Piastri closer to F1 champion title after winning Miami Grand Prix

Oscar Piastri has extended his lead of the Formula 1 world championship with a masterclass at the Miami Grand Prix on Monday morning.

The Aussie was nearly flawless as he took advantage of early chaos to take the race lead from Max Verstappen on Lap 15.

He never looked back.

The win is Piastri’s fourth of the year.

McLaren teammate Lando Norris was the only one that challenged Piastri as the “papaya” McLaren cars rocketed away from the rest of the field in the later stages of the race.

He now leads the championship with 131 points — ahead of Norris (115) and reigning champ Max Verstappen.

The Red Bull driver had to settle for fourth with Mercedes’ George Russell finishing P3.

Piastri was grinning from ear to ear after the race – and he had good reason to do so.

The 24-year-old is the first McLaren driver to win three consecutive races since Mika Hakkinen in 1998.

He is also the first Australian to win three consecutive Formula 1 races since Alan Jones in 1981.

Piastri gave a rare display of showing-off after the win when he performed a cheeky “griddy” dance in front of his team in parc ferme.

The sight of the mild-mannered Melburnian executing the flashy viral ditty was too much for some fans to handle. Some versions of the clip have been viewed more than 100,000 times on X.

F1 commentators, including former world champ Damon Hill, were in awe of the Aussie.

“Oscar Piastri is managing this brilliantly and it’s going to be very difficult for Lando Norris to close up,” Hill said on the BBC.

“Even if he does close up, he still needs to get past him.”

F1 guru Martin Brundle said after the race Piastri has a mental advantage over his teammate.

“His race craft is good as well, isn’t it,” Brundle said on Sky Sports.

“He’s definitely got the edge over Norris when it comes to race craft. Norris seems to have a fraction of an edge over pace, but … Piastri is getting the job done.

“He’s getting moves done. He’s not making mistakes. And he’s getting victories.”

McLaren is leaving Miami having pulled off 1-2 finishes in the Grand Prix and in Sunday’s sprint race — something no team had previously achieved.

Piastri said: “There was a bit of argy bargy at Turn 1 and that helped me a little bit and I was aware enough to avoid Max coming through at Turn 1 and from then onwards I knew I had a pace advantage and clearly the car was unbelievable today.”

The day was much uglier for fellow Aussie Jack Doohan, whose race was over before he exited the first turn after making contact with Kiwi Liam Lawson.

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OSCAR PIASTRI’S SECRET WEAPON
Australian Formula 1 sensation Oscar Piastri has been touted* as having a secret weapon up his sleeve ahead of Monday’s Miami Grand Prix – a standout mentor*.

His manager and fellow Aussie Mark Webber’s experience could be the deciding factor for the F1 star in this year’s Grand Prix season.

Webber, a nine-time Grand Prix winner, led the F1 championship in 2010. He came extremely close to winning the title and ultimately fell short – but now has another shot as Piastri’s mentor.

The boost provided by Webber’s guidance has not been lost on Kiwi V8 Supercar legend Greg Murphy.

Murphy told the Apex Hunters United motorsport podcast it was clear Mark Webber’s wisdom “is the difference” between Piastri and his rivals.

“Look at Oscar Piastri,” Murphy said.

“Mark Webber is the difference in there. Show me another F1 driver at the moment that’s got a ‘Mark Webber’ doing what Mark Webber is doing.”

The Supercars legend said Webber “is totally in tune, networked*, has the phone numbers, can talk to anybody, has the respect, (and) can be in the McLaren team in the way he is, because they want Oscar to perform at his absolute best.

“It’s so obvious.”

Co-host of the podcast, pro racer Scott Pye, who won a Supercars race supporting the F1 at Albert Park in 2018, agreed that “Webber is so competitive and ruthless*”.

“He’ll be telling Oscar, now’s your time to sink your teeth in,” he said.

