In the battle for Formula 1’s drivers’ championship, as in the first turn at the Jeddah street circuit, two into one simply does not fit.

But Oscar Piastri’s fight for position against four-time reigning world champion Max Verstappen in the opening seconds of the Saudi Arabia Grand Prix early Monday morning (AEST) showed that the baby-faced assassin from bayside Melbourne could yet emerge with the biggest title in world motor sport.

Until Piastri’s race win on Monday, the last Australian to lead the F1 world championship was Mark Webber – now Piastri’s manager – for Red Bull in 2010.

But where Webber and the ever-popular wearer of the thousand-watt smile, Daniel Ricciardo, fell short, Piastri is set to conquer.

As brilliant as Webber and Ricciardo both were, with 17 grand prix victories between them, they were always playing second fiddle to their title-contending teammates at Red Bull – first Sebastian Vettel, and then Verstappen. They weren’t No.1 in their own team; how could they be No.1 in the world?

But McLaren’s “papaya rules” are set to allow Piastri the best shot at what no Australian has achieved since Alan Jones with........

© Brisbane Times