“It’s Oscar-mad [in Melbourne]. Good for him,” Albon said.

“When it was my first home race, there were three or four other drivers that were British.

“Oscar’s coming in as the only Aussie, so I’m sure there are more eyes on one person. Maybe I’m wrong, but there’s a feeling like there’s good energy in the way that people are treating Oscar. I think Australians are generally very friendly people, at least the ones that I know, and that makes you relax.

“The other side of things is, for example, you can feel under pressure and the fans can put you under pressure.

“More than anything, if you look at last year and the situation that unfolded with him getting into McLaren, for him to come in and already be performing well shows his character already.

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“I’m sure he doesn’t have a problem [handling pressure].”

First-year Williams driver Logan Sargeant came through the ranks with Piastri and raced on the same team with him multiple times, most recently in F3 in 2020 where Piastri won the competition and Sargeant came third.

“We have been teammates four or five times throughout our careers from karting to F3 - we have a really good friendship and a lot of competitive rivalries,” Sargeant said.

“We have always been in the same category, same time racing each other.

“Always a very good rivalry, always a healthy relationship and it is a pretty cool to see us both in F1 now.”

Sargeant said he found he needed to focus on his own preparation as he adjusts to the demands of his first F1 season, but he will try to see what Piastri faces as the home driver considering the American will face his own homecoming in Miami in May.

“I will keep an eye on it as I will go to Miami in a couple of weeks which will be similar to me. I feel like we are all so busy doing our own thing and stay ready that is it hard to keep up with what everyone else is doing,” Sargeant said.

“It is just nice to share the track with him again and continue our rivalry. It’s a bit different in F1 as it is a lot more car-performance [based] but it is nice to be able to race against him again.”

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Meanwhile, Haileybury Brighton’s former head of campus Scott Doran has recalled Piastri’s modesty as he pursued his motor sport career.

Piastri started at Haileybury in year two, before moving abroad to Haileybury College in the UK at the end of year nine to make a real fist of his dream.

Doran, now vice principal, said Piastri - who also represented the school at cricket - never put a foot wrong as a student.

“You couldn’t fault him,” Doran said.

“He was hardworking, determined, had a good sense of humour about him, but he did the right thing. He was a really fine student.

“Whatever he had a go at, he gave 100 per cent, he was serious about it, and he put in the work. It’s no surprise to us to see him do so well in his racing.

“He was humble, never one to brag or show off. He was always a humble young lad.”

Doran said Piastri’s first Australian Grand Prix gave Haileybury the chance to show their students what could be achieved if they chased their dreams.

“We’re immensely proud of Oscar, but we’re immensely proud of all our students,” Doran said.

“We’re lucky for a school of our size, we’ve got lots of terrific examples to share with our students and our community, but we’re particularly proud of Oscar at this time of his career, and driving in his first home grand prix, we wish him well.”

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