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Since the Albert Park was re-opened in 1996, no Australian driver was able to pick up a win or a podium at this very track. Regarded as the Australian curse, even McLaren driver Oscar Piastri was unable to break it this season despite having enormous chances.
Albert Park Circuit was opened for racing in 1953, approximately 71 years ago. But after five years (1958), it was closed. The Australian motorsport authority re-opened the circuit again in 1996, and from then to 2025, no Australian driver managed to grab a podium at the Melbourne circuit.
Even former Australian F1 drivers Mark Webber and Daniel Ricciardo, multiple-time race winners in F1, failed to break the curse. After Piastri renewed his contract with McLaren this year, he was hoping to break it but to no avail.
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As for Australians, it was another race weekend in Australia and another failed Australian driver — this time, Piastri. Despite starting from P2 and having optimism, the McLaren driver failed to break the Australian GP curse, as he finished the race in P9.
The #81 driver started the 2025 Australian Grand Prix with decent performances in the Free Practice sessions. His qualifying performance (P2), also put him in a strong place ahead of the race. Even if he failed to grab the victory against Norris, he could have settled for P2, or P3, which in a nutshell, would have been a podium.
However, Lap 44 changed everything. Oscar Piastri was charging toward Norris, and in doing so, he skidded due to the wet track and ran wide. He over-steered into the grass and got stuck as his tires spun. After staying stationary for about a minute, he was able to reverse his car and get back on the track again.
Oscar Piastri then moved to the pit lane, changed his tires to intermediates, and joined the race. He started from the back of the pack but slowly moved upwards, thanks to the mighty MCL39 underneath him. In the end, the Australian driver finished the race in P9.
Oscar Piastri "pretty disappointed" after Australian Grand Prix incident
Following the conclusion of the race, Oscar Piastri shared his thoughts in the post-race interview. The McLaren driver stated that he could have done significantly better than just P9 on Sunday. Here's what he said as per Junaid Samodien on X:
"Given I was trying to reverse for a minute, we made the right decisions. There was much more on the table than P9 today, so it is a shame to not have that result," Piastri said. "For me, the big positive is the other 56 laps of the race, I felt I had really strong pace in all conditions and that is what I will try and take from this weekend."
"It's obviously pretty disappointed at the moment. I feel like for every lap bar one I drove an incredibly strong race and don't have anything to show for it. I don't have anyone to blame but myself, a bit unfortunate to get stuck like I did but I put myself there," he further added.
Lando Norris claimed the inaugural race victory ahead of defending champion Max Verstappen. George Russell finished the race in third place.
