Oscar Piastri crashed out of the Australian Grand Prix before it even started on Sunday with the McLaren star incredibly smashing the wall on the exit of Albert Park’s Turn 4.
Piastri was hoping to start the 2026 season by becoming the first Australian to ever stand on the podium of their home F1 race.
Fox Sports, available on Kayo Sports, is the only place to watch every practice, qualifying session and race in the 2026 FIA Formula One World Championship™ LIVE in 4K. New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.
AUS GP WRAP — Piastri disaster rocks Aus GP as Russell claims statement win after Ferrari gamble backfires
QUALIFYING ANALYSIS: Drivers rage over new rules; F1’s worst fears realised as loophole exposed
But his McLaren suffered a total loss of downforce after riding the kerb on the exit of Turn 4, sending him into the wall and out of the race before even making it to the grid.
Piastri told the official F1 website after his crash that a full review was yet to be conducted, but it was clear what sparked the crash.
“I think, yeah, I mean I got on the kerb a little bit but from what we’ve seen as well, I think everything kind of reacted the way it should within the rules but, essentially I had 100kw more power than I’ve had the whole weekend at the point that I shifted,” he explained. “And when I shifted it went into wheelspin, and given I was on the kerb already it was a combination of bad factors.
“So obviously just very disappointed.”
Asked if the disappointment hurt more being his home race, he said: “Yeah, a lot. You know, it’s a shame.
“Things like that shouldn’t be happening anywhere, but especially my home race it’s obviously even more disappointing.”
Earlier, Sky Sports host Simon Lazenby said Albert Park had been “stunned into silence”, while 2009 world champion Jenson Button daid it was “devastating”.
“Such a tricky situation for him. Cold tyres, on the kerb – everything has come at once,” he said.
“Maybe he did a shorter upshift or when he upshifted, it gave him a lot of torque.”
World champion teammate Lando Norris was an early observer of the crash, asking his team over radio: “Did something happen? Or he just broken down?”
His engineer Will Joseph replied: “He lost it on the exit kerb at Turn 4 doing a shift.”
“Devastating. Such a tricky situation for him. Cold tyres, on the kerb – everything has come at once.“Maybe he did a shorter upshift or when he upshifted, it gave him a lot of torque.”
Analyst Anthony Davidson said that the crash appeared to be a combination of both “driver and mechanical” error.
“The combination of having more normal power, cold tyres and coming out of the pits, I think caught him out,” he said while dissecting the crash.
“He’s been put into this situation where his mind is focused on the battery and not getting the usual amount of power down the straight, then he comes into this situation.
Piastri crashes pre-race at Aus GP | 05:28
“He’s tentative on the accelerator and that final clunky upshift has spat the car around. A combination of mechanical and driver error.”
Meanwhile, team boss Zak Brown gave his initial reaction to Martin Brundle on the grid, saying Piastri would eventually bounce back.
“For now, we’ve got to focus on the car we have in the race and get the excitement level back up, because that’s definitely disappointing for Oscar at his home race,” he said.
“I’m sure he’ll be sore about that one for a while but these race car drivers know how to recovery quickly. Definitely not the way you want to get started, but he’ll be back.”
Discussion about this post