McLaren explain why Oscar Piastri told to “hold position” at F1 Australian Grand Prix

McLaren CEO Zak Brown has explained why Oscar Piastri was instructed to “hold position” when closing in on Lando Norris at the Australian Grand Prix.

After getting by Max Verstappen on Lap 17, Piastri reeled Norris in with a series of fastest laps.

On lap 29, he moved into DRS range of his teammate but was soon told by McLaren to “hold position.”

Piastri’s charge for the win faded as he dropped a couple of seconds behind Norris, who had run wide at Turn 6.

Speaking to Sky Sports after the race, Brown explained that they wanted both drivers to clear the traffic - they were lapping Haas’ Ollie Bearman at the time - before letting them battle on track.

“I don’t think that had anything to do with it,” Brown said. “We, Andrea and I on the pit wall, actually just kind of released him to go racing, and we just wanted to make sure we cleared the traffic.

“So that was a hold for a moment, and then it looked like he dropped a wheel and then fell back a bit of a gap. But I just think they were pushing really hard in very tricky conditions.”

Piastri could only come away from the race with a P9 finish.

As rain fell during the latter half of the race, both McLaren drivers ran off the track in the final sector.

While Norris could return to the track, Piastri slid off into the grass and was beached for a prolonged period.

The Safety Car for Liam Lawson and Gabriel Bortoleto’s cars allowed Piastri to get back in the fight, overtaking Lewis Hamilton to finish ninth.

“I feel terrible for Oscar. He drove such a brilliant race and they both came up on that rain at the same time,” Brown added.

“Lando was able to collect it up. For Oscar, a little bit more tricky, and he drove great to get back to P9 but awesome team effort in an exciting race.”

Brown cautious about McLaren’s pace

It was a great day for McLaren, who won the season opener for the first time since 2012.

The various Safety Cars masked McLaren’s true advantage over the rest of the field.

On Lap 30, Norris and Piastri were over 16 seconds ahead of Verstappen in third, who struggled for pace following his mistake.

However, Brown is remaining cautious about the rest of the season.

“It looked good, but, as we know, that’s one track, one race. Let’s see what happens in China,” he explained.

“But definitely, we’re starting the season very strong. But we saw, last year, Max won the first six, seven races, whatever it was, and then had a bit of a drought. So I think we just got to keep doing what we’re doing.”