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October 7, 2026 \u2014 10:53am<\/p>\n
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Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n AAA<\/p>\n To say it\u2019s been a challenging 2026 for Oscar Piastri would be an understatement.<\/p>\n The Australian driver hasn\u2019t won a race in more than a year and sits seventh in the F1 drivers championship \u2013 in a season marred by poor luck, errors and reduced pace.<\/p>\n But F1 legend and former world champion Damon Hill thinks Piastri can still win the championship in the future \u2013 so long as he\u2019s in the right environment.<\/p>\n \u201cIt could be [at] McLaren,\u201d Hill told this masthead.<\/p>\n \u201cI think he\u2019s digging himself out of a little bit of a flat spot at the moment. He performed well in Sepang [at the Bahrain Grand Prix]<\/a>. But you can\u2019t judge someone\u2019s form on a race-to-race basis. It\u2019s got to be throughout the season.\u201d<\/p>\n Hill, the winner of 22 grands prix including the 1996 F1 world championship, travelled to Australia this month on a speaking tour, promoting his eponymous new documentary, Hill, which premieres at the British Film Festival this week.<\/p>\n Hill is uniquely qualified to offer Piastri advice.<\/p>\n Piastri narrowly lost the championship last year to teammate Lando Norris after a dominant first half of the season. Hill lost the 1994 championship by one point during the final race of the season in Adelaide, after a crash with Michael Schumacher, in one of the most controversial incidents in F1 history.<\/p>\n The now 66-year-old maintains Piastri has a \u201csense of destiny\u201d about him.<\/p>\n \u201c I think he\u2019s had to obviously regroup a little bit after not winning the championship last year. But you know, you learn a lot about the sport, and after a bit, you can start to take control,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Hill likened Piastri to F1 veteran Fernando Alonso, noting the 25-year-old was smart and aware of his environment.<\/p>\n \u201cHe knows what\u2019s going on, but he\u2019s still learning about the subtleties that can affect your career in Formula 1. That\u2019s the bit that\u2019s a bit of a mystery to most people. It\u2019s a political environment as well as a sporting one.\u201d<\/p>\n Hill also notices similarities between Piastri and four-time world champion Max Verstappen, who is renowned for his no-nonsense attitude both on and off the track.<\/p>\n Related Article The famously unflappable McLaren driver has a cool and calm demeanour. His podium celebrations are understated, and he is stoic, especially compared to his predecessor \u2013 fan favourite Daniel Ricciardo, who was beloved on the grid for his extroverted personality and humour.<\/p>\n \u201cI mean, he [Piastri] is clearly not an extrovert … I think he looks quite reluctant to have to do all the other silly stuff that apparently you have to do as a driver,\u201d Hill said.<\/p>\n \u201cI compare him more to someone like Max with that, in terms of \u2018I haven\u2019t got time for the silliness\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n Hill stressed that he did not mean the comparison as a criticism. He admires the seriousness Piastri carries himself with.<\/p>\n \u201cLando [Norris] clearly has a personality which is easier to access. He\u2019s willing to give a bit of himself a bit more, which I think Oscar\u2019s not comfortable doing or doesn\u2019t want to do.<\/p>\n \u201cHe wants to get on with the driving. That\u2019s what he came for. I think I really respect that. I think there\u2019s a tendency to want to make drivers into performing seals.\u201d<\/p>\n News, results and expert analysis from the weekend of sport are sent every Monday. Sign up for our Sport newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n Save<\/p>\n You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n![\"After](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1791335176_18_4df3a512562b52a312159990d45b050fdd636328.jpeg\")
After losing the championship last year, Oscar Piastri\u2019s 2026 campaign has been challenging. Annice Lyn\/Pool REUTERS via AP<\/p>\n![\"Former](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/57c98e683ea54c33acbbe9638bc4bae69910e489.jpeg\")
Former F1 world champion Damon Hill says Oscar Piastri has a \u201csense of destiny\u201d about him.Simon Schluter <\/p>\n![\"Oscar](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/a80d0dced8665a5174b4db52d2350624acaeec60.jpeg\")
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Hannah Kennelly<\/a> is an award-winning sports reporter and Formula 1 writer at The Age.Connect via email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"October 7, 2026 \u2014 10:53am Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":918816,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[573],"tags":[64,63,817,813,816,85],"class_list":["post-918815","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-formula-1","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-f1","tag-formula-1","tag-formula1","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/918815","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=918815"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/918815\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/918816"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=918815"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=918815"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=918815"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}