For nearly 44 laps, it looked like Oscar Piastri was going to make history at Sunday’s rain-soaked Australian Grand Prix.
The McLaren driver had managed to avoid the surrounding carnage – crashes, retirements, and multiple safety cars – and maintain his position while chasing his teammate Lando Norris for the lead.
Piastri was stuck on the grass.Credit: Fox Sports
But a spin near the end of lap 44 wrecked the Melbourne driver’s race and extinguished Australia’s hopes of finally securing a home podium. Norris maintained his lead to win his fifth grand prix, while Red Bull’s Max Verstappen finished second, followed by George Russell in the Mercedes.
After the race, Piastri said the result was “frustrating” but maintained he was proud of himself.
“The pace was really strong,” he said. “Obviously disappointed with the mistake I made, but I think that doesn’t take away completely from how strong the whole weekend’s been for not just the team, but for myself. I feel like I’ve done a good job all weekend.”
We broke down the key moments in Piastri’s race. Here’s how it unfolded.
The start: Chaos, crashes and carnage
Melbourne’s cityscape – which was bathed in sunlight on Saturday –was gloomy on race day with temperatures dropping to 16 degrees. Buckets of rain drenched poncho-clad fans while Albert Park’s iconic beachy palm trees swayed in the wind.
McLaren drivers Lando Norris (right) and Oscar Piastri on the front of the grid for the start of the race.Credit: Joe Armao
Piastri started on the front row, next to teammate Norris who pipped him for pole position by just 0.084 of a second, or roughly 5.8 metres. The Melburnian’s formation lap was interrupted when rookie driver Isack Hadjar spun off track and triggered an aborted start.
OK, take two.
After the restart, Norris held his position into turn 1 with his nose out front, while Verstappen managed to edge past Piastri, who seemed cautious going into the turn. A crash from compatriot Jack Doohan and another shunt by last year’s grand prix winner Carlos Sainz triggered a safety car, which kept Piastri behind Verstappen.
Lap 8: The chase begins
With the safety car gone, the cars were free to race, but Verstappen managed to keep Piastri behind. With DRS enabled on lap 12, Piastri started to close the gap to the Red Bull champion. The rain returned, but Piastri kept his cool and started hunting.
Lap 17: The overtake
Verstappen doesn’t make many mistakes but as he neared turn 11 the four-time world champion appeared to lock up and go wide. This presented the perfect opportunity for Piastri and he did not hesitate to snatch second place. Verstappen’s rare lapse allowed for an easy overtake from Piastri, much to the delight of the roaring home crowd.
Lap 29: ‘Hold position’
The cat-and-mouse hunt between the McLaren teammates continued for several laps with Piastri cutting the margin consistently by less than eight tenths of a second. However at lap 29, a McLaren engineer instructed Piastri “to hold position”. Piastri ran wide at turn 6 on lap 32, loosing 1.5 seconds. Fast-forward to lap 33, and the call Piastri had been waiting for finally arrived.
“Oscar you are free to race now, you know the rules,” his engineer said.
Lap 33: Another crash triggers safety car
Two-time world champion Fernando Alonso spun out on turn seven of lap 33, prompting the safety cars to be deployed and triggering a flurry of pit stops. Both McLarens headed to the pits to “double-stack”, with Piastri dropping behind Norris slightly.
Lap 44: The Melbourne curse continues
After a nearly flawless race, diaster struck for both McLaren drivers. Norris and Piastri slid off at turn 11, but with one key difference – Norris recovered to pit for intermediate tyres, while Piastri veered well off in the grass at turn 13.
“I tried to push a bit too much,” Piastri conceded later.
All alone on the grassCredit: Fox Sports
“I guess in those conditions, it’s very difficult to judge just how slippery it’s going to be… 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.”
For what seems like eternity, Piastri attempted to reverse and manoeuvre his McLaren off the grass. He finally succeeded, but lost precious time and slid back to 16th place on the grid.
Piastri said he tried to keep the car as straight as possible while on the grass.“Obviously, to get stuck with the grass like that was pretty unbelievable,” he said.
His hopes of a dream win at his home grand prix, or even becoming the first Australian to earn a podium finish at Albert Park, were ruined.
Meanwhile, Verstappen – who had stayed within striking distance on medium tyres behind the McLarens – easily snatched second place back from Piastri.
Lap 57: A last-minute overtake
DRS helped Piastri work his way back up the grid into 10th place and at the last moment, the McLaren driver managed to overtake seven-time world Lewis Hamilton. While the Australian couldn’t contend for the victory, this move was a reminder of the 23-year-old’s skill and fight.
Finish
Piastri finished in the top 10 – securing ninth spot – and nabbed some championship points. But his ultimate dream will have to wait.
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