Oscar Piastri has lived up to the hype around his talent since his F1 debut, establishing himself as a strong pillar of McLaren’s future just like Lando Norris. But unlike the latter, Piastri was never a fan of the Woking-based outfit. Growing up, the Aussie cheered on his countryman Mark Webber, who drove for one of McLaren’s rivals, making him its fan.
When Piastri was a child, Webber was the Australian flagbearer in F1, driving for Red Bull Racing. “I always tried to follow the Aussies,” said Piastri while talking about his favorite drivers as a kid on BBC’s Tailenders podcast.
“Of course, he [Webber] was driving for Red Bull. So I kind of was a Red Bull fan growing up, or a Mark fan and not so much of a McLaren fan.”, he added.
Almost instantaneously, the 23-year-old reminded the hosts that he is a huge McLaren fan now for obvious reasons, which prompted them to let out a hearty laugh.
Piastri has done exceptionally well for the Woking outfit since debuting at the start of 2023. Few podiums and a sprint race win have shown the Aussie prodigy’s capabilities and a high ceiling of success, as McLaren is looking to bring back its glory days.
For him personally, the next milestone will be to win a Grand Prix, which doesn’t look too far off taking McLaren’s on-track performance into account. Piastri even expects his team to compete for the constructors’ championship in the coming months. Standing on top of the drivers’ standings, however, looks to be out of reach for him at the moment.
Oscar Piastri’s goals with McLaren
Piastri knows that McLaren has been competitive towards the front of the pack in 2024. The Woking-based team has won a race (Lando Norris in Miami) and in the last three Grand Prix weekends, has the most points of any team (88).
Individually, however, toppling Max Verstappen in a (still) very fast Red Bull car will be difficult. The Dutchman leads the championship, and although it won’t be as easy as it has been for him in previous years, Verstappen is expected to win the title again.
For now, Piastri will look to emulate his teammate Norris’ success by winning a race. His best result of the 2024 season so far came at the Monaco GP, where he came P2 behind race winner Charles Leclerc.
