‘Ace it’ – Friday form gives fans hope of a Piastri home podium

One of the highlights of the 2026 Australian Grand Prix is the fans. There are half a million people expected to enter the gates this year, which would be a record that puts Melbourne and Australia on par with landmark races such as Silverstone and Circuit of the Americas.

A unique staple of the Australian Grand Prix is the Melbourne Walk, a chance for fans to get up close and personal with their heroes and in Melbourne, no star shines brighter than Oscar Piastri. Fans get up well before sunrise just to get at least a peak of some of Formula 1’s biggest names, and if they’re lucky, even a signature or selfie.

Mad Oscar Piastri fans Addison and Abigail were on the Melbourne Walk and believe wholeheartedly that McLaren’s number 81 can break a historic curse. No Australian has ever podiumed at any Australian Grand Prix.

“He’s going to ace it,” Addison said.

“He has all the fans backing him up here, and I reckon he can get on the podium this year. With the new regulations, anything could happen, and anyone could spin out.”

The demand for Oscar has been unmatched this weekend; the majority of the fans are here for him. The demand has been so much that McLaren has tried to sneak Piastri into the paddock at stages on Friday so that he is not bombarded everywhere he goes.

Oscar holds a lot of weight on his shoulders. The curse of the Australian Grand Prix took full effect last year when running second, Piastri, in wet conditions, slid off the track at Turn 15 and went tumbling down the order. Whilst McLaren is not widely expected to lead the pack in Melbourne, fans of Oscar’s Tara and Briana feel that the potential is still there for Aussie fans to be celebrating on Sunday.

“I’m feeling very positive. Hopefully, he had a much better run than last year, which was very, very sad,” Briana said.

“I think he can get 2nd or third, it doesn’t have to be a win, we just need him to be somewhere up there,” Tara added.

“Of course, if he could get the win, we would all prefer that.”

Personally, I think it’ll be a tough ask. I would love desperately to see Piastri achieve one of his lifelong goals, and it would certainly take a lot of pressure away in subsequent years. The pace in FP2 looked much more promising and showed that he can beat the Red Bulls and Ferraris.

Topping the session by over two tenths in front of both Mercedes, even. But Saturday will be a different beast, but if he can replicate his Friday efforts, he’ll be every chance to be right at the front. Oscar has had better preparation and performance than his teammate, Lando Norris, another positive. Tomorrow will be very telling.

The fans are hopeful, and with Piastri crossing the line in front of his own grandstand, an army of Australians dressed in green and gold will be willing him across the line, hopefully to stand on the Albert Park podium for the first time.

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Written by

Oliver van Bronswijk

Oliver van Bronswijk is a Formula 1, Cricket and AFL journalist who has a large array of industry experience in Melbourne, Australia. He has delivered Formula 1 coverage both trackside and from afar, depicting the key issues in the world's fastest sport. Oliver also works as a 3AW Content Producer focused on AFL coverage working in the inner sanctum.

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