Piastri finds something to joke about after McLaren’s double DNS in China

Oscar Piastri found it in himself to joke about McLaren’s double DNS at the Chinese Grand Prix when he bumped into Lando Norris in the media pen during the race.

It was just one of two costly moments for the Australian driver during the Shanghai weekend.

Oscar Piastri jokes with Lando Norris after McLaren double DNS in China

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Neither Piastri nor Norris took the start in Sunday’s 56-lap grand prix as their MCL40s sat stationary in their respective McLaren garages.

Both cars suffered electrical problems with the Mercedes power unit.

While Norris’ car never left the pit lane, McLaren discovering an issue as the team fired it up in the garage, Piastri completed his recon laps and parked his MCL40 in P5 on the grid.

David Coulthard asked him: “Your teammate is still in the garage, any concerns for your car?”

Piastri replied: “Not that I’m aware of! At least I’ve made it to the grid myself this week so we are off to a better start on my side.”

That didn’t age well.

McLaren drivers react to double DNF in China

Piastri quips ‘been a while since I’ve watch two grands prix on TV’

Lando Norris reveals issue behind McLaren DNS disaster in China

Piastri’s better start ended when McLaren fired up his car ahead of the formation lap and found an electrical issue, but not the same one as Norris, with his power unit.

His mechanics pushed his car off the grid and into the garage.

Out of the cars as the race got underway, Piastri and Norris changed out of their race suits and headed to the media pen where they were back-to-back as the teammates spoke of their disappointment at the situation.

But finding a reason to laugh in the midst of it all, Piastri, walking past Norris, said: “Fancy seeing you here.”

Norris, laughing, replied: “Shut up!”

The double DNS was detrimental to McLaren in the standings as Norris fell to sixth with 15 points, 36 down on championship leader George Russell. Piastri, meanwhile, has just three points.

But according to 1996 world champion Jacques Villeneuve, he should have at least one more.

Battling Kimi Antonelli during Saturday’s Sprint, Antonelli was forced to give a position back to the Mercedes driver after his pass at the restart after the Safety Car was deemed illegal.

Piastri overtook Antonelli before it was permitted to do so but onboard footage later revealed Antonelli had made a mistake and run wide and was almost entirely off the track when Piastri overtook him.

Villeneuve told Sky F1: “Antonelli went off the track, so at that point, you’ve given up the right to stay ahead.

“He was more than five car lengths behind the car ahead. You’re supposed to stay within five car lengths, and he wasn’t any more.

“So what should Piastri have done? Hit the brakes and create mayhem behind? Something has to be looked into there.”

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