Michael Jordan, Rafael Nadal, and Lionel Messi. Name three sportspeople who’ve overcome more than them to achieve the kind of success these three stalwarts have in their respective sports. We’ll wait. Jordan lost his father in 1993 at the peak of his career. Nadal has pushed himself through the Mueller-Weiss syndrome (a degenerative condition that affects bones in the feet and causes chronic pain) throughout his career. Messi grew up with a Growth Hormone Deficiency. Despite all this—or rather, because of this—they’re arguably the greatest players in their sports.

The question is: can you imagine the formidable athlete they would make if their strengths were combined? Because that’s who McLaren rookie Oscar Piastri looked up to growing up. But there’s more. As supreme as the Jordan-Nadal-Messi combination would be, the young Aussie didn’t stop there as he added more names to make his ultimate athlete.

Who joined Michael Jordan, Rafael Nadal & Lionel Messi?

Oscar Piastri is a sportsperson through and through. As a Melbournian, he practically grew up just minutes away from the holy trinity of sporting venues in Australia—Melbourne Park (home to the Australian Open), the Melbourne Cricket Ground, and Albert Park (home to the Australian GP). Like his compatriot Daniel Ricciardo—and unlike his teammate Lando Norris—Piastri is naturally gifted at sports other than Formula 1. While he chose F1 (which McLaren would be glad about), he’s taken inspiration from every sport he grew up watching.

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As reported by gpfans.com, “For Piastri, the ultimate athlete would possess Michael Jordan’s mindset, Rafael Nadal’s strength, Usain Bolt’s legs, Lionel Messi’s feet, and Steve Smith’s hands.” Piastri mentioned how he looks up to Nadal for his ability to push himself for hours together. As strong as he is physically, the Spaniard is just as tough mentally, digging himself out of impossible situations. As for Bolt and Messi, Piastri explained they’ve been the best in their sports and were “role models during his formative years.“

While talking about Jordan’s mindset, the Aussie explained, “I loved that he just did everything to win. I admire how he was hard on people in a respectful way. He pushed everyone around him to be better.” And as for the hands of his compatriot Steve Smith (former Australian cricket captain), Piastri said, “He is based around phenomenal hand-eye coordination and incredible patience that allows him to go out and consistently get big runs.” The fact that Piastri’s ultimate athlete doesn’t have an F1 driver might make it look like he didn’t have anyone to look up to, but he recently revealed that as well.

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Oscar Piastri’s inspiration in Formula 1

Piastri, in some ways, is like Nadal. Had the Spaniard not become a tennis player, he would’ve become a soccer player. With the natural talent Piastri has and his love for sports in general, it’s difficult to imagine him as anything other than a sportsperson. Much to the F1 community’s delight, though, the Aussie fell in love with motorsport when he was six after his parents bought him a remote-controlled car. Now that he has made it into F1 and is doing exceptionally well for his rookie season, he was asked who he looked up to during his junior career.

On P1 With Matt and Tommy’s YouTube Channel, he said, “I would say I never really had one specific idol. Like when I was growing up watching [F1], Mark Weber was at Red Bull. Obviously, being Australian, being in a Red Bull that was very quick at the time, I naturally followed him. Even some of the guys in the junior ranks above me, like Lando [Norris]. He was always two or three years above me, winning most things on his way up. So, I guess kind of him in some ways.”

Do you have an ultimate athlete that could compete against a combination of Michael Jordan, Rafael Nadal, Lionel Messi, Steve Smith, and Usain Bolt?

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