Piastri: "incredibly special" Australian Grand Prix will mark start of title run

MELBOURNE—Fresh from signing a new multi-year contract with the McLaren Formula One team, Oscar Piastri says it would be "incredibly special" to become the first Australian to win at his home grand prix.

The McLaren driver says he is aiming for the podium to kick off a title campaign in style, hoping to secure victory in front of a record Melbourne crowd.

"There's the home support and I want to do well at home, but I want to do well at every race," said the Melbourne local in an interview with McLaren sponsor Airwallex.

The 23-year-old says the aim of his third season is the World Drivers' Championship title, and the results from testing give an indication that McLaren may well be the head of the pack once again.

"My target is to try and build a good championship fight and championship run, which obviously starts in Melbourne, but it doesn't end in Melbourne."

Growing up within earshot of the track, Piastri recounts watching the opening laps of the Grand Prix on television before running into his backyard to hear the roar of the V8 engines.

"It's always a really cool atmosphere and I think that's one of the great things about Melbourne is how we support any event that comes to town,"

"We get behind every sporting event, so even if you're not necessarily an F1 fan, it's a sport event and we just like to get behind anything local."

In terms of atmosphere? "There's no other race that matches Melbourne."

"Obviously, I'm going to be biased because it's a lot more home support for me, but then maybe Silverstone is another great event and it's the team's home race, so there's a lot of support for us as a team."

The Aussie says that support for Ferrari at the Italian Grand Prix is the only thing that comes close, even though they may be rivals on track.

Despite the atmosphere building ahead of his home race, Piastri aims to approach every grand prix with the same attitude.

"Once the helmet goes on and you get on track, that's when everything starts to get into the instinctive driving mode, and it kind of takes itself from there."

Piastri will be in action 13-16 March at the season-opening Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix.

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