- Season-opening race in Melbourne on March 8
Oscar Piastri has declared his McLaren team will be ‘in the mix’ at the Australian Grand Prix this weekend – and it comes as revered commentator David Croft believes the Melbourne-born driver will win the 2026 F1 world championship.
Piastri, 24, was mobbed in the CBD on Tuesday, with scores of fans showcasing their support for the local who was raised in Brighton, a nearby trendy bayside suburb.
After winning seven races last season – but finishing third in the Drivers’ Championship – the local hope will be desperate to succeed at the Albert Park circuit this weekend.
The regulation changes have many drivers on edge, and the start of the race has been widely tipped to be frenetic.
‘I think we [McLaren] are in the mix at the moment,’ Piastri told reporters.
‘We’ll find out for sure soon enough, but I don’t think we’re quite in the position we were 12 months ago where we felt like we were the strongest.
Oscar Piastri has declared his McLaren team will be ‘in the mix’ at the Australian Grand Prix – and commentator David Croft believes the Melbourne-born driver will win the 2026 F1 world championship
Piastri, 24, was mobbed in the Melbourne CBD on Tuesday as fans showed their support for the star, who was raised in nearby Brighton
‘There’s going to be a lot of development, a lot of learning, especially for us as drivers…and whoever can get on top of that the quickest in what is a very long season is going to end up on top in the long run.’
And even though Piastri faded last year to finish third in the standings behind McLaren teammate Lando Norris and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, leading F1 commentator Croft believes the Aussie is primed for his maiden world title.
‘Oscar is the guy that I think will be a world champion at the end of this year because of the way that he’s improved in the past…and because of the way he ran Lando, who has had a few more seasons, so close last year,’ he said.
‘Last year wasn’t great in terms of that run of six races, from Baku onwards.
‘Oscar will have learned how to adapt to a lower-grip track that doesn’t necessarily suit his driving style to come away with better results for this year.
‘I’m sure he has left no stone unturned in finding ways to improve during the course of this winter.
‘[Piastri] is a world champion in the making. He has all the attributes to be a fine world champion and has displayed in his second and third seasons an ability to learn and improve from his previous seasons.’
Croft also expects McLaren to be stronger in Melbourne than their pre-season testing suggested.
The main race starts at 3pm AEDT on Sunday, March 8, with live coverage on Network 10 and Fox Sports.
