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Oscar Piastri’s 2026 F1 season got off to the worst possible start last weekend in Australia, and Jolyon Palmer thinks that the McLaren star will feel the brunt of it at the upcoming Chinese Grand Prix.
Australian F1 fans let out a collective groan upon seeing the state of Oscar Piastri’s McLaren F1 car on his reconnaissance laps ahead of his home Grand Prix last Sunday.
A sudden spike in torque saw the Australian sent into the barriers on the exit of turn four, and Piastri’s season-opener was over before it had even properly started.
How do you expect Oscar Piastri to respond to his Australian GP crash at the Chinese GP?
The incident posed two problems for the 24-year-old. The obvious problem is that Piastri is now on the back foot in the F1 standings.
He’s aware of the minute margins that can decide championships from his title fight with Lando Norris and Max Verstappen last year, one that proved to be split by just two points in favour of the Brit.
The other is that Piastri was unable to get any real experience of the new F1 cars in racing conditions, something that Jolyon Palmer thinks will severely hinder him at the upcoming race weekend in China.
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Jolyon Palmer highlights how Oscar Piastri is now at a disadvantage to his rivals in China
During a Chinese Grand Prix preview episode of the F1 Nation podcast, Palmer noted how Piastri’s lack of experience in racing conditions with his new McLaren MCL40 will affect his weekend in Shanghai.
Asked for some insight on the state of mind that Piastri will be in this weekend, Palmer replied, “He’ll have confidence because this circuit is such a niche drive with those quirky corners.
“If you’ve got a good result and you’ve got form here, especially I think front limited circuits, he’s generally more competitive than Lando in that it favours him more than Lando.
“That’ll give him confidence, but he is going to pay the price for not racing in Melbourne as well, because they’re all still so new with the cars.
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“Remember, he’s not done a race start, he didn’t even do a formation lap to work out exactly how you’re dealing with the battery and getting the tyres up to temp.
“He’ll learn from Lando, but in terms of having that first-hand feel of dropping the clutch at the start, how do you race into turn one with varying battery levels?
“You’ve got Arvid Lindblad flying through, you’ve got Hamilton flying through, but then you’ve got Hadjar and Antonelli going nowhere. He’s got to learn all of that.”
- READ MORE: McLaren desperate to address tyre issue that’s leaving Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri vulnerable
Helmet Marko defends Oscar Piastri for his crash at the Australian Grand Prix
Piastri has actually found himself an unlikely ally in former Red Bull chief Helmut Marko, who has leapt to the defence of the McLaren star for his crash last weekend.
Marko came under fire for his comments about Isack Hadjar’s formation lap crash at the Australian Grand Prix last year, but the events surrounding Piastri’s crash have drawn some sympathy from the Austrian.
In an interview with Krone, Marko was asked about Verstappen’s crash in qualifying on the day prior, to which he replied, “His rear axle locked up due to a technical fault, and he had no chance.
“You also have to defend Oscar Piastri here. He suddenly had 120 more horsepower and that’s why he went off the track on the kerb.
“That brings us to the point where the mapping is more crucial than the driver. I really admire the commentators who try to convey everything that happens in the cockpit and in the car.”
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