Inside Oscar Piastri's Supercar test with Tickford Racing

Just days before a kerb ended his Australian Grand Prix weekend, Oscar Piastri was learning to attack them in a Tickford Racing Supercar during a promotional event that revealed his adaptable talent and pure love for driving. The McLaren F1 star spent nearly three hours at Calder Park, thoroughly enjoying his first experience in a roofed, manual race car and impressing the team with his immediate pace and professional approach.

Why it matters:

Piastri's seamless transition into a completely different racing machine underscores his core skill as a driver, beyond the high-tech world of Formula 1. The session also highlights the growing crossover appeal between F1 and Supercars, fueled by shared sponsors like Monster Energy, and provides a rare, relaxed glimpse of a top driver purely enjoying the act of driving, free from championship pressure.

The details:

• The Calder Park test was organized by mutual sponsor Monster Energy five days before the Australian GP, where a kerb strike in reconnaissance caused Piastri's race-ending crash.
• Tickford prepared two Ford Mustangs: its current #6 race car for Piastri and a 2025 car for regular driver Cam Waters.
• Piastri adapted instantly, forgoing a sighting lap and going straight into filming with Sky Sports' Rachel Brookes as a passenger.
• Natural Fit: Team manager Matt Roberts noted Piastri's methodical approach and said his on-track performance—from gearshifts to braking—was indistinguishable from Waters' to the ear.
• Key Learning: A focal point was learning to ride Calder's significant kerbs, a staple of Supercars racing, which Piastri later humorously contrasted with the fragility of an F1 car.
• One Limit: The only technique Piastri avoided was right-foot braking, essential for ultimate Supercars lap time but unfamiliar to him, as he didn't want to risk damaging Waters' race car.

What's next:

The event was a successful one-off promotion, but it cemented Piastri's reputation as a consummate professional and talented racer in the eyes of the Supercars community. While a full-time switch is unimaginable, the crossover fosters fan engagement between the series. For Piastri, the fun-filled laps served as a sharp, ironic prelude to his home Grand Prix disappointment, but demonstrated that his driving prowess translates far beyond the cockpit of a Formula 1 car.