Topics: Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri, Formula 1, McLaren
Lando Norris' immediate reaction to Oscar Piastri's crash ahead of the Australian Grand Prix has been revealed.
This weekend, the much-anticipated 2026 Formula 1 season kicked off with the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne.
On Saturday, George Russell laid down the gauntlet by producing a brilliant lap time of 1:18.518 to clinch the first pole position of 2026.
The Brit was 0.293 seconds ahead of his Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli, with Red Bull's Isack Hadjar qualifying in third place after Max Verstappen crashed out during Q1.
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On Sunday, there was a chaotic start to the proceedings as local hero Piastri, who was due to start in fifth place, crashed during his reconnaissance lap.
The Australian's McLaren was seen spinning at the exit of Turn 4 before hitting the wall.
Although Piastri climbed out and walked away unhurt, he was unable to take part his home race.
Taking to his team radio, Norris reacted by asking: "Did something happen? Or he just broke down?"
In response, race engineer Will Joseph said: "He lost it on the exit kerb at Turn 4 doing a shift."
Norris went on to finish in fifth place, behind the likes of Lewis Hamilton, Charles Leclerc, Antonelli and Russell, who won the race by more than 2.9 seconds.
Reacting to the accident that ended his race before it even began, Piastri said: "I'm just disappointed. I mean, just shock and surprise, really. I was backwards before I'd even really had a chance to react. It all happened pretty quick. But crashing out of the race or trying to get to the race is a situation that shouldn't happen.
"It would almost be easier in some ways if we just said there's cold tyres and I was optimistic. But when you add in another factor like that, it always is even more painful."
Piastri then hinted at what caused the crash, he explained: "We had a couple of things going on.
"I think the first part I want to stress is that there is certainly a big element of it that was me. Cold tyres, I have used that exit kerb every lap of the weekend, but I didn't have to. At the same time, I had about 100kW extra power that I didn't expect, which is not insignificant.
"The difficult part to take is that everything was working normally. It's just a function of how the engines have to work with the rules. So, that's the part that's difficult to accept."
F1 will return next weekend with the Chinese Grand Prix, taking place around the Shanghai International Circuit.
