Piastri: I think I can beat Norris

Much has been written about the 21-year-old Australian's impressive path to F1, by claiming championship titles in F2 and F3, then taking a sabbatical last year as Alpine reserve, followed by the highly contentious defection that saw him ditch the French team, that financed his motorsport rise, and replace Daniel Ricciardo at McLrern this year.

But that is ancient history as the attention turns to the season ahead, where the first order of the day is to beat his teammate which he has always done, but this time around it is 23-year-old Norris with four F1 seasons under his belt.

Asked by ABC, if he can beat Norris, Piastri replied: Yeah, I think so. I think everyone has to have that self-belief that they can win, or if they’re not in a position to win to do the best that they can with what they have.”

Indeed spoken like a true race driver, if you don't believe you can be F1 World Champ why bother?

With F1 veteran Mark Webber and his partner Ann in his corner plus a solid family and support network, plus the embrace of Zak Brown's team, Piastri is clearly level-headed and in a good space ahead of his debut: “Putting numbers on my expectations is pretty difficult, especially in F1.

"I think it will depend on where we are as a team, where the car is at. For me, a successful year would be me setting the foundations for later in the year and the years to come, hopefully, and doing everything the right way from the beginning... starting good habits. If there’s any results that come out of that, then that’s a bonus.”

History will show that Ricciardo was ousted from McLaren by Piastri whose manager and mentor Webber was made redundant from Red Bull, at the end of 2013 to make way for Dan; a trio of Aussies in an awkward dance of musical chairs, with one always left wanting.

Piastri shed light on how the 'swap' was handled with fellow Aussie Ricciardo: “We got in touch through texts I guess once everything had unfolded last year and he was very supportive of me both personally and on the media front as well... which I’m very thankful for.

“I’m sure I will see him around in the F1 paddock this year, he’s back working with Red Bull," added Piastri, who will test for McLaren, with Norris, at the Bahrain Grand Prix venue from 23-25 February, ahead of his F1 debut at the same venue on 5 March.