Oscar Piastri out of Australian Grand Prix after crashing ahead of race

[p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/piastri-oscar/MqKAIeUf/"]Piastri[/a] appeared to ‌lock up when hitting the exit kerb ‌of turn four, skidded and slammed ‌into a barrier, damaging his right front wheel, the front wing and nose ‌of the car.[/p][p]Piastri, third in ⁠the championship ‌last season, said he was OK on the ​team radio and exited the car before walking back to ​the pit.[/p][p]McLaren boss Zak Brown said they were now focusing on the one ⁠car they ​had in the race driven by defending champion [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/norris-lando/WSVABbVF/"]Lando Norris[/a].[/p][p][b]"We've[/b] [b]not seen anything on the data so far,[/b]" said ‌Brown.[/p][p]"He didn't say anything on the radio. So we'll do a post mortem after the race and see what happened.[/p][p]"[b]For now, we've got to focus on the car we have in the race and get the excitement level back up.[/b]"[/p][embed guid="943b624d-f8c4-44d5-9b90-ca95f40e1ba6" url="https://x.com/F1/status/2030486559372218682" social-type="twitter" /][p]Piastri was to ‌have lined up fifth on the ​grid.[/p][p]F1's new engine era has proved ‌a steep learning curve for drivers, with a number struggling with reliability problems and the new way of driving which involves more emphasis ⁠on energy deployment ⁠and regeneration.[/p]