The 24-year-old is lying third in the standings going into the final race of the calendar in Abu Dhabi, seen as a distant 14-1 chance by the bookies to now lift the title ahead of McLaren teammate Lando Norris (1-3) and reigning champ Max Verstappen (5-2).
Yet as he enters the race feeling good about his rediscovered hot pace in Qatar, Piastri admitted on Thursday he had found a crumb of comfort in learning about what happened the last two times the race came down to a denouement featuring more than a couple of drivers.
Because on those two occasions in 2007 and 2010, it was the third-placed long shot who ended up lifting the title - Kimi Raikkonen in 2007 and Sebastian Vettel in 2010, the latter coming, famously, at the expense of his now manager Mark Webber.
Vettel ended up winning in Abu Dhabi too as he lifted that maiden crown 15 years ago.
"It's a nice stat to have, given that I'm in that position now, but just because it's gone that way once doesn't mean it will again, so I'm certainly not leaning on that," Piastri conceded.
"But it maybe gives me the tiniest amount of comfort that it is possible."
He certainly feels in the sort of form to be the strongest of the three contenders this weekend on the Yas Marina circuit, having shone in Qatar last week with victory in every session - practice, sprint qualifying, the sprint and grand prix qualifying - with only a strategy blunder by McLaren robbing him in the race itself.
That was the Piastri who had dominated the championship from round 5 onwards before a run of poor form let Norris in to take the lead 15 rounds later in Mexico while Verstappen also edged past him after the McLaren error in Qatar.
He's now 16 points behind Norris and four adrift of Verstappen, but the man who won the Formula Renault Eurocup, Formula 3 and Formula 2 titles in consecutive years en route to his F1 bow insisted: "I'm relaxed.
"I've been on the opposite side of the championship battle in the junior categories and I know what that felt like - it was pretty tough.
"Coming into it now with the least to lose out of us three is quite different for me."
He's playing it cannily too, not giving any clues about what he would do if the team called on him to play the perfect team man and help out Norris if needed.
But it's clear he's still dreaming just a little, admitting that becoming just the third Australian to lift the crown after Jack Brabham (1959, 1960, 1966) and Alan Jones (1980) would be "pretty cool".
"I'll try my best to bring it home for everyone," he smiled.
21°C