An unabashed cricket lover, Oscar Piastri has admitted he will be following The Ashes as closely as his schedule will allow.

The 2023 series begins tonight at Edgbaston with the first of five test matches during the English summer.

Australia heads in off the back of success in the World Test Championship against India.

“Looking forward to it. It should be good,” Piastri said of the forthcoming series.

“I’ll try and watch it where I can.

“Obviously, it’s a bit of a shame all the F1 races clash with all the games, but I’m looking forward to seeing Australia smash [England].

“It’s going to be good.”

Piastri is in Montreal for the Canadian Grand Prix this weekend for the eighth event of his young career.

His preparation has included time on McLaren’s simulator, along with a day of running at the Hungaroring.

There, he shared a 2021-spec MCL35M with Alex Palou and Oliver Turvey, with Piastri in the seat for the first of the three days.

“I think pretty normal, to be honest,” he said of his preparations for the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, a hybrid blend of permanent circuit mixed with a street track.

“I’ve played the track when I was growing up on the F1 video games, so I’m looking forward to it.

“Looks cool, looks quite bumpy and a bit dusty, and obviously a lot of weather hanging around.

“We’ll see how it goes but I’m looking forward to getting out.”

Rain fell on Thursday in Montreal, with the weather predicted to linger through to at least Sunday morning before easing.

Track action begins on Friday with Free Practice 1 at 13:30 local time (18.30 BST; 03:30 AEST).