Oscar Piastri’s Belgian Grand Prix ended on the very first corner in a cruel piece of bad luck for the Australian rookie.
Piastri had been enjoying a breakout weekend in Belgium, becoming the first rookie driver in 10 years to lead a Formula One race on his way to finishing second in Saturday’s sprint race.
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He started fifth on the grid for Sunday’s grand prix and had hopes for a podium after two strong top five finishes in Britain and Hungary.
Piastri made a solid start off the line but was squeezed into the corner at Turn 1 as Carlos Sainz locked up his brakes and pushed the Aussie into the wall as he tried to avoid Lewis Hamilton on the other side.
Piastri sustained serious damage to his McLaren and he ground to a halt in the gravel, triggering a Virtual Safety Car.
“I’ve got damage,” Piastri said on team radio as he was forced to come to terms with just his second DNF of the season.
He wasn’t impressed Sainz didn’t leave him room and pushed him into the wall.
“I don’t know what he was doing. I was there and he just turned in like I didn’t exist,” Piastri said.
Sky Sports commentator David Croft said: “His race absolutely ruined after tangling with Carlos Sainz at La Source.
“Absolute disaster for Oscar Piastri, who stopped on the track. You get the feeling Carlos Sainz, fearful of that (brake) lock up tried to avoid Lewis Hamilton and in doing so, got tangled up with Oscar Piastri.”
Martin Brundle said: “I think Oscar Piastri hit the wall inside the first corner with the squeeze down there with Carlos Sainz.
“He (Sainz) braked quite early, quite cautiously, but the space he was aiming at disappeared. That can happen.”
Race officials ruled the incident did not need to be investigated, but perhaps karma caught up with Sainz when he had to retire his car midway through the race.
Piastri was seen having a chat with McLaren CEO Zak Brown in the paddock afterwards and looked understandably glum as he watched the rest of the race.
Sainz further enflamed the situation when he blamed the crash on Piastri’s inexperience.
“I was on the attack with Lewis, I went to pass him into Turn One, I think I had the move pretty much done and suddenly I received contact on my rear right by Oscar,” Sainz told Sky Sports F1.
“I honestly didn’t expect him to go and choose to be three into Turn One with him so much on the inside.
“My opinion, I’ve been racing in Spa seven or eight years and everyone who has tried that move on the very inside has always generated an incident or a crash. If you look back at past starts here, that is normally the case.
“Maybe a bit of an experience mistake but it’s how it goes.
“I didn’t expect him there, no. I did at one point see him (in my mirrors) that he was on the wall pretty much, but I was more focused on my battle with Lewis.
“I didn’t miss the apex or anything, I went to attack Lewis and Oscar went to attack Lewis and me, which I think in my opinion was a bit optimistic.”
Piastri was more measured, describing the collision as a “turn one, lap one incident”.
“I had a good launch and got to Carlos’ back wheel. He jinked quite hard to the right, locked up and I had to take a bit of avoidance from that and then by that point I was kind of still there, and with how I had to get out of the brakes it was quite hard to then back out of it fully,” Piastri told Sky Sports F1.
“I either had to stay where I was or try and commit more and get further alongside. It’s always tight into Turn One like that, but just disappointing to end at the first corner.
“I’ve seen the video, it’s difficult. Carlos didn’t have much space on his outside but I also didn’t really get given that many options. It’s a tricky one. I’m sure we’ll see if I could have done a few things differently. Just a shame to be out so early.”
He added to Sky Italy: “It’s I guess a Turn One, Lap One incident. It’s a shame we’re on the bad end of it. I don’t think there were too many things I could have done differently.
“Once Carlos went to the right and locked up, it didn’t leave me too many options going into the corner.”
Most pundits agreed it was misfortune rather than a mistake.
“I don’t really blame anyone there,” Sky Sports F1’s Anthony Davidson said. “It’s just a case of that pinch zone into the first corner catching them out. It’s one of those things.”
“That was a typical Spa first corner,” added Brundle. “It started actually with Sergio diving across the track, which made Lewis do the same, and as soon as Sainz put any sort of steering lock in, you’re always going to lock up that inside unloaded tyre.
“Piastri could have slowed down a little bit more but he certainly wasn’t bombing in out of control and trying to make a silly move. It was all a bit unfortunate.”
But Sky Sports F1’s Naomi Schiff said replays of the incident showed there was a lesson for Piastri to learn.
“Initially, it looked a lot more like it was Sainz’s fault when you saw it in the race action,” she said. “Now that you see it from Sainz’s onboard it’s almost like as soon as he moved over Piastri was really in his blind spot. He could have potentially moved over a little bit more to make himself more known to Sainz.
“Everyone is looking ahead, I think (Sainz) thought that inside was clear, he had that lock up. Piastri could have backed out of it to keep them both safe through that corner.
“The race doesn’t end in the first corner, it’s a long race, 44 laps, so maybe that’s what there is to learn here – don’t be too greedy.
“But at the end of the day, they’re all racers. For him I think initially it seemed like a free gap and suddenly Sainz came in. It’s a tricky one. Racing incident as they said, but there’s always something to learn.”
Max Verstappen started sixth on the grid but need only a handful of laps to take the lead on his way to yet another race victory.
His Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez was also on the podium in second and Charles Leclerc finished third.
Australia’s Daniel Ricciardo drove a solid race but could only finish 16th in his AlphaTauri.
Belgian Grand Prix results
1) Max Verstappen
2) Sergio Perez
3) Charles Leclerc
4) Lewis Hamilton
5) Fernando Alonso
6) George Russell
7) Lando Norris
8) Esteban Ocon
9) Lance Stroll
10) Yuki Tsunoda
11) Pierre Gasly
12) Valtteri Bottas
13) Zhou Guanyu
14) Alex Albon
15) Kevin Magnussen
16) Daniel Ricciardo
17) Logan Sargeant
18) Niko Hulkenberg
DNF: Carlos Sainz, Oscar Piastri