Oscar Piastri successfully avoided retirement from the Australian Grand Prix thanks to an unexpected skill learned at Jeremy Clarkson's farm, despite spinning out of podium contention during his home race.

Starting strong, McLaren dominated until a late rain shower caused both Piastri and teammate Lando Norris to slide wide in the final sector. While Norris maintained his lead, Piastri spun onto the grass at the penultimate corner, dropping from second to last place.

When stuck on wet grass, Piastri utilized reverse driving skills learned while operating tractors at Jeremy Clarkson's farm during the off-season. This unexpected experience helped him maneuver to a run-off area and continue racing.

Despite missing the opportunity to win his home race, Piastri remained positive about his performance: "For essentially 56 laps of the race, I was very proud of the job I did. The pace was really strong. Obviously disappointed with the mistake I made, but that doesn't take away completely from how strong the whole weekend's been."

The incident highlighted McLaren's improved early-season form, with Piastri noting, "One thing we wanted to do this year was start stronger than we've started the last two years, and (Sunday) pretty emphatically showed that we mean business."

Although the mistake will sting temporarily, Piastri acknowledged the challenging conditions that affected multiple drivers while maintaining perspective on his overall strong weekend performance.

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