Oscar Piastri

It seems Daniel Ricciardo wasn't the problem at McLaren after all. Australian Oscar Piastri has endured a nightmare Formula One debut, as engine failure meant ...

20) Oscar Piastri, McLaren (DNF) [Daniel Ricciardo](/topics/daniel-ricciardo) 19) Charles Leclerc (DNF) 18) Esteban Ocon, Alpine (DNF) “It’s tough for Lando. “Lando had an extremely rough pit stop.

What should have been the most memorable day of his short career became a very forgettable one.

“We changed steering wheels but it didn’t seem to have done the trick, so we have to diagnose what it is.” “It’s a challenging start to the year,” sighed Brown. “There are positives to take and the car seemed to have better pace in the race (than in practice),” he said. So, Piastri became the first driver to retire in the F1 season, a miserable baptism for the driver who has been touted for great things after a dazzling career in the F2 and F3 ranks. But the 21-year-old was later adopting a brave face on McLaren’s opening-day debacle, adamant that there were still “positives to take” for a team seemingly going in the wrong direction after a dreadful three days. He’d been told the mechanics would swap his steering wheel as soon as he pitted, which should fix the problem, but when he came in, the stop dragged on agonisingly as it became clear it was too big a fix.

Australian Oscar Piastri's Formula One debut lasted 14 laps before his McLaren was wheeled into the garage with an electrical problem in Sunday's Bahrain ...

Register for free to Reuters and know the full story "We had a few issues we had to manage, which really took us out of the race but we tried to stay in it for as long as possible, just in case there was a Safety Car or something," he said. "There are positives to take and the car seemed to have better pace in the race," he said.

Whatever Oscar Piastri had in mind for his ideal first Formula 1 race weekend, what transpired in Bahrain will have been the opposite.

“Just a few things flashing up on the dash that were a bit unexpected. Piastri explained that the issues began to surface a few laps before he was ultimately forced to retire, and like Brown said the team had hoped that a change of steering wheel was going to do the trick. “We changed steering wheels but that doesn’t seem to have done the trick so we will have to diagnose what it is, but appears to be electrical related.” Lando Norris in the other McLaren was also battling issues, with a trio of trips into the pit lane for what appeared to be refills of the engine pneumatic system. His first Grand Prix was also far from a smooth affair, Piastri encountering issues in the first third of the race, which at his pit stop McLaren hoped they could fix with a change of the steering wheel. Piastri does come into Formula 1 with a glittering record in the junior series, making him one of Formula 1’s most exciting rookies in recent times, but he will be hoping that what went down in Bahrain is by no means a sign of what is to come.

Oscar Piastri replaced Daniel Ricciardo at McLaren after his compatriot was axed. Read more here.

Daniel Ricciardo's 2022 performance at McLaren was a disaster, and from an outside view, Oscar Piastri's de...

he was not able to get out of Q1, half a second behind Lando Norris, no real reason in the car. [Piastri had a car failure and didn't finish the race](https://wwos.nine.com.au/motorsport/f1-2023-bahrain-grand-prix-max-verstappen-wins-oscar-piastri-retires/d3460dfb-14c9-41f7-95e4-36f07b761662). They pitted him and changed it, but the wheel was not the problem. I'm now looking forward to having a better weekend in Saudi Arabia." "I thought up until the electrical problem, we were doing a good job. The team responded saying they believed it was an issue with the steering wheel. On the other hand, Piastri has been out of a race car for a year. On lap 14, Piastri radioed the team saying he had lost the gearbox. "I think he's feeling his way in," Kravitz said. Norris is obviously the team leader. [Oscar Piastri](https://wwos.nine.com.au/motorsport/oscar-piastri)'s debut grand prix in Bahrain didn't look any better. [Daniel Ricciardo](https://wwos.nine.com.au/motorsport/daniel-ricciardo)'s 2022 performance at [McLaren](https://wwos.nine.com.au/mclaren) was a disaster.