Oscar Piastri took full responsibility for the accident that took him out of the race on the first lap of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. This incident cost him six points in the drivers’ championship, compared to his McLaren teammate, Lando Norris.
After a crash in Saturday’s qualifying session, Piastri started from ninth position on the grid. However, by the first corner he had already dropped to last position, because his car went into anti-stall mode after a false start.
While trying to regain positions on the first lap, Piastri tried to overtake a group of cars on the outside at Turn 5 and crashed into the barriers.
“I think, ultimately, I miscalculated the grip level,” Piastri said. “Probably a lot of that is down to the dirty air, but I know to expect the lack of grip.”
Oscar Piastri
“I certainly blame nothing else. It was two simple mistakes on my part that I caused today”.
Oscar Piastri
Un Oscar Piastri abatido tras chocar en el Gran Premio de Azerbaiyán. Se vio al piloto de McLaren al borde de la pista viendo la carrera desde un teléfono antes de regresar al garaje más tarde.Piastri commented that there was no obvious reason for his two accidents in so few days, but he was consoled by his overall performance during the weekend.
“You’ll never feel incredible after a weekend like this, but ultimately I felt the pace has been good this weekend,” he said. “I think it’s rare that I have so many execution errors, so I’m very focused on putting that behind me.”
Oscar PiastriAdded: “There hasn’t been anything different [this weekend]. It depends on how you want to see it”.
“For me, if I felt like I was in a completely different mental state, then it would be easier to blame that, and also a problem to rectify, I suppose”.
Oscar Piastri
“But this weekend felt like any other weekend, only, unfortunately, there have been too many mistakes from start to finish.”
The weekend in Azerbaijan was Piastri’s first in 2025 without scoring points, but with Norris only scoring six points after finishing seventh, the Australian still maintains a 25-point lead at the top of the standings with seven races remaining.
“Yes, that’s what it is,” he said. “I’m not too worried about it.”
Oscar Piastri
“I think for me, I’m solely focused on myself and what I can do to improve”.
Oscar Piastri
“There’s still a long way to go. And whether you have good or bad weekends, the championship is far from over. That’s what I’m focusing on.”
