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PIASTRI F1 COLUMN: BACK AT HOME

Piastri

By Auto Action

Date posted: July 22, 2024

Piastri’s F1 column as published in Auto Action magazine issue 1882 on sale March 21 2024.

We are up and running with the 2024 F1 season and it’s time for my first Auto Action column of the season. The Australian Grand Prix is just on the horizon and I couldn’t be more excited to be back in Melbourne and racing on home turf.

It’s been a busy few months since I last penned this column. I’ve had testing, lots of engineering days in advance of the season and a pre-season training camp out in Lanzarote.

The start of the season has been solid for us, with good points in both Bahrain and Saudi, and the aim is to keep that consistency up at Albert Park.

We still have some work to do in terms of the car but we are a large step ahead of where we were last year and the initial signs are encouraging.

 These few days ahead of the Australian GP are special. Not only is it my home race but to come back to my hometown again is something else, having grown up near to the track.

I used to play footy and cricket on the ovals that the F1 Paddock is built on and to score my first-ever points here last year was phenomenal.

It was a pretty crazy race last year with a very eventful ending so, hopefully, it will remain straight-forward and we can get some more good points.

I count myself very lucky to be a home driver in Melbourne. The reception on the Melbourne Walk, on the Drivers’ Parade and walking through the crowds is mind-blowing.

 Everyone is so supportive and their energy is fantastic. Having that atmosphere all around the grounds gives you such a boost.

This is the first race that I look for when the calendar is published and the one that I look forward to most of all.

I’ve been told that even bigger crowds are in store for 2024, so it’s awesome to see those levels of interest in motorsport in Australia. Even on a Thursday, there are so many people and you can really feel the buzz.

I am obviously pretty biased but this is the favourite race for lots of drivers on the grid. It’s been on the calendar a while but it keeps on evolving and improving year after year.

Thanks to everyone who puts such a lot of hard work into the organisation and planning and everyone who volunteers across the four days to put the event on. It’s not lost on us how many people it takes to make an event like this happen.

I will actually be sporting a special helmet design with an outback sunset theme rather than my usual colours. I really like how it’s taken shape and it’s one of the favourites that I have done so far.

It’s got trees and kangaroos set against the night sky and I hope that we have been able to capture the Aussie spirit.

I’ve had a really good reaction to it online and I think it should look pretty cool in the cockpit.

 If you’re visiting Albert Park over the next few days, feel free to come and say hello on the Melbourne Walk or during my visits to the Fanzone or the Quad Lock Box. I look forward to seeing you all.

Hope everyone enjoys the Grand Prix and I will be back with my next column soon.

Photo by Simon Galloway / LAT Images

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