McLaren Formula 1 driver Oscar Piastri has labelled his late-race Azerbaijan Grand Prix mistake as “a bit weird”, after losing the podium in Baku.
Piastri was running third following the second safety-car restart and came under pressure from Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar after being overtaken by Max Verstappen at the first restart.
Attempting to defend on the inside in Turn 1, the Australian had an enormous lock-up and went straight on, collapsing from third to 15th – the penultimate position in the bunched-up pack.
“I need to look, because it was a bit weird just locking up both fronts instantly like that,” Piastri commented. “I didn’t think I did anything spectacular. Obviously I was on a different line to what I normally would be, defending. So I don’t know if I was on a crown in the road or something, but it certainly was a surprise to me.
“Once Max got ahead, I was never going to get back past, but it would have been interesting to see if I could keep Hadjar behind. To be honest, it probably would have been tough. It’s hard to tell on the medium because they were pretty heavily flat-spotted, but I didn’t feel anywhere near as good on the medium as I did on the soft.
“I think potentially we could have been P4. One thing is saying ‘we could have been’, and one thing is where you actually finish.”
Oscar Piastri, McLaren, Isack Hadjar, Red Bull Racing
Photo by: Alex Pantling / LAT Images via Getty Images
Piastri has notoriously been struggling all season with F1’s 2026-spec machinery, but for once he outperformed team-mate Lando Norris in Baku; the 25-year-old equalled his best qualifying result of the season with third place, and could have taken his first podium finish since Miami.
“In general, I wouldn’t necessarily say I’ve been more comfortable, but I’ve been able to get more lap time out of the car,” he explained. “I’ve been able to understand which direction I need to go in with my driving especially.
“Apart from one moment in the race, I feel like it’s been a weekend much more at the level I expect from myself. From that side of things, it’s been much more encouraging. Just, obviously, it’s pretty painful to not have anything to show for it yet.”
So what direction did Piastri need to go in with his driving, exactly?
“The previous cars, especially in the race, you drove at 99%,” he explained. “You had to look after the tyres a little bit, and driving at 99% was the fastest way to drive.
“With these cars, it feels like you have to be at 101% all the time, and as soon as you can’t be, then you just haemorrhage lap time. That’s why I say it’s not necessarily been more comfortable this weekend, but I’ve been able to get to that 101% or 100% a bit easier.
“I feel like I’ve definitely learned some interesting things this weekend to take forward, but it’s still a learning process.”
Additional reporting by Kemal Sengul
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