F1 News
Piastri admits to a damming mistake: "Tried to push too much"
Oscar Piastri admits that he "tried to push too much" during the Australian Grand Prix, resulting in him going off track and beaching his car on the grass, dropping him from P2 all the way to P9 and squandering a McLaren 1-2.
It had been an impressive showing from Piastri and McLaren in front of his home crowd at a rainy Albert Park Circut. He dropped down from P2 to P3 as Max Verstappen got the better of him off the line, but after the Dutchman made a rare mistake, the Australian got through and raced away.
However, after putting pressure on teammate and race leader Lando Norris for a few laps, he could not make the move, but he still looked to be taking home 18 points with a fine performance. However, after the second of three safety cars came in, a mistake on the restart saw the 23-year-old overshoot the penultimate corner and end up beached on the grass. Piastri was able to manoeuvre his way back onto the circuit, but he dropped all the down the grid to the dismay of his home fans.
Piastri: 'It should have been a lot more points'
Speaking after the Grand Prix to several media sources, including GPblog, Piastri explained the incident that derailed a fine race: "I tried to push a bit too much, I guess. In those conditions, it's very difficult to judge just how slippery it's going to be. I think from one lap to the next, it had really changed a lot, and 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. And then once you're in the gravel, in the grass, you try to keep the car, but I really got myself to blame for being there, so it's a shame."
Piastri did drop down to P3 after the start, but he was able to showcase the pace he had at his disposal with the McLaren, something that will give him confidence going into the rest of the season: "The start was not amazing. I just got pinched on the inside a little bit and then got overtaken. But I think the pace was really strong until we pitted for slicks.
"Max obviously locked up a little bit and went wide, and I was able to show the pace I had. But it's just a shame that all of that didn't lead to the result we wanted today. I'm glad that we at least got a couple of points but it should have been a lot more," concluded a downbeat Piastri.