Piastri on fire: Calm Aussie turns up heat

Oscar Piastri heads into this weekend's Emilia Romagna Grand Prix with the momentum of three successive wins behind him as he seeks to consolidate his bid for the Formula One drivers’ world title.

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But with the F1 circus pitching its Big Top in Europe for the first time this season with a ‘triple-header’ of races, as much attention will be focused on Ferrari's struggles as on dominant leaders McLaren or Red Bull's defending four-time champion Max Verstappen.

After six unimpressive outings in the first six races, the Italian team and their marquee signing seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton appear in front of the ‘tifosi’ for the first time on home soil at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari.

For Hamilton and teammate Charles Leclerc, it has been a disappointing opening spell with the Briton, in particular, struggling to find any real pace and performance in his Ferrari — and the team promising a series of upgrades to tackle the SF25's problems.

Hamilton did win the Sprint in Shanghai but has yet to secure a podium finish with Ferrari in a Grand Prix and the team are already 152 points adrift of Piastri’s McLaren outfit.