McLaren’s home hero Oscar Piastri has taken the blame for his embarrassing crash on the way to the starting grid at the Australian Grand Prix, which ruled him out of the race before it even began.
The heartbreaking moment occurred on his out lap from the pits, as the cars make their way to the grid at a leisurely pace, but fast enough to make sure everything is working as it should.
In a shocking turn of events, Piastri accelerated out of turn four with a tyre on the kerbing, sending the car into a spin and into the concrete wall.
He smashed his front wing and lost the entirety of his nose cone before coming to a stop on the grass alongside the grandstand, while thousands of expectant home fans looked on stunned.
The majority of the Albert Park crowd in Melbourne were decked out in McLaren colors to see their man in action, but his crash delivered one of the great anti-climaxes in Australian sport.
After reassuring his team – and those watching – that he was okay, Piastri could be seen standing up and exiting the car, before walking across the grass and back toward the pit lane.
Oscar Piastri clambers out of his broken McLaren after crashing on the lap to the grid
Piastri only made it around four turns of the Albert Park circuit before finding the wall
The huge impact saw him lose a front wing and his nose cone before the car came to a stop
En route, he was met by Alpine’s comms chief James Lloyd, who helped out a rival team by ushering cameras away and asking them to give the distraught driver some space.
After gathering his thoughts, Piastri told media it was a combination of an unexpected burst of power in his McLaren as all drivers become accustomed to the new 2026 cars with battery power bursts and low downforce.
‘Just shock and surprise, really,’ Piastri said.
‘I was backwards before I’d even really had a chance to react. It all happened pretty quick. But crashing out of the race or trying to get to the race is a situation that shouldn’t happen.
‘The first part I want to stress is that there is certainly a big element of it that was me. Cold tyres, I have used that exit kerb every lap of the weekend, but I didn’t have to.
‘At the same time, I had about 100kW extra power that I didn’t expect, which is not insignificant.
“The difficult part to take is that everything was working normally. It’s just a function of how the engines have to work with the rules. So, that’s the part that’s difficult to accept.’
F1 commentator Martin Brundle admitted he ‘had tears in his eyes’ watching the events unfold before the race, crushing the hopes of not only Piastri in his home city but all the expectant fans.
The accident continues the curse of Australian drivers at their home grand prix.
Over the 42 years of the race, no Australian has finished on the podium let alone win the race, despite having drivers that won many grands prix elsewhere such as Mark Webber, Daniel Ricciardo and now Piastri.
Ricciardo did experience standing on the podium when he crossed the line second in 2014 but was subsequently disqualified for a regulations breach, so it does not count as an official podium finish.
OSCAR WORTHY
‘I’m just very sorry’ – F1 star fights back tears as he apologises to crying fans for embarrassing crash BEFORE race
OSCAR PIASTRI held back tears as he apologised to devastated home fans after crashing before the race had even begun at the Australian Grand Prix.
The Aussie star, 24, smashed into the wall while driving slowly the track to line up for the formation lap at Albert Park.
That meant he never even got to start the race.
And the McLaren man admitted he was heartbroken for the thousands of supporters who had turned out to cheer him on in his home GP.
A clearly devastated Piastri said: “I’m just very sorry, obviously, for everyone that came out and wanted to support me.”
The Melbourne-born racer had been hoping to deliver a dream performance in front of his home crowd.
Instead, his race was over before it had even started after he lost control and slid into the barriers.
Piastri later took full responsibility for the nightmare mishap.
But he admitted cold tyres and the new engine power may have played a part in the embarrassing incident.
After emerging from the McLaren garage following the crash, the devastated driver said his focus was now on learning from the disaster.
He admitted: “A scenario like that just shouldn’t happen, it’s obviously very disappointing it did.
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“I have used that exit curb every lap of the weekend, but I didn’t have to.
“At the same time, I had about a hundred kilowatts of extra power that I didn’t expect, which is not insignificant.
“It’s just a function of how the engines have to work with the rules, so it’s that’s the part that’s difficult to accept.”
Fans inside Albert Park were left stunned by the early drama, with some pictured reduced to tears after seeing their hometown hero crash out.
One fan told the Guardian she decided to leave halfway through the race.
She said: “I’m just not happy. We’re actually leaving, we’re done.”
The chaotic season opener saw multiple drivers fail to finish as the new campaign burst into life.
In the end, George Russell stormed to victory for Mercedes.
But the day belonged to disappointment for Piastri, whose nightmare crash left his home fans stunned before the race had even begun.
