Piastri Takes Blame for Crash at Azerbaijan GP: F1 Low in Baku

Oscar Piastri took full responsibility for the accident that took him out of the race on the opening lap of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, costing him six points in the drivers’ championship against his McLaren teammate, Lando Norris. After a crash in Saturday’s qualifying session, Piastri started the race from ninth on the grid, but dropped to last place at the first corner after his car went into anti-stall mode following a false start. While trying to recover positions on the opening lap, Piastri tried to go around the outside of a group of cars at Turn 5 and crashed into the barriers.

I think, ultimately, I miscalculated the grip level,” Piastri said. “Probably a lot of that is from the dirty air, but I know more than that, to expect the lack of grip.

Oscar Piastri

I’m certainly not blaming anything else. It was two simple mistakes on my part that I caused today.

Oscar Piastri

Piastri commented that there was no obvious reason for his two accidents in so few days, but he was consoled by his performance during the weekend.

You’re never going to 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 focusing a lot on leaving that behind.

Oscar Piastri

I would be much more concerned if these mistakes were because I was trying to recover time or do things like that. I think there should have been… obviously they were costly mistakes, but things that can be easily rectified.

Oscar Piastri

There hasn’t been anything different [this weekend]. It depends on how you want to see it.

Oscar Piastri

For me, if I felt like I was in a completely different mental state, then it’s easier to blame it on that, and also a problem to rectify, I suppose.

Oscar Piastri

But this weekend felt like any other weekend, only that unfortunately there have been too many mistakes from start to finish.

Oscar Piastri

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 has 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 focus solely 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.

Oscar Piastri