The lifelong cricket fan welcomed several members of the national squad to McLaren’s Woking headquarters last Thursday, offering the players a behind-the-scenes look at the world of Formula 1.
The visit by Nathan Lyon, Usman Khawaja, Brendan Doggett, Sam Konstas, and Mitchell Starc also included a technical briefing from McLaren team principal Andrea Stella, and saw the group compete against Piastri on the team’s racing simulator.
Lyon told cricket.com.au that the visit gave the team insight into the dedication needed for F1 success, mirroring their own quest for cricket glory, and highlighted his close bond with Piastri.
“It was really special to go there and see what the best F1 team at the moment is doing behind the scenes where a lot of people don’t get access to,” Lyon said. “The facilities they have and the way they go about it is pretty phenomenal; I don’t know how much I can say … Red Bull might be listening!
“To become mates with Oscar and see the way goes about it, to follow his career closely now and jump on the sim behind him was a life lesson to me to not change gears and put it straight in the wall, but lucky enough it was just on the sim.”
Piastri has long spoken of his love of cricket, famously appearing on the cover of a cricket rules book with former Test captain Ricky Ponting as a child, and has met with several past and present members of the Australian team since arriving in F1 in 2023.
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“I was lucky enough to meet Oscar a couple of years ago and I’ve been able to stay in contact with him,” Lyon added.
“I’ve been very fortunate enough to be in the McLaren shed a couple of years ago at the F1 in Melbourne and see the way they prepare, how focused in on what their job is and how much access F1 gives is absolutely phenomenal.
“So I’ve been lucky enough to follow his career closely since then and hopefully we’ll see McLaren (and Oscar) win the world championship, that would be the dream for any Australian fans.”
Australia takes on South Africa in the World Test Championship final beginning tonight AEST at Lord’s in the UK, with Piastri cheering on from Montreal as he prepares for this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix.
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