The 2023 Formula 1 season couldn’t have started on a worse note than it did for the rookie, Oscar Piastri. 15 laps into his Formula 1 career, the Australian was asked to box. However, it wasn’t a strategic call by the Woking-based team, rather the 21-year-old was asked to pit due to electrical issues. The team thought that they could remedy the issue by giving him a steering wheel change. Be that as it may, as soon as he pulled into the pits, the team tried to change his wheel, but decided to retire him for good.
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After being out-qualified by Lando Norris in his first head-to-head as teammates, Piastri made a stellar race start and was on for a good finish. However, as soon as his race started to materialize, his MCL60 gave up for good.
LAP 15/57 Oscar Piastri's first F1 race is over 😖 Looks like an electrical issue has ended his night #BahrainGP #F1
Piastri’s McLaren debut was one of the most anticipated storylines of the Bahrain Grand Prix. Naturally, the way the young Australian’s race ended did not go down too well with the fans. As soon as Piastri was asked to retire by the team, fans stormed the social media platform to share their reactions.
Fans react as Oscar Piastri retires on his F1 debut
Your Formula 1 debut has to be the most special day of your life. That being said, when Oscar Piastri may have woken up this morning, he would have hoped for his Bahrain GP to have gone in a very different way than it did today. Fans really were feeling it for the young charger. One fan even commented, “Zak Brown hates Australians,” obviously hinting at Daniel Ricciardo‘s cursed McLaren stint.
Let’s take a look at just a few of the fan reactions to Oscar Piastri’s F1 debut retirement.
This tweet aged well
The Daniel Ricciardo connection wasn’t lost on the fans as well. The Honey Badger was sacked for the young Australian to replace him. But the way their season has begun, Ricciardo surely has a bit of solace to lean back on.
Oscar Piastri DNF #BahrainGP :
Ricciardo right now:
LAP 15/57 Oscar Piastri's first F1 race is over 😖 Looks like an electrical issue has ended his night #BahrainGP #F1
The fans were having a gala day on Twitter, courtesy of Piastri and McLaren’s misery.
rip oscar piastri #BahrainGP
POV: You're Oscar Piastri
That’s what I said from last year Get your drivers a race winning car instead blaming your drivers 😐
LAP 15/57 Oscar Piastri's first F1 race is over 😖 Looks like an electrical issue has ended his night #BahrainGP #F1
All in all, fans weren’t really pleased with how the team has gone about their 2023.
Fans also took a dig at the young McLaren driver.
Piastri's steering wheel right now
As he said on his tweet Piastri will not be driving
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Is this going to be McLaren’s worst-ever season in Formula 1 history?