Oscar Piastri has not started either of the opening two Formula 1 grands prix in 2026, as McLaren suffered a double-blow and Mercedes celebrated another victory.
Teenager Kimi Antonelli won an action-filled Chinese Grand Prix, achieving his maiden win in F1 one day after becoming the youngest ever pole sitter.
McLaren failed to start either Piastri or Lando Norris, with both drivers suffering suspected electrical issues.
Piastri, who failed to start last weekend’s Australian Grand Prix after crashing on his way to the grid, was wheeled into the garage just minutes before the start of the grand prix.
Norris never even made it out of the garage, with the issue to his car being found about 90 minutes before lights-out.
“It was an electrical problem on the power unit, different to Lando’s,” Piastri said.
“Just very unfortunate to both have issues, but we don’t fully know any more than that at this point so, yeah, obviously disappointing.”
The double Did Not Start (DNS) is the first time both McLarens failed to begin a grand prix since the infamous race at Indianapolis in 2005, when all teams using Michelin tyres refused to race due to safety concerns.
Piastri, the first McLaren driver to have consecutive DNS since Bruce McLaren failed to start at the US and Mexico in 1969, said the team had to gain knowledge of the new regulations just by watching everyone else.
“I think try and learn what we can by watching the race, then after that just trying to do as much work as we can before Japan,” he said.
“I think obviously the problems today have been annoying, but I think besides that we know we’ve got work to do to find more performance, so that’s what we’ll try and focus on.”
