Piastri's Tractor Skills from Clarkson's Farm Save His Australian GP Race
Oscar Piastri managed to avoid retiring from the Australian Grand Prix thanks to an unexpected skill learned during his off-season visit to Jeremy Clarkson's farm, where he practiced reversing tractors.
Formula 1 car racing on track
During the race, a late rain shower caused both McLaren drivers to slide wide in the final sector. While teammate Lando Norris maintained his lead, Piastri spun onto the grass at the penultimate corner, dropping from second to last place. Using his tractor-reversing experience, he carefully maneuvered his car back onto the track through the wet grass.
Despite the disappointing outcome, Piastri remained positive about his performance, noting that for 56 laps of the race, his pace was extremely competitive. The incident occurred when track conditions changed dramatically between laps, catching several drivers off guard.
The Australian driver acknowledged that while the mistake cost him a potential home race victory, the weekend demonstrated McLaren's improved form compared to previous seasons. He emphasized that one error shouldn't overshadow the team's strong overall performance and their clear intent to compete at the front of the field from the season's start.
"One thing we wanted to do this year was start stronger than we've started the last two years, and Sunday pretty emphatically showed that we mean business," Piastri reflected, maintaining an optimistic outlook despite the challenging end to his home race.