Oscar Piastri issues response after controversial social media incident

Oscar Piastri was unable to explain how he came to repost quotes from Bernie Ecclestone claiming McLaren prefers Lando Norris to his Instagram feed.

The Australian driver was found to have shared the contentious remarks from F1's former owner in the early hours of the morning, ahead of FP3 and qualifying at the Las Vegas Grand Prix.

Whilst it was soon deleted, the nine-time grand prix winner's actions were quickly noticed by eagle-eyed fans, with it going viral on social media platforms.

When asked about the incident and Ecclestone's comments, Piastri revealed he did not know how it came to happen, suggesting he potentially did it by accident.

"I don't know," he responded when the controversial matter was raised to him by RacingNews365 after qualifying in Sin City.

"I woke up this morning and saw it, so I don't know, maybe I accidentally did it. Obviously, it was not intentional. But yeah, I didn't know what had happened. So I don't know."

Either way, Piastri evidently looking at social media posts — let alone reposting them — that feed into the theory that McLaren has been providing Norris with preferential treatment will further add to the unfounded accusations of favouritism at the Woking-based squad.

Piastri will start the 50-lap race in Nevada from fifth on the grid, following a spin on his final push lap in Q3.

His team-mate took pole position and is poised to add to his 24-point advantage in their shared hunt for a first F1 drivers' championship.