whatever doors he needs and teach him the lessons learned along the way, allowing Piastri to do what he does best. "Now that I am in F1®, it is important to have good people and management around you," Piastri said. "Mark and Ann have been well beyond their worth in organising everything. They've been a massive help in my corner. I'm really grateful to have them on my side."