Oscar Piastri had a race to forget in Azerbaijan. The Australian, who is leading the championship and was last year’s winner of the GP in Baku, made a false start and then parked his McLaren into the wall. Experts point to a number of atypical errors from the usually cool-headed driver. After the race, Piastri was notably hard on himself.
“It was certainly not my finest moment,” Piastri told Sky Sports. “I simply expected too much from the start.” After a disappointing qualification, the championship leader had to make up a lot of ground from ninth place. In doing so, he accelerated too early. “Actually a stupid, simple mistake.” Piastri also didn’t spare himself about the crash. “I just didn’t judge the dirty air correctly,” he admitted. “I clearly went into the corner much too fast, and that was it. The grip was low, but I should have known that. So I blame no one but myself.”
The Australian concluded with a realistic assessment. “I simply didn’t make the right decisions at the right time, and that’s obviously disappointing.” It’s undoubtedly a heavy blow for the championship leader, who will leave Baku without any points. Teammate Lando Norris had to uphold the honor of the papayas, but with his seventh place, he couldn’t secure the constructors’ title yet. Meanwhile, Max Verstappen took advantage of McLaren’s misfortune. With a new victory, team boss Andrea Stella seems to be right; the Dutchman still has a shot at a fifth world championship.
