Oscar Piastri’s Australian GP crash did something ‘never felt’ before by fans in Melbourne

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Home hero Oscar Piastri was forced to watch the Australian Grand Prix from the sidelines after crashing out on his way to the grid, and local F1 journalist Richard Craill has revealed how it affected the ‘vibe’ of the 2026 season-opener.

The Australian Grand Prix has always been a difficult circuit for F1 drivers who hail from the country. In fact, there hasn’t been an Australian winner of the event during its history as a staple on the yearly schedule.

After a mistake last year cost him an opportunity to stand on his home podium, David Coulthard had predicted that Oscar Piastri would put a stop to the curse and take victory, but it quickly became clear that it wouldn’t happen in 2026.

On his reconnaissance laps ahead of Sunday’s proceedings, Piastri fell foul of an unexpected uptick in performance from his Mercedes power unit and was sent careering into the barriers on the exit of turn four.

The incident ended the Australian’s day before it had even begun, and his absence from the Grand Prix wasn’t taken well by local fans who wanted to catch a glimpse of their national hero.

• READ MORE: Ted Kravitz ‘puzzled’ by how Zak Brown reacted to Oscar Piastri’s Australian Grand Prix crash

DISASTER for Oscar Piastri! He crashes before the Australian Grand Prix has even started!

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Richard Craill details how Oscar Piastri’s crash ‘sucked the life’ out of F1 fans in Melbourne

During an appearance on the F1 Nation podcast after George Russell secured victory for Mercedes, Australian commentator Richard Craill detailed how the atmosphere at Albert Park changed following the home hero’s crash.

He told the usual duo of Tom Clarkson and Jolyon Palmer, “I’ve never felt the vibe at a Grand Prix change as quickly as it did when the big screens around the circuit, at exactly the same time we did, cut to the shot of the McLaren with the front corner and the front wing hanging off.

“Everyone looked at the helmet and went, ‘Oh no, it’s Oscar!’ It sucked the life out of the venue. There were 138,000 people here today, and all of them, I think, felt a bit like they’ve been punched in the guts and winded by it.

“The pressure he has on his shoulders at this race is extraordinary. Oscar is a genuine Aussie sporting hero.

“So, that was way worse than if he had crashed out at turn one, lap one, or if the McLaren had blown up on lap 15 and he was running fifth or sixth. The shock of that, before the race even started, was what I think, for me, made it harder to take.”

1997 F1 champion Jacques Villeneuve attempted to find a silver lining for Piastri in the aftermath of the race.

He noted that the Australian was unlikely to score ‘big points’ in the Grand Prix anyway, offering the McLaren star some solace that it hasn’t completely derailed his whole season.

• READ MORE: Anthony Davidson provides theory on what was at fault for Oscar Piastri’s Australian GP crash

Liam Lawson also struggled with Racing Bulls’ new 2026 F1 car during the Australian Grand Prix

While it wasn’t quite a home race for Liam Lawson, the New Zealander also struggled at Albert Park, the closest thing he has to a home Grand Prix.

Lawson ran into difficulties with harvesting electrical energy from his Red Bull-Ford power unit and was lucky not to be shunted out of the race after suffering from a slow start as the lights dropped.

The 24-year-old would go on to take the chequered flag one lap down from the frontrunners in P13, while rookie teammate Arvid Lindblad secured debut points in P8.

On a much more optimistic note, George Russell hailed Franco Colapinto’s lightning reactions to avoid Lawson’s stricken VCARB03 as the ‘save of the season’ so far after seeing a replay in the cooldown room.