THE F1 ANALYST
MELBOURNE IS WHERE OSCAR’S HEART IS
A kid who grows up with a Formula 1 event happening once a year just down the road falls in love with motor racing and begins karting at a young age. Within a few years the climb up the ladder has begun and the talented youngster soars to the top at every level. Suddenly he wakes up in his local community in his early twenties ready to take on one of the biggest races of his life.
All of this happened to Charles Leclerc, who was born in Monaco and raced F1 there for the first time in 2018. It is a pattern about to be repeated by Melbourne’s Oscar Piastri and the level of support he is going to receive from one of the biggest crowds of the year will be truly inspiring.
Mind you, success at your home event is not always something that happens; Leclerc crashed out of that first Monaco race due to a brake disc failure and, despite taking pole position at the last two, he has failed to step onto the podium so far.
Top-three finishes for Australians in Melbourne are similarly difficult. Mark Webber managed to enjoy a celebration standing on the rostrum in 2002 but it wasn’t official. He was the first Aussie to race at Albert Park, he was competing with the humble yet inspired Minardi team, and he achieved a fifth-place finish to earn points on his debut in the sport, as well as the most points earned by that team in over seven years. No wonder Mark and his fellow Australian team boss Paul Stoddart were invited to celebrate once the top-three finishers had enjoyed their own champagne sprays.
A decade later Perth’s Daniel Ricciardo had his first F1 race on the same Albert Park circuit. Driving for the team that had evolved from Minardi into Toro Rosso he also scored points straight away by finishing ninth. Two years later he was promoted to sister team Red Bull and home fans were able to celebrate his appearance alongside race winner Nico Rosberg and Kevin Magnussen on the podium. Yet within a couple of hours, Daniel’s second was annulled; new technology with hybrid engines and strict fuel-flow rates had caught out Red Bull.
So the Melbourne crowd has still been unable to wake up the day after the show and celebrate watching an official top-three finish for a home racer. It’s a shame, but it’s not affecting the numbers wanting to turn up. Last year a record 419,000 fans were listed as attending over the four days and this year’s event sold out during 2022. While grandstands, the F1 paddock and hospitality areas are beyond availability for general admission tickets, any spectators can enjoy access to 99% of the 176 hectares (435 acres) of parkland. Many of them will arrive as early a possible to find a unique position on the Melbourne Walk: a path between an internal car park and F1 paddock where they can celebrate the arrival of so many stars of the sport. You barely ever see F1 people hustle along so quickly...
There will also be new viewing opportunities. The FIA Formula 3 and Formula 2 championships, both of which Piastri has won, will support the Australian Grand Prix for the first time and, unusually, those paddock areas will have access for general admission. Finding a place to watch track action without a seat is also possible, although I wonder if some fans who have enjoyed the grassy slope on the outside of the back part of the track where they used to be able to see the cars brake hard and change direction rapidly at the Turns 9 and 10 chicane are finding it a little less enthralling. From last year that was converted into a flat-out curve to encourage overtaking further along. Unfortunately the plan to allow the drag reduction system in that area was dismissed but the FIA recently confirmed it would be reinstated this year.
There may be some fans present who have been attending since Melbourne’s first F1 race in 1996 and others who continue enjoying the current contract all the way to 2035. Taking place in early autumn in a city known for changeable weather, there’s always an air of unpredictability. 10 years ago Red Bull dominated qualifying yet the race was won by Kimi Räikkönen in a Lotus from seventh on the grid due to smart tyre strategy. Last year we saw another clever angle on tyres from Williams which allowed Alex Albon to score the team’s first points at the track in five years.
While Mclaren is not the most likely team to earn multiple podiums this year, it has the most wins in Australia, a useful statistic for Piastri to lock away in his mind. As the only Aussie on the grid, while staying just 10 minutes away and enjoying his mum’s food, he will be racing at a fully packed track where close friends and family have seats opposite the Mclaren pit. Oscar is about to take on an unforgettable weekend.