Piastri gives two-time leukaemia survivor Harry a McLaren garage tour at Bahrain GP

Oscar Piastri took time out of a packed Bahrain Grand Prix weekend in Sepang to give a young fan named Harry — a two-time leukaemia survivor and active kart racer — a personal tour of the McLaren garage. McLaren arranged the visit, and Piastri walked Harry through his F1 steering wheel, signed his Piastri hat, posed for photos, and offered hands-on karting guidance.

“Well, for me, I always did a lot better when I made sure I was having fun,” Piastri told Harry. “Trying to just keep learning, as well. If you’ve got a goal that you’re trying to achieve, it gives your practice a bit more purpose.”

The footage drew an outpouring of responses from fans online. “I’m gonna cry. This is so heartwarming. So happy to hear he beat leukaemia TWICE and got to meet Oscar and get advice from him. Wishing Harry a long happy, safe, and healthy life ahead,” one supporter wrote on X. Others added: “Special moments. Good luck, Harry, and thank you, Oscar and McLaren. Love this,” and “Shows once again how teams and drivers can be great role models and inspirational to young people.”

On track, Piastri qualified seventh for the Bahrain Grand Prix but will start sixth after Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar received a five-place grid penalty. The 25-year-old was measured in his assessment of McLaren’s race pace, noting that the team’s long-run data looked encouraging but was based on fewer laps than their rivals.

“I would say we looked reasonable in the long runs yesterday, but our runs were slightly shorter than everyone else’s,” Piastri said. “So for the amount of laps we did, it looks quite good, but not spectacular compared to everyone else.”

He also flagged tyre degradation and dirty air as key variables around the Sepang circuit, with its high-speed, long-radius corners making close racing particularly difficult. “There’s going to be a lot of strategy involved with the amount of deg there is, but I don’t expect it to be a wildly different picture tomorrow,” he added.