Oscar Piastri faced a challenging weekend at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, held at the Baku City Circuit, as he struggled from the start. The Australian driver, representing McLaren, endured multiple setbacks, beginning with a crash during qualifying that forced him to switch to a replacement chassis and start the race from ninth position. His difficulties escalated when he jumped the start, struggled with the anti-stall system, and ultimately crashed on the first lap at Turn 5.
Detailed Breakdown of Key Mistakes During the Race
Sky Sports F1 analyst and former Formula 1 driver Anthony Davidson provided insight during the race broadcast, highlighting the unusual string of errors Piastri made throughout the weekend.
I can’t remember the last time that Oscar Piastri made so many mistakes during the course of a weekend, but like [Andrea] Stella was saying, hopefully it’s all accumulated in this one weekend,
Davidson said.
Davidson explained how the jump start triggered complications with the anti-stall system. The system’s alert appeared briefly on Piastri’s dashboard, causing the engine to free-rev as the clutch was released without moving the car. Piastri had to quickly re-engage the clutch and revs, which led to a sudden and violent car movement. This disrupted his restart, causing him to lose many positions and making him vulnerable to a five-second penalty.
Despite this rocky beginning, Piastri managed to regain some composure by carefully navigating Turn 2 on cold tires and then accelerating at Turn 3 to overtake Alex Albon’s Williams car. He continued to press forward by overtaking Pierre Gasly immediately after and maneuvered around Haas driver Esteban Ocon by slotting in behind him on the track.
The Critical Moment at Turn 5 and External Factors
The turning point of Piastri’s race came at Turn 5 where Davidson believes the driver was influenced by Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg’s racing line. Hulkenberg was attempting a move outside of Ocon’s Haas but ran exceptionally wide, which may have caused Piastri to misjudge his braking point.
This is where it all goes wrong in Turn 5. What I believe happens here is that he’s got Hulkenberg in front of him, trying to make a move around the outside of one of the Haas drivers. I think it in a way goads Piastri into thinking ‘that’s where I can brake.’ But Hulkenberg runs wide himself, very wide actually,
Davidson said.
Davidson added that Piastri was likely following Hulkenberg’s lead too closely, which led to the miscalculation causing him to hit the barriers. The analyst conceded this was a partial reason for the crash but still held Piastri responsible for the error.
To give Oscar some credit here and some let-off, I think he’s just following in another driver that is also going quite deep. You judge the gap between yourself and the other car and I think that’s what’s caught him out here and why he’s ultimately ended up in the barriers.
I think if the car in front of him, Hulkenberg, had been a bit easier on the brakes, naturally it would have made Oscar brake a bit earlier as well. But I’m giving him excuses.
Expectations Versus Reality for a Championship Leader
Considering Piastri’s current position as the leader of the drivers’ championship, the mistakes he made were unexpected and disappointing. Davidson emphasized that this weekend’s errors were uncharacteristic of a driver of Piastri’s caliber.
The calibre that he is as a driver, leading the world championship, as difficult as this is, you shouldn’t really be expecting mistakes like that when you are at his level. So a really disappointing weekend.
Championship Standings and Future Prospects Post-Baku
Despite retiring early due to the crash, Oscar Piastri retains the lead in the drivers’ championship. However, his advantage over teammate and main rival Lando Norris has decreased to 25 points. Meanwhile, Max Verstappen, who heads to the upcoming Singapore Grand Prix after consecutive victories, has narrowed his gap to Norris to 44 points and trails Piastri by 69 points. This tightens the competition for the championship and places greater pressure on Piastri to avoid further errors in the remaining races.
