'Home Hope' Oscar Piastri Distraught After Australian GP Crash-Out: 'Shouldn't Be Happening Anywhere, Especially At...'

Last Updated:March 08, 2026, 19:51 IST

Piastri had to endure early disappointment in the first race of the 2026 F1 season as he crashed out of the Australian Grand Prix during the recon lap in the lead-up to the race.

Hometown hero Oscar Piastri had to endure early disappointment in the first race of the 2026 F1 season as he crashed out of the Australian Grand Prix during the recon lap in the lead-up to the race in front of adoring Aussie fans.

“Its a shame. Things like that shouldn’t be happening anywhere, but especially at my home race," Piastri said.

“Its obviously more disappointing," he added.

“Essentially I had 100 kilowatts more power than I’ve had the whole weekend at the point that I shifted and when I shifted went into a wheel spin and given that I was on the curb already it was a combination of bad factors so obviously just very disappointed," the Aussie explained.

Mercedes’ George Russell fended off competition from teammate Kimi Antonelli to cross the chequered flag first, followed by Ferrari counterparts Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton as holder Lando Norris came in fifth.

The new regulations came into effect at the Australian Grand Prix and received criticism from across the board for multiple reasons mainly a lack of safety and racing excitement, somehow all in one.

Norris lamented the seismic shift the sport has undergone with the massive changes in regulation, which has witnessed the engine power units switch to 50 percent battery.

“We’ve come from the best cars ever made in Formula One, and the nicest to drive, to probably the worst. It sucks," Norris told reporters at the season-opener in Melbourne.

“Everyone knows what the issues are. It’s just the fact the engine is a 50-50 split and it just doesn’t work."

Russell, however, opined that Norris wouldn’t have been as bothered with the massive changes to the regulations had he won the opener in Melbourne

The Mercedes star touched up on how the new car feels in comparison to the mean-machines from last year, which suffered issues with porpoising.

“If he was winning I don’t think he’d be saying the same," the Brit said.

“We weren’t happy with how stiff the cars were last year and the porpoising. Everyone had a bad back and the drivers were complaining about that and the McLaren drivers said they had no porpoising, even though we watched their car and they were porpoising," he added.

“So everyone is always looking to themselves and we are all selfish in this regard," he added.

“The truth is last year we had the same engine as them and McLaren did a better job than us and they beat us. Now McLaren have got the same engine as us, the same as Williams and the same as Alpine, and so far we’ve done a better job than them.

“That’s just how the game goes," he signed-off.

News sports formula-one 'Home Hope' Oscar Piastri Distraught After Australian GP Crash-Out: 'Shouldn't Be Happening Anywhere, Especially At...'

Read More