The reshuffle and some sacking of drivers last year started the Oscar Piastri saga. The drama of the Australian rookie’s addition to the grid had everything ranging from a legal battle to a multi-million dollar threat. In the end, he landed in McLaren’s lap from that of Alpine. Some felt his addition to the team resulted in his fellow Aussie, Daniel Ricciardo‘s ouster. That wasn’t true, as the Honey Badger had already prematurely terminated his contract with the Woking-based team. However, the momentum around Oscar’s negative image had already gained momentum back home.

In his contract with his previous employer Alpine, the team promised Oscar a seat in 2023. However, the clause did not specify the exact seat the Melbourne-born will acquire. McLaren took advantage of the loophole and signed the man they targeted. Even in the resultant battle, the Contract Regulation Board (CRB) ruled in the Papaya team’s favor. While anger against the younger Australian grew down under, Ricciardo himself came to his defense.

In a recent episode of the F1 Nation podcast, Australian GP CEO Andrew Westacott said, “I think, for those who aren’t close to the sport, there was a little bit of confusion and people thought that Oscar was the bad guy and then you had Mark Webber [Oscar’s manager] involved and you had even Jack Doohan as a test driver for Alpine. So it was pretty funny times.”

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We saw how much F1’s popularity picked up in the States after the addition of Logan Sargeant. Many experts even expect an uptick in sponsorship deals from the parties sitting in the US. But is it the same in Australia?

Does having a local talent like Daniel Ricciardo or Oscar Piastri increase the popularity of F1 in Australia?

Having an athlete represent their country definitely gives a sense of pride to the fans. It sometimes even acts as an instrument to increase the sport’s popularity where the general masses probably did not show much interest before. But Australia has had a rich motor racing culture. Despite that, having one of their own represent them definitely gives a boost to the popularity.

Further in the podcast, when asked if having local talent helps with ticket sales, Westacott answered, “Look it’s always unbelievably popular. We saw when Mick Doohan was winning in MotoGP and Casey Stoner and now Jack Miller. But in Formula 1 with Mark Webber and then we were lucky enough to have Mark and Daniel there, it really adds a boost. I would say, in normal years, without, the surging popularity was ten percent extra coming through the turnstiles.”

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McLaren is currently going through some times. Do you think Oscar will feed off of the energy from local fans cheering for him in Australia and make the most of it in the next race?