Oscar Piastri was out of the Australian Grand Prix before it even began, after crashing on the way to the grid. Live below!
The McLaren star had outperformed his teammate and reigning world champion Lando Norris all weekend and was less than a tenth away from qualifying inside the top three, instead preparing to start the race from 5th.
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But he spun out while downshifting over the curb at turn four on the way to the grid, seriously damaging the car and ruining his hopes of a maiden Aussie podium at Albert Park.
Anthony Davidson on Sky F1 pointed to driver error along with “the combination of suddenly having power and cold tyres”, given how the new cars are half battery-powered and can go from much stronger to much weaker in an instant.
“We’ve not seen anything on the data so far or the radio. We’ll do a post-mortem after the race,” McLaren’s Zak Brown said.
“For now we’ve got to focus on the car we’ve got in the race.
“He’ll be sore about that one for a while but he’s a racecar driver who knows how to recover quickly. He’ll be back.”
Oscar Piastri has crashed out of the Australian Grand PrixSource: FOX SPORTS
This is the first time since 2001 there’s been an Australian Grand Prix without an Australian in it.
Mercedes are the red-hot favourites for the race, with George Russell dominating qualifying to take pole position ahead of teammate Kimi Antonelli.
The Australian F1 Grand Prix begins at 3pm AEDT.
Follow race day at the Australian F1 Grand Prix live below!
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Starting grid for the Australian Grand Prix
1. George Russell (Mercedes)
2. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes)
3. Isack Hadjar (Red Bull)
4. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
5. Oscar Piastri (McLaren) – CRASHED OUT ON WAY TO GRID
6. Lando Norris (McLaren)
7. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari)
8. Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls)
9. Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls)
10. Gabi Bortoleto (Audi)
11. Nico Hulkenberg (Audi)
12. Ollie Bearman (Haas)
13. Esteban Ocon (Haas)
14. Pierre Gasly (Alpine)
15. Alex Albon (Williams)
16. Franco Colapinto (Alpine)
17. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
18. Sergio Perez (Cadillac)
19. Valtteri Bottas (Cadillac)
20. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
21. Carlos Sainz (Williams)
22. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)