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Oscar Piastri called upon some unique experience to avoid retiring from the Australian Grand Prix but admits spinning out of contention of his home race hurt.
McLaren was in control of the race before a late rain shower saw both race leader Lando Norris and Piastri slide wide in the final sector. While Norris could retain he lead as he rejoined the track and immediately entered the pits, Piastri spun onto the grass at the penultimate corner and was stuck for nearly an entire lap as he dropped from second to the back of the field.
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“The start was not amazing, but I just got pinched on the inside a little bit and then got overtaken,” Piastri said. “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. So just a shame that all of that didn’t lead to the result we wanted to.
“I tried to push a bit too much I guess. In those conditions it’s very difficult to judge just how slippery it’s going to be. I think from one lap to the next it had really changed a lot and I could see Lando going off in front of me, but I was also already in the corner basically, so there wasn’t much I could do to slow myself down at that point.
“Then once you’re in the gravel and the grass you obviously try to keep the car as straight as possible. And then to get stuck in the grass like that was pretty unbelievable, sat in the car, but I’ve only got myself to blame for being there, so it’s a shame.”
Piastri reversed slowly on the wet grass to make his way to a run-off area and remain in the race, and he says it was a skill that benefitted from an unusual experience over the winter.
“I was just trying to stay in the race, tried to go forwards and couldn’t, so it’s a good thing I spent some time in the off-season trying to learn how to reverse a tractor at Jeremy Clarkson’s farm. I think it came in handy, I was just trying to get myself back in the race.”
Despite missing out on the chance to win his home race – extending a run that of no Australian finish on the podium at their home race – Piastri says the overall signs for both himself and McLaren are encouraging.
“I think for essentially 56 laps of the race, I was very proud of the job I did. The pace was really strong, and obviously disappointed with the mistake I made, but I think that doesn’t take away completely from how strong the whole weekend’s been, for not just the team, but for myself.
“I feel like I’ve done a good job all weekend, so I think it wouldn’t be pessimistic of me to just write off the whole weekend because of one mistake.
“I think one thing we wanted to do this year was start stronger than we’ve started the last two years, and I think (Sunday) pretty emphatically showed that we mean business.
“Clearly it will hurt for a period of time, but I’m still happy with the job I did apart from that one (lap). Those are incredibly tough conditions and I think we saw a lot of people struggling, not that that means I should struggle, but I think there’s still plenty of positives to take.”
