F1 Australian Grand Prix: Oscar Piastri reveals cause of bizarre crash in Melbourne

Oscar Piastri squinting in the sun during 2026 Bahrain testing — Photo: © IMAGO

Australian Grand Prix

F1 star Oscar Piastri reveals the cause of bizarre Australian Grand Prix crash

Piastri didn't even get to start his home race at Albert Park on Sunday

Sheona Mountford F1 Journalist

Motorsport journalist working in F1 since 2024.

Sunday 8 March 2026 21:54

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After an F1 home race to forget Oscar Piastri has revealed all on his devastating DNS at the Australian Grand Prix.

Reigning champions McLaren have endured a dramatic fall back down to earth already in 2026, with the sport's brand new regulations moving the balance of power in favour of Mercedes.

World champion Lando Norris has been a vocal adversary of the new cars, stating he could 'talk for hours' about how bad the new machinery is and labelled them 'the worst'. The champion finished fifth on Sunday, 51 seconds behind winner George Russell.

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But it was his team-mate Piastri who arguably had the worst day of all in Melbourne, crashing on the way to the grid.

F1 RESULTS: Russell claims historic win after Piastri crash

Why did Piastri crash at the Australian Grand Prix?

As Piastri worked through his reconnaissance laps he lost control of his McLaren at Turn 4 and slammed into the wall, which delivered significant damage to the front end of his MCL40.

Speaking to Sky Sports F1’s Rachel Brookes after his devastating DNS, Piastri said: “We had a bit of an issue out of the pits with no battery basically.

“With the actual crash it was a combination of a couple of things, I think a large element of [the cause was] just me.

“You know cold tyres, the exit kerb, but I also had 100kW more power than I expected so, you put all of those together and unfortunately, it ends in the result we got.

“It’s obviously just disappointing and a scenario that shouldn’t be happening.”

Asked to explain the torque spike and the extra power that has already proved to be an issue early on in the new regulations cycle, Piastri explained: “Essentially I was at less throttle than what I was in qualifying… I actually got 100kW more power than if I would have been at full throttle,” before agreeing when Brookes said it was something he’d have to get used to.

Piastri: Melbourne DNS 'hurt a lot'

Elsewhere in his media interviews, Piastri also added: "From what we’ve seen as well, I think everything kind of reacted the way it should within the rules, but essentially I had 100 kW more power than I’ve had the whole weekend, at the point that I shifted.

“When I shifted, it went into wheelspin, and given that I was on the kerb already, it was a combination of bad factors… Obviously it’s just very disappointing.”

When asked how much it hurt him not to be able to race in front of his home crowd, he concluded: “A lot. It’s a shame. Things like that shouldn’t be happening anywhere, especially at my home race. It’s obviously even more disappointing."

F1 McLaren Oscar Piastri Australian Grand Prix Albert Park Circuit