Oscar Piastri has opened up about his difficult race in Melbourne. The Australian Grand Prix kicked off the 2025 season in a chaotic fashion with six drivers retiring from the race.
After starting from second on the grid, Piastri initially lost out to Red Bull driver Max Verstappen. Although the Australian driver didn’t take long to return to where he started, he admitted that he didn’t have a great start to his home race campaign.
“The start was not amazing, but just got pinched on the inside a little bit and then was overtaken. I think the pace was really strong until we pitted for slicks.
“And I think Max locked up a little bit and went wide, and I was able to show the pace I had. It’s just a shame that it didn’t lead to the result we wanted.”
On the 44th lap of the race, both Piastri and his McLaren team-mate Lando Norris ran wide. The latter was able to minimise this mistake’s effect on his race and went on to secure the victory. Piastri, however, had to nurse the car off the grass and return to the back of the pack with just Oliver Bearman behind him.
“I tried to push a bit too much. In those conditions, [it was] very difficult to judge just how slippery it’s gonna be. I think from one left to the next, it didn’t really change a lot. I could see Lando going off in front of me, but I was also already in the corner, so there wasn’t much I could do to slow myself down at that point.
“And then once I had the gravel and the grass, I obviously tried to keep the car as straight as possible, and then, yeah, obviously to get getting stuck in the grass like that was pretty unbelievable inside of the car. I’ve only got myself to blame for being there, so it’s a shame.”
Oscar Piastri, McLaren
Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images
After rejoining the race towards the back of the pack, Piastri managed to pull himself back into the points with a ninth-place finish.
“I knew that we had strong pace, I knew that I had strong pace. Even after the final restart, it was frustrating. Ocon went wide or or nearly lost the car at the last corner, so I went past just by driving normally and then had to give the position back, so I lost 3 or 4 seconds doing that.
“Given that I had to un-lap myself, I had some pretty good temperature in the tyres and was just able to capitalise on the car’s pace and my own confidence.
“I’m glad that we at least got back to the points.”
The Papaya rules were a sticking point for the team last season, but today, the drivers were given the freedom to race as the laps began to tick down. Asked if the current rules of engagement were clear, Piastri responded:
“I think today’s race and the circumstances were pretty extreme. We were approaching back markers, one dry line, not knowing if there was going to be rain to come. I’ll speak to the team and try and understand better what the thinking was, but, you know, I think it’s always clear that those kind of calls can come in either direction.”
The Australian driver jokingly linked his escape from the grass to his recent visit to Jeremy Clarkson’s farm when he learned how to reverse a tractor.
“I was just trying to stay in the race, [I tried] to go forwards, and then couldn’t, so, [it was] a good thing I spent some time in the offseason trying to learn how to reverse a tractor at Jeremy Clarkson’s farm. I think it came in handy today.
“I was just trying to get myself back to the race.”
Looking ahead to the Chinese Grand Prix next weekend, which will host the first sprint race of the season, Piastri added:
“Yeah, definitely [some positives we can take]. I think for essentially 56 laps of today’s race, I was very proud of the job I did.”
With Piastri and fellow Australian driver Jack Doohan both missing out on podium finishes, the Aussie curse is yet to be broken. The McLaren driver was keen to continue with the race in front of the passionate crowd but joked that some “voodoo magic” needs to be carried out before next year.
“It’s something you kind of dream of as a kid racing at home, being the one that most people support, so it’s really special. Melbourne’s always been a city that gets behind any sport that comes here, but I think the passion, for one, is just growing and growing, so, it was really cool to see how big the crowds were the whole weekend.
“Maybe [Australia can] do some voodoo magic or pray to break this curse for Australia, so maybe next year we can get some good luck and finally get another up there on the podium.
“If they could mow the grass a couple of inches shorter, that might help me. It’s obviously a shame with how it went today. I feel like we deserve to have, or the crowd deserves to have an Aussie on the podium to cheer for.
“So, it obviously hurts at the moment that I can’t be up there [on the podium], but I think for myself, there’s still a lot of positives to try and take out today. And I think if we’ve got a car like we had today in the future, then hopefully we don’t have to wait too much time.”
Since Albert Park joined the F1 circus in 1996, no Australian driver has managed to finish on the podium. Piastri, who has just signed a contract extension with McLaren, is keen to break this curse next year.
