Oscar Piastri has the chance to make Australian sporting history with the Formula One title just one podium away when he competes at this weekend’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
It is a long way from where it all began for the Melbourne boy at Oakleigh Go-Kart Racing Club, where his career hardly got off to a high-flying start.
“He would’ve been about eight when he first started. There was a race meeting at Ballarat and there he was, this tiny little kid who was coming dead last,” said club president Adam Bourke.Â
“He didn’t stand out to me, but his trainer said he always could see something in him that was just different from others.
“Like all kids when they first get started, it’s all a little bit tentative. He was one of those kids who didn’t take long to work it all out. If you told him something, he got it.”
The ability forged in those humble beginnings has since taken Piastri to the top of the racing world, and it wasn’t long until his quality began to shine through.
Piastri has kept his links to home even as he’s become a global star. (Supplied)
“He was club champion at Oakleigh for a couple of years, and he went on to win a round of the nationals and a couple of state titles,” Bourke said.
“I remember, if you said, ‘Hit the apex at this point,’ he would hit the apex every lap, bang, bang, bang. He soaked in every bit of information you gave him.”
Bourke was a close witness to the birth of a future star: he travelled with Oscar and his dad, Chris, at races as far afield as Tasmania and Newcastle.
Piastri has emerged as Australia’s best chance at an F1 title in a decade. (Reuters: Ricardo Moraes)
“I used to just watch him and admire … how he and his dad would just be quiet by themselves, but they were always up there and always up the front,” Bourke said.
“His measured attitude, the composure we’ve seen at the highest level, it was obvious from a young age.
“He didn’t stand out by being the noisiest; he was very quiet, very methodical. I hardly knew he was there half the time.”
Bourke is still in contact with Piastri’s parents, whose support was so vital in the early days.
“His dad’s brilliant. We still talk a little bit. He’s over the moon with where it’s gone. He’s a brilliant dad, really, and very much like Oscar, very quiet,” Bourke said.Â
Piastri has been supported by his father Chris right from the start. (Getty Images via F1: Mark Sutton)
“I don’t think we ever had him in a steward’s room or an official’s room for getting into trouble for anything.”
Outgrowing the local go-kart scene, Oscar took a leap of faith getting a sporting scholarship to the UK to chase his F1 dream at just 16 years old.
From there, he’s risen to be one race away from clinching the F1 drivers’ championship and securing a dream that’s a lifetime in the making.
“We are so proud of him. Once he gets in front and … [takes it] to Max Verstappen, that’s one of the hardest things to do in the world,” Bourke said.Â
“[He’s] taking it to the number one driver in the world and he doesn’t back off.
“He’s confident and not intimidated by anyone. He has this attitude of ‘I’ll fight you Max, Lando and the rest’.”
How Oscar Piastri can still win the F1 world title
Piastri is putting Australian motor racing on the map, and that’s trickled down to the club where he made his name.
Bourke’s had people come down to the track, asking how they can get started, or just if they can see the roads Piastri burned up on his way to the top.Â
In recognition of their favourite son, Oakleigh Go-Kart Club even named a section of track “Piastri’s Straight”.
“Oscar came back to the club just after we named it. He got an interview with Channel Four in England — we were all there,” Bourke said.Â
“He is inspiring a lot of other people to get involved in the sport, or even just to become fans.
“Our member membership base has just grown … over the past two or three years.Â
“I’d say 50 per cent of it is probably through Oscar doing so well and putting, you know, Formula One go-karting, everything on the big scale in Australia.”
Beyond his hometown track, Piastri makes a point of remembering where he comes from.Â
He regularly sends video messages back to his high school, Haileybury College in Melbourne, and hundreds of students turned out to watch him race at the Australian Grand Prix at the beginning of the season.Â
“He’s inspired lots — students most importantly — there are boys and girls who are also looking to follow in his footsteps in motor racing as well,” said Principal Scott Doran.Â
“It’s such a difficult and cut-throat sport to be able to get to the top of.Â
“He’s shown commitment to keep following through, to keep working hard, to roll up your sleeves with grit and tenacity, to be able to achieve what it is that you want to do.
“We have watched with an element of pride, but also with an expectation that we thought that he would do as well as he has done.
“He remains one of our favourite sons.”
Motorsport legend Craig Lowndes is a big fan and says Piastri’s contribution and access can’t be understated in the development of motor racing in this country.Â
Lowndes believes, regardless of what happens in Abu Dhabi, Piastri has the potential to blaze a trail for an entire generation to follow.Â
“Whether Piastri wins the title or not, it’s a phenomenal time and celebration of Australian motorsport,” Lowndes said.
“When you have an Aussie in Formula One, like Oscar Piastri, or MotoGP, like Jack Miller, the country is following the sport.
“Oscar has had a fantastic year. He’s mentally strong. There’s been so much inter-team battling [and] he’s sublimely talented and very smart.
“You’ve got to remember Alan Jones (in 1980) [was the last time] we had an Australian F1 champion, so it’s been a long time between drinks.
“We’ve had Mark Webber and Daniel Ricciardo in that position and other drivers come and go but no-one’s made it this far.
“For Oscar, this is the perfect opportunity for him to make Australian sporting history and it would be phenomenal.”