MITCHELL JOHNSON: Oscar Piastri has what it takes to win the F1 title, starting with Melbourne Grand Prix

The start of a new Formula 1 season always brings anticipation, but the 2026 championship feels particularly intriguing.

New regulations are reshaping parts of the sport, a new team arrives on the grid, and a number of young drivers are now reaching the point where potential starts turning into genuine championship ambition.

From an Australian perspective, there is plenty to be excited about regarding Oscar Piastri.

While Lando Norris led McLaren Formula 1 Team to success in 2025, Piastri’s campaign shouldn’t simply be judged by where he finished in the standings.

Finishing third after leading for most of the season was heartbreaking for Aussie F1 fans, but last season was a significant year in his development.

Formula 1 is a team sport wrapped around an individual dream. Drivers want to win championships, but they operate inside a complex structure of strategy, engineering decisions and, at times, politics within teams. Last season gave Piastri a real taste of that environment.

There were frustrating moments and races where things didn’t quite fall his way, but those experiences matter.

Piastri showed resilience throughout the season and repeatedly demonstrated the capability that put him on the Formula 1 radar in the first place. There is a calmness about him behind the wheel, but also a competitive spark.

That little twinkle in the eye that the best drivers tend to have.

What stands out is how much he would have learned from those ups and downs. In Formula 1, experience becomes one of the biggest advantages a driver can have.

Understanding strategy, managing tyres, working through the politics of a team environment and knowing when to push or hold back are all part of the game.

That is why Piastri shapes as a genuine chance to take another step forward in 2026.

There is also no better place to start the season than Melbourne.

The Australian Grand Prix at the Albert Park always creates a special atmosphere. The build-up across the city during race week is something fans look forward to every year. Melbourne becomes the centre of the Formula 1 world for a few days and the energy around the track is electric.

For Australian fans, it also means getting behind one of their own.

Sport can provide a brief escape from everything else happening in our lives. When the lights go out and these incredible machines take off around Albert Park, the focus shifts to the speed, the skill and the spectacle.

And Albert Park is a circuit that delivers.

It has everything you want in a Formula 1 track. Fast sweeping corners, slower technical sections, long straights to create overtaking opportunities and, as Melbourne often reminds us, weather that can change in a heartbeat.

Rain one moment, sunshine the next. Strategy always plays a role in Formula 1, but Melbourne can amplify that factor, especially for the opening race of the season.

It’s also where we get the first real look at where teams stand. Testing shows you something, but the first race of the year often reveals which teams have found performance and which still have a lot of work to do.

Another fascinating storyline heading into the season is the arrival of Audi and Cadillac as the new teams on the grid.

Audi’s entry into Formula 1 has been years in the making, and there is genuine curiosity around what they might produce. The car design looks sharp and their driver line-up offers a mix of experience and youth with Nico Hülkenberg alongside young Brazilian Gabriel Bortoleto.

But Audi’s timing isn’t by accident.

The 2026 season brings important changes to Formula 1 power units, with a greater focus on electrical power and fully sustainable fuels. Regulation changes like this often reshape the competitive order in the sport. When the rulebook changes, every team is essentially starting from the same place again.

For a new manufacturer, a regulation reset provides the opportunity to build a car and engine around the new rules rather than trying to catch up with teams that have already been established for years. Audi won’t expect dominance straight away, but they will certainly hope to be competitive sooner rather than later.

For Hülkenberg, being part of a fresh project like this could bring another level of motivation as well.

There are plenty of questions waiting to be answered.

Can McLaren continue their momentum? Will Audi make an early impact? And can Piastri turn the lessons of last season into a genuine push toward the front of the grid?

We will start getting some answers starting tomorrow.