Welcome at RacingNews365

Become part of the largest racing community in the United Kingdom. Create your free account now!

  • Share your thoughts and opinions about F1
  • Win fantastic prizes
  • Get access to our premium content
  • Take advantage of more exclusive benefits
Sign in
Oscar Piastri

Oscar Piastri delivers vow after home crash heartbreak

Oscar Piastri has shared how he will respond to his agonising collision at the Australian Grand Prix, which prevented him from competing in the race.

Piastri Aus
Article
To news overview © XPBimages

Oscar Piastri had pledged to "learn as much" as he can from the F1 curtain raiser at Albert Park, despite not starting the race after his devastating warm-up lap shunt.

The McLaren driver put his MCL40 in the wall during his reconnaissance lap to the grid, experiencing a 100kW surge of power on cold tyres when he got onto the kerb at Turn 4 in Melbourne.

It left him a passenger as his car careered into the barriers, ending his Australian Grand Prix before it had begun.

When asked how he picks himself back up again following the accident in front of his adoring hometown fans, a crestfallen Piastri told media, including RacingNews365: "I think just trying to learn as much as I can, even just by watching the race.

"Last year, whilst the result wasn't what I wanted, I felt like there were a lot of positives from the weekend.

"This year, obviously, the disappointment is even greater, but I think up until [the crash], I think we did a lot of things well."

The 24-year-old shared that even without the valuable data he would have amassed during the race, he and McLaren have already pinpointed room for improvement.

And although his weekend ended in misery, the nine-time grand prix winner was quick to highlight that the season-opening round was not a complete failure.

"We clearly identified some things we need to change and do a better job at," Piastri explained.

"But I think through practice and qualifying, I felt pretty comfortable — as comfortable as you can do in these cars.

"And yeah, it felt like I was building myself into it nicely; that element is not too dissimilar to 12 months ago, so I'll just try and take the learnings and come back next week."

Did you enjoy the first race of the new F1 era? Let us know by voting below in the latest poll by RacingNews365!

Don't miss out on any of the Formula 1 action thanks to this handy 2026 F1 calendar that can be easily loaded into your smartphone or PC.

Download the calender

Join the conversation!

Never miss a thing from the Formula 1 season! Add the 2026 F1 schedule to your calendar at the touch of a button. Subscribe below and put the dates and times of every race directly on your PC or smartphone, so you don't miss a second from the new season.

Download the F1 calendar Download the F1 calendar

A variant with just the race and qualifying is also available.
Click here to download it..

F1 calendar 2026
Race Date
aus Australian GP 08 Mar 2026
chn Chinese GP 15 Mar 2026
jpn Japanese GP 29 Mar 2026
bhr Bahrain GP 12 Apr 2026
sau Saudi Arabian GP 19 Apr 2026
usa Miami GP 03 May 2026
Full calendar
x
LATEST Max Verstappen calls for FIA action after Australia 'chaos'