'We looked like idiots': Oscar Piastri crashes rival out of race in day to forget for Aussie in Canada
Updated . First published at
Oscar Piastri will be hoping to forget his weekend out in Canada.
A critical tyre blunder from the McLaren garage dropped the Australian deep into the mid-pack early in the Formula 1 race on Monday (AEST), forcing Piastri into a robust defensive drive just to hold position.
McLaren bizarrely threw their drivers out on the track to start on intermediate tyres, even though both drivers called to change the tyres, instantly knowing it was the wrong decision to make.
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Piastri could be heard on the radio during the two extra formation laps saying "this is a mistake" to his race engineers after realising that neither McLaren car was able to get their tyres up to temperature.
Sky Sports pundit Karun Chandhok gave an insight into the paddock's thoughts, saying multiple people stopped him to ask "what the f--- was McLaren thinking with the intermediate tyres?"
Kimi Antonelli was the eventual winner of the race - his fourth consecutive race win of 2026 - as Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen rounded out the podium.
Piastri finished out of the points in 11th.
"I mean, it was raining and between the the anthem and getting in the car, it was pretty wet on the ground. In all honesty, there was definitely no standing water, but it was...you could clearly tell where it was wet and where it was dry," Piastri said to media after the race.
"Getting to the grid was not easy on slicks, getting to full throttle was pretty tough.
"Unfortunately for us, it stopped raining as the formation lap started, basically.
Oscar Piastri tags Alex Albon on lap 13. Twitter
"Just one of those things where if it rained a little bit more, we would have looked like heroes, but it didn't, so we looked like idiots.
"Just one of those things."
On lap 13, Piastri looked to overtake Haas' Ollie Bearman and instead found himself unable to brake quickly enough into the turn 10 hairpin.
Alex Albon was an unlucky victim, being speared in the side by Piastri.
The Williams driver was instantly forced out of the race due to damage and the Aussie driver was slapped with a 10-second penalty for causing the collision.
"It was just so difficult out there," Piastri said further.
Oscar Piastri finished in 11th place in a cold Canada F1 race. Getty
"I felt like I was going into the corner pretty carefully, and (I) locked the front and that was it.
"Obviously not my finest moment, and apologies to Alex and Williams because it was unnecessary damage for both of us, especially for them."
He served the penalty during a late pit stop and crossed the line in 11th place, unable to catch Bearman and push himself into the points places.
It was a similarly devastating day for polesitter George Russell.
After battling valiantly with teammate Antonelli, the British driver fell victim to a sudden power unit failure, leaving him heartbroken as he was forced to retire from the race.
George Russell fell victim to a power unit failure. Getty
Six drivers retired out of the race, including McLaren's Lando Norris, which was a test of survival in Montreal, Canada.
Cold temperatures and tyre gambles after the threat of rain had drivers slipping off the track and into the walls.
Next time out in Formula 1 is June 7 at the Monaco Grand Prix.
