The highly-rated Aussie was in his rookie season a year ago and headed to his home town yet to get off the mark at the sport’s pinnacle.

A chaotic race in Albert Park changed that, as Piastri avoided the carnage to finish eighth in an uncompetitive McLaren.

Ahead of this weekend’s F1 return to Melbourne, Piastri expects an entirely different experience.

“Quite a few things will be different for Melbourne this year,” Piastri told Speedcafe.

“I’d obviously been to the race before [2023], but that was my first time as a driver.

“It’s a pretty different atmosphere when you’re sort of the home hope. At the time, I tried to not think about it very much.

“But I hadn’t scored any points in F1 yet. You kind of want to get that off your back, and so leaving Melbourne, that was quite a relief having those points – even if they did come with a decent amount of luck involved.”

This year, McLaren is a markedly different operation.

Midway through 2023, the British team made a significant performance step that transformed it into a contender at the front of the pack.

While Red Bull Racing remains the runaway favourite out front, followed by Ferrari, McLaren is locked in a battle with Mercedes for third-best.

Piastri can, therefore, head into this weekend’s Albert Park race with the expectation of a points finish, albeit fifth is likely the best realistic result, barring any shenanigans like last year.

“Going in this year, having established myself a lot more, that will, I’m sure, be a nice feeling,” Piastri said.

“Hopefully, our car is more competitive than it was 12 months ago, too!

“It’s going to be a very different atmosphere there.

“Whilst I live 10 minutes away from Albert Park – or lived 10 minutes away – [2023] was my first time racing around there.

“So I’ve got some experience of the track now, some experience of the weekend as a whole, and hopefully, we can come back with a quicker car and fight for a few more points.”

Piastri will be joined on the grid by compatriot Daniel Ricciardo, who was absent from last year’s event.

It makes for the first time since Ricciardo and Mark Webber were on the grid together in 2013 that more than one Australian will be taking part in the Australian GP.

Aspiring F1 racer Jack Doohan will also be on hand, supporting Alpine in his role as reserve driver alongside an on-track demonstration alongside his father, five-time motorcycling world champion Mick Doohan.

Completing the local flavour is the recently adopted Valtteri Bottas, a former winner in Melbourne, who’ll line up for Sauber.

Support class action in Melbourne begins tomorrow, with F1 on track for opening practice at 12:30 AEDT on Friday.