A raw Oscar Piastri says he’s gutted by the dramatic ending to the Australian Grand Prix which saw him drop out of contention to win the race — and spin out of the podium places entirely.
Piastri was running in second on Lap 44 when he followed the race-leading Lando Norris off the slickening track and failed to make it back on cleanly.
The Australian couldn’t engage reverse gear for over a minute and ultimately dropped to the back of the field, while his McLaren teammate ducked into the pits and emerged victorious 13 laps later.
Piastri was left shattered by the error that extended Australia’s curse at its home race. No Australian has ever been classified on the F1 podium in Melbourne, or Adelaide before it.
Explaining the mistake to written press, Piastri said he was simply trying to “push a bit too much”.
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He added: “In those conditions it’s very difficult to judge just how slippery it’s going to be. I think from one lap to the next, it had really changed a lot. And, you know, I could see Lando going off in front of me, but I was also already in the corner, basically. So there wasn’t much I could do to slow myself down at that point.
“And then to get stuck in the grass like that was pretty unbelievable … but I’ve only got myself to blame for being there.”
In a separate interview to Sky Sports, Piastri described the incident as “pretty disappointing” but chose to see the positives from the rest of his race.
“It felt like for every lap, apart from one, I drove an incredibly strong race, just a shame to not have the result to go with it,” he said.
“I don’t have anyone to blame but myself. I was a bit unfortunate to get stuck (in the grass) the way I did. It was only myself that put me there. Obviously disappointed.”
Despite the scale of the heartbreak at his home race, Piastri’s afternoon did still end on a slightly positive note.
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Piastri showed incredible composure in those final 13 laps to execute four overtakes that saw him recover to a points finish in ninth.
Most remarkable was his final lap overtake of Lewis Hamilton between the high-speed left-right hander of Turns 9 and 10.
“I had some pretty good temperature in the tires, and was just able to capitalise on that the car’s pace and my own confidence,” Piastri said of the bounce-back. “I’m glad that we at least got back to the points, but it should have been more.”
Sky Sports’ Karun Chandhok and Naomi Schiff were both sympathetic towards Piastri after the race.
Despite only having himself to blame for throwing away a McLaren one-two to start the season, the undeniably tricky race situation — in which the track went from wet to dry and back to damp — saw Piastri given some leeway.
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“I’ve been there myself. It’s treacherous out there on slicks in the rain,” Chandhok said. Oscar was brilliant minus one corner. The last lap overtake on Lewis Hamilton, around the outside into Turn 9 was brave stuff.
“Apart from that one error, he was excellent and was catching Lando.”
Schiff added: “It was a great recovery.
“It was such an unfortunate moment. You’ve really got to feel for him. I feel really sorry for him because he looked really, really good.”
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