Oscar Piastri has described his shock at crashing out of his home Australian Grand Prix before the race even began, in a devastating start to his 2026 Formula 1 campaign. The Melbourne-born driver lost control of his McLaren at turn four while driving to the starting grid, ruling him out of the season opener.
Piastri cited a combination of factors for the incident. “We had a bit of an issue out of the pits. With no battery, basically, then the crash,” he said. “A large element of just me, cold tires, the exit curb, I also had 100 kilowatts more power than I expected. I got 100 kilowatts more power than if I had been at full throttle.”
Team-mate Lando Norris raised concerns about the car’s potential after the crash, which compounded a difficult weekend for the reigning constructors’ champions. Norris was told via radio that Piastri had downshifted on a kerb and immediately lost control.
McLaren CEO Zak Brown noted that data could not fully explain the mishap. “I spoke to him, disappointing, but we have another race coming up,” Brown said. “We didn’t see anything on the data, but a spike in the torque and the tires weren’t fully up to speed.”
The race was won by George Russell, with Mercedes team-mate Kimi Antonelli second and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc third. Piastri’s absence left a gap on the grid, benefiting Lewis Hamilton who finished fourth. Piastri will look to rebound at the Chinese Grand Prix next week, which includes a Sprint Race.
