Oscar Piastri continues a great Australian F1 tradition with recent heroics in Melbourne

Oscar Piastri's P8 finish puts him in the same league as Daniel Ricciardo and Mark Webber for scoring their first points at the Australian GP.

Oscar Piastri continues a great Australian F1 tradition with recent heroics in Melbourne

Daniel Ricciardo, Oscar Piastri, Mark Webber

Oscar Piastri made his F1 debut with McLaren this season. High expectations were put on the Australian driver after Piastri rejected a contract with Alpine to race for the Woking team. However, McLaren got off to a disastrous start in 2023 with an underperforming car. Yet, Oscar managed to finish P8 after an eventful Australian GP. This matched the 21-year-old with his fellow countryman, Daniel Ricciardo, and Mark Webber.

Oscar Piastri, Daniel Ricciardo, and Mark Webber share an interesting fact in their F1 careers after Piastri’s points finish. These 3 Australian drivers scored their first points in Formula 1 at their home race, the Australian GP. Webber, who currently manages the McLaren driver made his debut at the Albert Park Circuit with Minardi in 2002 and finished a remarkable P5 in the race, bringing home 2 points.

YouTube video
Piastri is getting to grips with his new life as an F1 driver

Daniel Ricciardo, on the other hand, made his debut mid-way through 2011 with HRT. He secured his first points at the 2012 Australian GP with Toro Rosso. Danny Ric finished P9 in the race and scored 2 points at his home race. Thus the last three Australians to make it to the pinnacle of motorsport have all scored their first points in Melbourne.

FS Video

Discover: Who won the 2023 F1 Australian GP?

Oscar Piastri delighted to score maiden F1 points at his home race

IMG COM 20230403 1923 31 8601
Piastri was happy with his performance at his home race

The 21-year-old returned his car home during a chaotic Australia GP in P8. Subsequently, Oscar Piastri was glad to have the first points of his career that too right in his home city. Piastri stated, “Yeah, happy to be in the points. What better place to do it than at home?” Oscar scored 4 points in his home race.

The McLaren driver mentioned that this result compensated for his poor start to 2023. He explained, “I think we were there when it mattered, and, whatever bad luck we had in the first two races, I think came out as good luck today, so we avoided all the carnage there at the end when we needed to be.” Oscar Piastri made up places while 4 cars crashed out of the race.

The Australian driver was happy with his performance at his home race as Oscar Piastri could finally accomplish his goal of scoring points at the pinnacle of motorsport. He concluded, “To get these points at this stage of the season is a really good result for myself and the team, and for me, just to get my first points on the board in F1 is a nice feeling.”

Thus, Oscar Piastri has followed in the footsteps of his countrymen before him. It might have been a coincidence that Piastri, Ricciardo, and Webber all scored their first points at Albert Park. Yet, it remains interesting and perhaps shows the special connection of Aussies to their home track. Certainly, this is just the start for Piastri. The 21-year-old aiming for a lot more success in the future.

In case you missed it: