Piastri rocked in double disaster as rain wreaks havoc at Australian GP
Oscar Piastri's hopes of becoming the first home winner of the Australian Grand Prix in 45 years have suffered a cruel blow after he slid out of contention on a chaotic rain-affected opening race of the year. Fellow Aussie Jack Doohan also suffered a nightmare in his first ever home GP after crashing out of the race on the first lap. Piastri's McLaren teammate Lando Norris navigated the mayhem to win from pole, ahead of Red Bull's Max Verstappen and Mercedes driver George Russell.
The biggest disappointment of the afternoon came when Piastri slid out of contention on lap 44, while in second behind teammate Norris. Both McLaren's had changed to slick tyres despite the threat of more rain and it proved the wrong move as the Aussie spun out of control with a podium place well within his sights to all but end his hopes.
Piastri was denied the first pole position of his career by McLaren teammate Norris after the Brit beat his best time in qualifying by eight-hundredths of a second. And the misery was compounded for the McLaren driver on Sunday, in a horror afternoon for the Aussie drivers.
Unfortunately for Doohan, the Alpine driver did not even make it past the first lap as he crashed out in the greasy conditions. A massive downpour on Sunday caused some of the earlier support races to be cancelled and there were concerns about Sunday's F1 race being delayed and potentially shortened due to the treacherous conditions.
After a brief delay to start the race, the action got underway with the two McLaren's shooting out ahead of the pack and taking an early lead. But Doohan's hopes quickly went up in smoke as he slid out of contention, sparking the first safety car of the race.
There were more dramatic scenes on the opening lap as the drivers struggled to get to grips - quite literally - with the greasy track at Albert Park. Fellow rookie Isack Hadjar also crashed out, while new Williams driver Carlos Sainz left the tarmac under the yellow flag after hitting the wall and retiring his car in a chaotic opening to Sunday's race.
Safety Car deployed 🟡Jack Doohan is OUT of the race on the first lap 😩Doohan we all with you 👍👍#F1 #AusGP #doohan#jackdooohan pic.twitter.com/XRywztEIzv
— The खबर (@TheNew685796) March 16, 2025
The biggest downpours happened earlier in the day, with the rain mostly clearing before the race got underway a little later than the scheduled 3pm (AEDT) start time in Melbourne. Stewards conducted an extensive check before giving the all-clear for the season-opening race to go ahead, but with weather radars indicating more scattered showers on the horizon, it was always expected to be an eventful race.
Two-time former world champion Fernando Alonso became the fourth competitor to see his race ended after a heavy crash for the veteran Aston Martin driver. Alonso's back right wheel almost came off after a forceful collision with the wall at turn 6, causing debris to scatter across the track and the second safety car of the day to be deployed on lap 34.
LAP 34⚠️ SAFETY CAR ⚠️🛑 ALONSO OUT! 🛑He touches the kerb and gravel through Turn 6, SPINS and CRASHES his car into the wall smashing the right side suspension after doing a 180.Fernando is OK and out of the car.#F1 #F125MEL #MEL #AusGP #Formula1 #F175 pic.twitter.com/MaFecIqUuQ
— F1 Racing (@F1racing) March 16, 2025
Many of the drivers took the opportunity to change to slicks during the second safety car, with Norris streaking ahead once again when the race resumed. But there was another disaster for Aussie fans moments later as more rain came down and Piastri slid off the track while in second place, as his hopes were all but ended.
Piastri was vying to end Australia's long wait to have a local driver on the top of the podium and the McLaren ace went into the race full of confidence after an impressive showing in qualifying. But the weather that had threatened to cause all sorts of problems before the race, delivered a dagger blow to the Aussie on Sunday.
Disaster for home town boy Oscar Piastri at the 2025 Australian Formula One Grand Prix, with the McLaren jet spinning out on lap 44.A tense race has been complicated by the arrival of more rain, with the added water leading to Piastri's disastrous spin.Piastri was able to get… pic.twitter.com/iEMrtZvkcS
— 10 Sport (@10SportAU) March 16, 2025
That's a major disaster for Oscar Piastri 😕#AustralianGP
— Bling-Van-Gandhi 🇿🇼 🇲🇿 (@takuxy8) March 16, 2025
Absolute heartbreak for Oscar Piastri as he plummets down to P13 😭😭😭#F1 #McLaren #AustralianGP pic.twitter.com/M2eM8SInye
— McLaren F1 Zone 🟠 (@TheMcLarenZone) March 16, 2025
thinking how damn happy oscar was this whole weekend and he was doing well the whole race and now this happened. my heart is so heartbroken for him. 🙁💔
— dea (@junopiastri) March 16, 2025
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