The Tiger who raced on Oscar Piastri’s teamBy Peter Ryan
The Age
April 4, 2023 — 4.02pmPlaying in front of 85,000 at the MCG on Friday night and then heading to Albert Park on Saturday to watch one of your former schoolmates tear around the track in a Formula 1 car is not a bad 24 hours for a Melburnian.
That was how emerging Tiger Hugo Ralphsmith spent last weekend as he checked out his old Haileybury schoolmate and current McLaren driver Oscar Piastri in qualifying for his first F1 race in Australia, the day after Ralphsmith played his first senior match for Richmond this season.
Ralphsmith is in a unique position to assess Piastri’s rapid progress through the fiercely competitive sport. Not only did he attend classes with Piastri, he actually raced with the young driver during their primary school years.
The pair was on the same team racing human-powered vehicles in the Energy Breakthough series in 2013, testing their design skills and racing ability against those from other Victorian schools, in a 14-hour challenge in country Victoria.
Ralphsmith was as alert to Piastri’s ability as former F1 driver Mark Webber and McLaren CEO Zak Brown have been recently when he watched him hare off in the contraption they had designed as part of a subject focused on conserving energy. Ralphsmith told Snap Shot the vehicle was basically a “lie-down bike”, before praising Piastri.
“He was our best rider. He just did the turns and everything else better,” Ralphsmith said.
Which doesn’t say much for the rest of Haileybury’s team, because they could not get to the chequered flag first despite having Piastri – who also happens to be a Richmond supporter – and Ralphsmith – who has a fair set of wheels too – in the team. In fact, Ralphsmith won the grand final sprint last year.
Piastri left Haileybury in year nine to pursue his motorsport crew in the United Kingdom reducing Ralphsmith’s contact with him but since he hit Formula One he has been as interested as anyone in his progress.
On Sunday Piastri avoided trouble to finish eighth, earning points for the first time in just his third race.
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