The McLaren driver was pressing race-leader Lando Norris before paying a huge price for a late mistake on the wet track at the Melbourne Grand Prix
In a wet field of grass there Oscar Piastri sat, the man in orange marooned by his spinning wheels. The Australian driver – after a rapid rise in Formula One – was all of a sudden stationary.
In the ruthless world of F1, if you’re not moving forwards you’re going backwards. Sure enough, the hometown hero tumbled down the order, from a podium sure-thing, cascading through the points to a place among the back markers.