Oscar Piastri concedes he only has himself to blame for blowing a golden opportunity to secure a historic podium at the Australian Formula One Grand Prix in Melbourne.
Piastri was set to become the first Australian to finish in the top-three since the race moved to Albert Park in 1996 as he narrowly trailed McLaren teammate Lando Norris.
Sitting comfortably in second behind eventual winner Norris, Piastri's promising race became a nightmare on lap 45 as wet weather in Melbourne continued to cause chaos.
Piastri, who grew up 15 minutes away from the street circuit, lost control of his car after hitting the gravel before ending up on the grass.
Even though the 23-year-old's car suffered no major damage, when he returned to the track his hopes of a win, or even a podium, were dashed as he was near the back of the field.
Piastri crossed the line ninth, recovering from as far back as 14th following his mishap.
"Once you're in the gravel, in the grass, you obviously try to keep the car as straight as possible," Piastri said.
"Then to get stuck in the grass like that was pretty unbelievable, just sat in the car.
"But I've only got myself to blame for being there, so it's a shame."
Pole-sitter Norris, an early favourite to claim this year's world title, held off a strong late challenge from four-time defending champion Max Verstappen to win the season-opening race.
"To start the season off like this, with a win is good enough but to do it in such a stressful race, one where it's so easy to make a mistake, so easy to to ruin everything quickly," Norris said
"It could have all have gone wrong within a second. It's stressful, but rewarding."
Mercedes star George Russell claimed a crucial podium spot by coming in third.
Piastri joins former Australian stars Mark Webber and Daniel Ricciardo in having horror stories from their home GP.
Alan Jones was the most recent local winner of the Australian GP, back in 1980 at Calder Park Raceway, before the race joined the F1 world championship calendar in 1985.
"I feel like the crowd deserved to have an Aussie on the podium to cheer for, so it obviously hurts at the moment that I can't be up there," Piastri said.
"But I think for myself, there's still a lot of positives to try and take out."
Earlier, fellow Australian Jack Doohan's first home GP also ended in disaster after he came unstuck on the opening lap, becoming one of six drivers not to finish in what was a chaotic race.
Doohan slid on the slippery white lines and into the wall as his Alpine car suffered major damage which forced him out of the race.
The incident brought out the safety car out until the end of lap seven.
Already, the race start had been delayed 15 minutes after Racing Bulls rookie Isack Hadjar hit the wall on the formation lap at turn two.
The incident ended the French-Algerian's F1 debut before it had even begun, leaving the 20-year-old devastated.
Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton's father, Anthony, even went over to comfort Hadjar when he was walking back into the paddock.
Hadjar wasn't the only rookie to endure a difficult weekend, with Haas teenager Oliver Bearman suffering endless mishaps in his first round as a full-time driver.
Bearman, who made his F1 debut as a reserve driver at Ferrari last year, crashed twice across practice and his crew was unable to have his car ready for qualifying.
The Englishman was then forced to start the race from pit lane after being penalised for his mechanics tweaking the car's suspension.
AUSTRALIAN FORMULA ONE GRAND PRIX RESULTS
1. Lando Norris (McLaren)
2. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
3. George Russell (Mercedes)
4. Alex Albon (Williams)
5. Andrea Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes)
6. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
7. Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber)
8. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
9. Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
10. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari)