Pye said Webber’s influence could be seen in Piastri’s decision to focus on his racing rather than building a public profile through media, such as Netflix’s Drive to Survive series.

While some drivers, including New Zealand’s Liam Lawson, have focused on building fame, Piastri has focused on his sport, Pye said.

Four-time F1 champ Max Verstappen praised Webber’s work with Piastri following the Aussie’s sensational victory in Saudi Arabia, where Verstappen said, “with Mark by his side, he’s helping him a lot”.

“It’s great. People learn from their own careers – that’s what I had with my dad (Jos Verstappen), and Mark (Webber) is advising Oscar,” Verstappen said after the race.

In fact, just about the only thing Verstappen wanted to talk about after the race was Piastri, who now leads the world championship after back-to-back Grand Prix wins.

“I think I’ve said it before, people forget a little bit – last year was his (Oscar Piastri’s) second year. Now he’s in his third year and he’s very solid,” Verstappen said.

“He’s very calm in his approach, and I like that. It shows on track. He delivers when he has to, barely makes mistakes – and that’s what you need when you want to fight for a championship.”

The race had proved a defining* moment for Piastri after Verstappen was slapped with a five-second penalty for a Turn 1 incident with the 24 year old Australian.

The win saw Piastri become the first Australian to lead the drivers’ standings since Webber, 15 years ago.

At the time, F1 guru Martin Brundle was one of many saying Verstappen had met his match in the mild-mannered Victorian, essentially telling the Dutchman to watch his back.

“You’ll not find many people in and around F1 who think Max is anything other than the best driver on the grid right now,” Brundle wrote in his Sky Sports column.

“But Oscar Piastri at McLaren is learning fast, and despite being 163 race starts behind Verstappen and 82 F1 races behind Norris experience-wise, he’s now won 10 per cent of his 51 race starts and leads the world championship. And he’ll only get better.”

Spanish newspaper El Pais had also said Verstappen had “met his match” in Piastri.

Piastri showed nerves of steel as he went into Turn 1 against the best driver on the planet, who has a reputation as a driver who doesn’t give an inch in wheel-to-wheel racing.

This was noted by Fox Sports’ Michael Lamonato, who wrote: “Oscar Piastri just had his first duel for victory with Max Verstappen, and Verstappen came off second best.”

POLL

GLOSSARY

• touted: marketed as or described as
• mentor: someone who guides him and gives him advice
• networked: being connected to a lot of important people
• ruthless: will stop at nothing to get what they want
• defining: going down in history as an important moment

EXTRA READING

Grand Prix crowns new F1 king

Youngest Aussie to win Grand Prix

F1 has new Aussie kid on the grid

QUICK QUIZ

1. How old is Oscar Piastri?
2. Which Grand Prix did he most recently win?
3. Who is Piastri’s mentor and manager?
4. What has Piastri focused on instead of building fame?
5. Which F1 champ did Piastri recently beat in Saudi Arabia?

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CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. Rival opinion
After reading the article, especially the quotes from Max Verstappen, what can you infer about how Verstappen feels about his rival, Oscar Piastri? Do his comments suggest a positive or negative opinion? Is he angry that another driver is doing so well and being described as his “match”? Explain your answer in detail, using specific evidence from the text to support your thinking.

Time: allow 20 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English; Personal and Social Capability

2. Extension
If you were able to choose absolutely anybody as a mentor to give you advice and help you achieve success, who would you choose and why?

Time: allow 10 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English; Personal and Social Capability

VCOP ACTIVITY
Imaginative dialogue
Imagine you were there during the event being discussed in the article, or for the interview.

Create a conversation between two characters from the article – you may need or want to include yourself as one of the characters. Don’t forget to try to use facts and details from the article to help make your dialogue as realistic as possible.

Go through your writing and highlight any punctuation you have used in green. Make sure you carefully check the punctuation used for the dialogue and ensure you have opened and closed the speaking in the correct places.