{"id":542663,"date":"2026-03-15T21:10:19","date_gmt":"2026-03-15T21:10:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/542663\/"},"modified":"2026-03-15T21:10:19","modified_gmt":"2026-03-15T21:10:19","slug":"f1-news-oscar-piastri-in-the-dark-over-chinese-gp-failure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/542663\/","title":{"rendered":"F1 news: Oscar Piastri in the dark over Chinese GP failure"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Piastri
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOscar Piastri is yet to turn a grand prix lap in 2026. Image: XPB Images<\/p>\n

It was a disastrous Sunday for the reigning world champions with neither McLaren driver taking the start of the Shanghai race.<\/p>\n

Norris never made it out of the garage for the lap-to-grid thanks to a power unit-related electrical issue<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Piastri did make it to the grid, however was pushed off before the formation lap with a different electrical issue<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The twin failures marked McLaren\u2019s first double DNS since the 2005 US Grand Prix when all Michelin-shod teams elected not to start the race over safety concerns.<\/p>\n

It was a particular blow for Piastri who, following his pre-race crash at Albert Park, is yet to turn a grand prix racing lap this season.<\/p>\n

Speaking after this latest DNS, Piastri explained that the team still didn\u2019t fully understand what went wrong.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was an electric problem on the power unit,\u201d he told Sky Sports.<\/p>\n

\u201cDifferent to Lando\u2019s, so very unfortunate to both have issues. We don\u2019t fully know any more than that at this point. Obviously disappointing.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously the problems today have been annoying but I think besides that we know we\u2019ve got work to do to find more performance so that\u2019s what we\u2019ll try and focus on [before Japan].\u201d<\/p>\n

Antonelli takes Chinese GP to become second-youngest F1 winner<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella reiterated that the nature of the failures was not yet known by the team, with analysis to take place with engine partner Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe came here to go racing and today we were not in a condition to do so because of technical problems,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is very frustrating and disappointing for the team, for the drivers, for our technical and commercial partners, and for our fans. We are sorry for that.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will regroup, we will understand these technical problems and we will go again in Japan.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce we were preparing the car of Lando to leave the garage we found a problem on the electrical side of the power unit. We tried to fix it up actually there was no way to fix it.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd once we were on the grid we found another problem on the electrical side of the power unit on Oscar\u2019s side.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey seem to be different problems, occurring for some reason at the same time. And they were basically meaning that there was no way to start the race. Something that is [an] extremely unfortunate coincidence of two different problems on the electrical side of the power unit appearing at the same time.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut that\u2019s what it is.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will investigate together with HPP and will see what\u2019s the learning and make sure this doesn\u2019t happen again.\u201d<\/p>\n

When asked if there is time for parts to return to the UK between the Chinese and Japanese races, Stella added: \u201cThis will depend on the findings. Certainly the parts that were at fault will go back to HPP and they will be investigated.\u201d<\/p>\n


\"\"\/
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