Oscar Piastri was in contention for victory with teammate Lando Norris at his home Australian Grand Prix, but made a mistake on lap 43, went off the track and got stuck in the wet grass. Oscar was able to reverse back onto the tarmac, and joked after the finish that his experience behind the wheel of a tractor on Jeremy Clarkson's farm helped him do so.
“I was trying too hard,” Oscar Piastri said of his crash. “It's hard to judge how slippery the track is in those conditions. I think the asphalt changed a lot with each lap. I saw Lando go off the track in front of me, but since I was already in the corner, there was nothing I could do to slow down.
When you're on the grass, you try to keep the car as straight as possible. But when I got stuck, I couldn't believe it happened. But I only have myself to blame for what happened.
“I was trying to get back into the race and I put the car in reverse. I tried to go forward first but I couldn't. It's a good thing I spent some time on Jeremy Clarkson's farm in the off-season to learn how to reverse a tractor. I think that came in handy today.”
Oscar Piastri finished ninth, overtaking Lewis Hamilton on the final lap.
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