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"I could cry": Watch the crash that ended Piastri's home Grand Prix
Emily Benammar • March 8th, 2026 5:03 pm
McLaren will “run a full post mortem” to find out what went wrong for Oscar Piastri after the Australian’s race ended before the lights went out at the Australian Grand Prix.
The papaya driver destroyed his car on turn four of the track as he attempted a formation lap.
He had been due to start from fifth on the grid but such was the damage, McLaren confirmed he would not take part in the race.
According to the Sky F1 experts it was “part mechanic issue and part driver error” with Piastri seemingly asking too much of his car before the tyres had warmed up.
Speaking immediately after the incident, which delayed the race start – McLaren boss Zac Brown said: “We have not seen anything on the data so far and he didn’t say anything on the radio.
“We will do a post mortem after the race. For now, we have to focus on the car we have in the race. This is disappointing for Oscar at his home race.
“I’m sure he will be sore about that one for a while, but these drivers know how to recover quickly. It’s not the way he would want to get started.”
Video of the incident shows Piastri was waiting for a queue of cars in front of him to move and as he accelerated, his head can be seen thrusting forward and backwards awkwardly as he shifted.
He then lost control slamming the left side of the car into the outside wall and debris spread all over the track.
According to Sky analyst he was on the radio saying he had no battery.
“This is heart breaking,” Martin Brundle said.
“I could cry. I literally had a tear in my eye. Everybody is heartbroken.”
Former F1 driver Jolyon Palmer said: “It’s a warning sign for everyone going into this race you have to be wary of the machinery you’re in control of. Take extra care.”
Watch what happened:
