PIASTRI F1 COLUMN: HISTORY MATTERS

Piastri’s F1 column as published in Auto Action magazine issue 1865 on sale July 13 2023.

I’ll be at Goodwood Festival of Speed this coming Sunday as McLaren marks the 60th anniversary since McLaren Racing was founded by fellow Antipodean, Bruce McLaren.

We’ve got an impressive line-up of cars with Mika Häkkinen and Lewis Hamilton’s F1 championship-winning cars, the prestigious papaya Can-Am classic from 1970 and Prost and Lauda’s MP4/2B.

I’ve been before but I’m really looking forward to this one and can’t wait to have a blast up the Hillclimb track. It’s an amazing celebration of all things motorsport and it’s nice to be able to meet fans in person and have a chat.

 It will certainly be a poignant moment celebrating the incredible legacy that Bruce left behind at the track where he unfortunately passed away in 1970.

Every time I walk down the boulevard at McLaren’s factory and see the diversity of historic elite racing machinery across Can-Am, Le Mans, IndyCar and F1, it is amazing to see everything that he achieved.

Bruce McLaren. image: LAT Images

Our special Triple Crown celebration with the reworked livery and overalls at Monaco and Barcelona were another reminder of that success.

I’m honoured to be continuing that Antipodean spirit into the modern day and could not be prouder to race in the unique papaya colours.

Talking of pride in my roots, it was great to meet up with the Australian men’s cricket team at Lord’s before their second Ashes test recently.

I caught up with the squad, watched them in the nets and also had a go with the bat and pads on. Nathan Lyon and Mitchell Starc took their bowling very easy against me and I think Marnus Labuschagne was trying to make me feel better about my bowling.

I loved seeing their dedication and their approach of taking ownership of their own training. As a fellow sportsman, it’s fascinating to see other elite athletes and take little bits from how they prepare for their discipline.

I was actually a big cricketer when I was young. I would probably be described as a sneaky medium pace bowler and I liked to think of myself as handy with the bat. Viewers of the videos on my social media (or the British GP ‘Ashes’ on the TV broadcast) may disagree!

A young Oscar Piastri looking up to Australian cricket legend Ricky Ponting.

A few weeks back, I also got the chance to meet Andy Murray. I’m a big tennis fan and have watched many of his Grand Slam epics from afar. It was fantastic to watch him train and chat with him courtside before his match at Queen’s Club, London.

When someone like that, who has done what he has done in the game, gives you little gems of advice, you listen. I was fascinated in his mindset and how he has overcome adversity.

It’s been a busy little spell with back-to-back races in Austria and Silverstone. The British F1 Grand Prix last weekend was obviously the team’s home race so we were lucky enough to have a lot of papaya support there – and as you will read elsewhere, it was a huge weekend all-round!

We’ve got another double header with Budapest and Spa-Francorchamps coming up before we break for the summer pause. We’ll have another sprint race in Belgium too.

I must end by offering my very best wishes and thoughts to the family of Dilano van ‘t Hoff who sadly passed away when racing at Spa over the weekend of the Austrian Grand Prix.

It is incredibly sad to lose him at just 18 years of age and as a racing community, I can honestly say that we all felt that news.

Take care and I will be back with my next column during the summer break

Take care, OP

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