Rookie McLaren driver Oscar Piastri grew up 15 minutes away from the Australian Grand Prix circuit and used to play cricket on the ovals being used as the race paddock.

Now 21, he is preparing for a dream debut at Albert Park — only his third race in Formula One — in front of an estimated 140,000 fans on Sunday to cap a meteoric rise.

“I played Aussie Rules footy and cricket on some of the ovals that are now the paddock, so yeah, very special to be home this weekend,” said the Australian, seen as one of the sport’s hottest young talents.

More details on SportsDesk. 

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.