Will Monza provide Piastri with another crunch moment on Italian soil?

Australian racers in Formula 1 have been key characters from the early days when former Spitfire pilot Tony Gaze launched the connection in 1952 with four entries including Silverstone and Monza.

Three years later, compatriot Jack Brabham made his F1 debut at the British GP and went on to become the only triple world champion from the other side of the world. Knighted in 1979, Brabham saw another Aussie take the title in 1980 as Alan Jones swept through the opposition in his Williams FW07B with sheer tenacity and determination.

Jones’s last F1 race win was at Las Vegas in 1981 and it was 28 years before Mark Webber was able to celebrate a similar special moment for the land Down Under. His Red Bull win at the Nurburgring in 2009 was a key step towards him challenging for the title in 2010, when team-mate Sebastian Vettel snatched it away in the closing stages and Webber never came so close again.

Having won for the last time at Silverstone in 2012, Webber took pole and finished second to Vettel at his final race in Brazil in 2013, effectively handing his role as top Aussie to Daniel Ricciardo. He then joined Vettel at Red Bull and outperformed the German the following season.

Despite race wins for Ricciardo, a battle for the title never came his way. Joining McLaren in 2021 yielded his last win to date at Monza that year, but a struggle to match Lando Norris led to his replacement by fellow countryman Oscar Piastri. The 23-year-old's success in Hungary made him Australia’s fifth F1 winner and, while a shot at the title in 2024 is mathematically unlikely, his talent and calm nature provide enticing possibilities for the future.

Piastri’s mix of Australian and British links within motorsport is one of the keys to his success. The move to replace Ricciardo at McLaren for 2023 came after a year out of racing when Piastri shifted from being Alpine reserve driver to achieving a full race seat alongside Norris, courtesy of very efficient management from Webber, his wife Ann and JAM Sports CEO Jason Allen.

Piastri clinched the F3 crown in 2020 in a tense title decider at Mugello

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

Webber met Ann when racing in Australia. She was key to him finding sponsorship and encouraging him to head to the UK at the age of 19 to build a fully professional career. His talent, combined with Ann’s understanding of motorsport from early years on the media side, led to a gradual then ultimately a top-class climb up the ladder.

Piastri moved to the UK just before his 15th birthday to compete in European karting, before finishing second in British F4 in 2017. In those early single-seater years he switched between teams in different parts of Europe. A French team took him to his first major title in Formula Renault Eurocup in 2019 but it was Webber’s group that was part of his move to Italian team Prema to compete in FIA F3 in 2020.

Born in Melbourne, Piastri has other national backgrounds in his family history and Italy is a fundamental part of that; his parents lived there before moving to Australia. Fittingly, Piastri has delivered some significant performances at the home of the tifosi.

Taking only his second pole of the year, scoring good points in the reverse sprint race and then grabbing his first feature race victory enabled Piastri to extend his lead over Zhou Guanyu

When fighting for honours in F3, the penultimate event at Monza was crucial. A penalty and tricky qualifying meant he started the first race of the weekend 15th but finished third and took the series lead for the first time. In the second race, he failed to finish but held top spot into the final races the following weekend, also in Italy at Mugello.

It was a nail-biting finale with Piastri failing to score in race one and finding himself tied for the lead with Logan Sargeant. Scoring just four points in race two when Sargeant got taken out early in the race, meant Italy had indeed helped him take the crucial F3 title.

Monza was significant the following year too, when contesting F2 as Piastri closed in another championship. Taking only his second pole of the year, scoring good points in the reverse sprint race and then grabbing his first feature race victory enabled Piastri to extend his lead over Zhou Guanyu – which would continue to grow until the end of the season.

The upcoming Italian race will provide more inspiration for Piastri, who became the 115th driver to win a GP. The confidence a win can inspire is a vital part of driver development. McLaren’s request for Norris to hand back the lead in Hungary might have caused arguments – but was also a cooperative act to bring Piastri to the top of the game while understanding that team orders are a crucial element.

The chance for either McLaren driver to snatch the crown away from Max Verstappen this year is remote, yet the constructors’ title is still on the cards by maintaining the impressive double act. For Piastri, being in Italy offers another chance to be an Australian flying high.

At the scene of a crucial weekend in his successful 2021 F2 title tilt, will Piastri ascend the podium's top step once again?

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images