Piastri reveals little ahead of hopeful home Grand Prix campaign

Fresh off a new contract extension, Oscar Piastri remains cautiously optimistic about his chances of becoming the first Australian Formula 1 winner around Albert Park, admitting that “no one really knows what to expect” in Melbourne.

On Wednesday, McLaren made a huge statement about its future by extending Piastri’s time in Papaya until at least 2027 — the perfect news to kick off the local boy from Brighton’s Australian Grand Prix campaign. 

On the news, Piastri said the decision to put pen to paper came from both sides.

“It felt like, just a very natural progression to sign for the longer term, so yeah,” the #81 said.

“Obviously, last year was an incredible year for the team — my two years at the team have been pretty incredible starting from where we were when I joined to being constructors’ champions.

“It made a lot of sense in my mind to try and continue that and build with the team.

“Obviously, myself and Lando [Norris] are obviously there for a long time now, Andrea [Stella] is on a long-term contract, Zak [Brown], key technical staff as well.

“So yeah, it seemed like a no-brainer and I think that was reciprocated by the team as well.”

Expectedly quizzed on his home Grand Prix prospects, Australia’s best hope to take out the opening race of the season was tight-lipped on his expectations for McLaren in Melbourne, instead preferring to do his talking on the track during Saturday’s Qualifying Session.

“I don’t know… we’ll see,” Piastri said.

“I know what you want me to say and everyone’s headline can be that, but we’ll see. No one really knows what to expect.

“Testing went pretty well but you don’t know where everybody sits.

“I think we’re pretty happy with how our test went, but you know, as we’ve said, Melbourne’s completely different to Bahrain. 

“The weather’s going to be different to Bahrain, and different every hour by the look of things, so yeah, it’s going to be an interesting weekend.

“We’re expected to be somewhere up the front, so that’s right at the pointy end. 

“We’ll wait until Saturday I think.”

In 2024, Piastri fell just short of a top-five grid position, making slight ground to ultimately end his home event in fourth place, 35 seconds away from a dream podium finish. 

Based on McLaren’s recent constructors’ winning form, however, the Australian is expected to fight for a place on the front row, all in a bid for Sunday glory, with his efforts kicking off with Free Practice 1 at 12:30 PM under some of the mildest conditions forecast for the weekend. 

Image: McLaren F1

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