Australian restaurant chain Grill’d has offered a tongue-in-cheek apology after fans blamed their “curse” for Oscar Piastri’s recent Formula One misfortunes. The promotion, which offered a free burger for every time the McLaren driver reached the podium, seems to have jinxed the Australian star’s title hopes — at least according to online conspiracy theorists.

Since the campaign relaunched five races ago, Piastri, 24, has failed to finish in the top three. He has lost the championship lead to teammate Lando Norris and now sits 24 points behind.

The Piastri 81 Burger first debuted ahead of the Australian Grand Prix in March with the driver’s endorsement, then relaunched in September after he hit the podium in Italy and was leading the championship. But since then, misfortune has struck: crashes, collisions, and penalty points have left the McLaren driver far from the podium.

Even after the promotion was tweaked to reward fans for finishing races, Piastri crashed out of the São Paulo sprint, further fueling fan superstitions.

“Please stop this promotion and give us some hope for the last three races,” pleaded one fan on Grill’d’s Facebook page this week.

Responding with characteristic humor, Grill’d posted an apology on social media:

“To everyone who believes in the ‘curse’ — we never meant to create a burger so delicious it could change the course of F1 history.”

The chain added:

“Sure, we can take a joke about a curse. But let’s be real, we’d never bet against a guy like Oscar Piastri. He’s our homegrown Aussie hero, and we’ll always be in his corner.”

Whether the “curse” is real or not, Grill’d has certainly scored points for self-aware humor — and perhaps for giving fans a reason to indulge in a burger while cheering on Australia’s rising F1 star.