Oscar Piastri met Vin Diesel at Miami F1 Grand Prix – here’s why the rest of his race was a disaster

McLaren’s Oscar Piastri may have met Hollywood star Vin Diesel at the Miami GP, but the rest of his weekend was a non-stop disappointment as the Aussie dropped to penultimate after a brake pedal issue and tire backfire.

Diesel was on the F1 circuit promoting the upcoming release of Fast X along with fellow star Michelle Rodriguez and paid a visit to the McLaren garage before racing started.

While Rodriguez, who plays the character of “Letty” in the Fast and Furious franchise, was enjoying a hot lap with Piastri’s teammate Lando Norris, Diesel was more intrigued by the vibrant color choices on the Aussie’s helmet.

McLarens Instagram video shows the Hollywood star asking Piastri if he chooses the colors himself, then bursts into laughter when the Aussie said yes.

‘You are kidding me!’ he exclaimed.

“Nothing, it’s great. This is not fair. Come on, you can’t ask him to pick the colors too. Did you build this place?’

Piastri struggled with brake issues throughout the race, battled after qualifying 19th and had to settle for a team strategy decision that backfired badly on a weekend to forget

The Aussie driver is enjoying a memorable debut season at McLaren after replacing compatriot Daniel Ricciardo

While Piastri hoped his fame would provide a much-needed boost to his debut in Formula 1, his car had other ideas.

The problems started in qualifying when the Aussie dropped to 19th place.

McLaren took a gamble on a different tire strategy and put Piastri on the soft compound to take positions early in the race.

Unfortunately, the decision backfired and Piastri’s tires started to deteriorate after just a few laps.

Things went from bad to worse when the Australian’s brake pedal malfunctioned, causing his pace to drop significantly.

Despite a valiant effort, he finished second to last, only ahead of Williams’ Logan Sargeant.

“I had a lot of problems with the car during the race. We had a fault in the brake-by-wire system for six or seven laps,” said Piastri.

“I managed a lot of issues after that. I had a really good first lap, passing five cars and that was the highlight of the weekend.

‘Otherwise a frustrating afternoon to avoid all the problems. We will now concentrate on a better weekend in Imola.’

McLaren teammate Lando Norris also struggled, finishing in 17th.

Team boss Andrea Stella took to social media to try and explain the botched strategy that saw both drivers sink to the bottom of the standings.

“Given our starting positions, we needed a good start, an eventful race and high tire degradation to climb into the points,” he said.

“Unfortunately none of these circumstances panned out and the race was a bit of a procession in the back for us.

“Oscar had a brake-by-wire problem for a whole race and did a fantastic job solving that by minimizing the impact and keeping a decent pace.

Our main conclusion from Miami is that we weren’t fast enough this weekend. After scoring points in Baku, this weekend serves as a reality check to see how much work we have ahead of us.’

Frustrated McLaren fans took to social media to express their frustration.

“Some big changes need to be made, and they need to be done quickly,” one wrote.

“Great to see Lando doing so well now that he’s off DR [Daniel Ricciardo]. Maybe next season he can drive both cars and change his own tyres.’ added one more.

“It’s hard as a driver to face this every week through no fault of their own. The team needs a complete overhaul,” another posted.

Piastri has had a shaky start to his debut season, with only one points finish so far. McLaren hopes to turn things around at the next race at Imola on May 21 as they look to climb up the Constructors’ Championship.