"I would've unplugged the radio": IndyCar star Scott McLaughlin opposes McLaren's Australian GP team order for Oscar Piastri

IndyCar star Scott McLaughlin has weighed in on McLaren's controversial team orders at F1's Australian GP. In Lap 29, the Woking-based outfit asked Oscar Piastri, who was in P2, to "hold position" and not race teammate Lando Norris who was leading.

Piastri wasn't happy with the order from the Andrea Stella-led team and replied, saying, "I'm faster, but OK." The Aussie driver accepted his fate and allowed the gap with Norris to widen. IndyCar driver McLaughlin gave his opinion on McLaren's decision on social media platform X.

"Great for Lando, but feel for OP. Home race getting told to hold pozzy, bit rich, first race of the year. I would’ve unplugged the radio, sorry @benbretzman 😂😂 " he wrote, tagging his Team Penske race engineer in the post.

Surprisingly, once Oscar Piastri fell nearly three seconds behind Lando Norris, McLaren radioed him to let him know that he was free to race his British teammate. Because fans couldn't comprehend the confusing nature of these calls, team CEO Zak Brown gave an explanation post-race.

The 53-year-old explained how they wanted both drivers to clear the traffic ahead, the lapped car of Haas' Oliver Bearman, before being allowed to race each other.

In Lap 44, the McLaren pair, which was over 15 seconds clear of Max Verstappen in P3, lost control of their cars coming out of Turn 12. Piastri was more affected as he beached his MCL39 on the grass before Turn 14. While the home hero impressively got the car off the grass, a heartbreak ensued as he couldn't finish higher than P9, earning only two points.

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Scott McLaughlin names the F1 rookie who deserved Driver of the Day more than Lando Norris at the Australian GP

Scott McLaughlin after winning pole position at IndyCar's Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg - Source: Getty

Lando Norris had a near-flawless weekend at the Australian GP. He edged out teammate Oscar Piastri in qualifying by less than a tenth of a second and held the lead off the race start on Sunday. He would've led all laps of the race if not for the lap 44 incident.

Nonetheless, it was a stellar drive and F1 fans voted him 'Driver of the Day.' The Briton got 20.7% of the votes while Piastri was in second with a 17.2% share. However, Scott McLaughlin feels the award should've gone to Mercedes rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli.

The 18-year-old, who had seven-time champ Lewis Hamilton's shoes to fill, recorded the highest-ever finish for a rookie in the last decade with a P4 finish behind experienced teammate George Russell.

"Hear me out Kimi Antonelli - driver of the day," McLaughlin wrote in an X post.

In the closing stages of the race, Antonelli was given a five-second penalty for an unsafe release in the pits. This demoted him to P5. However, the Toto Wolff-led Mercedes lodged a petition for a Right of Review and got the penalty overturned to get the Italian rookie his P4 back.

Scott McLaughlin had an equally impressive outing at IndyCar's season-opening Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on March 2. He earned pole position in qualifying, but an early caution in the race put him at a strategic disadvantage against his rivals. Nonetheless, he managed to secure P4 behind Team Penske teammate Josef Newgarden.