Piastri admits to ‘lapses in judgement’ after Baku nightmare

Oscar Piastri has shouldered the blame for his error-strewn Azerbaijan Grand Prix weekend, admitting he failed to make “the judgement calls” he needed to remain out of harm’s way in Baku’s treacherous environment.

After crashing out on the opening lap of Sunday’s race, the McLaren driver saw his title bid wobble after crashing out on the opening lap. Yet, in a refreshingly honest debrief, Piastri made no excuses for a series of costly mistakes that marred his time around the demanding Baku City Circuit.

Piastri’s race unravelled almost as soon as it began. After moving before the lights went out, his McLaren fell into anti-stall, dropping him to the back of the field.

Eager to claw back ground, the Australian overcooked his entry into Turn 7, locked up, and slammed into the barriers at the very same corner where he had crashed in qualifying.

“Certainly not my finest moment,” he acknowledged, speaking to Sky F1. “Just anticipated the start too much. Silly, simple error really. The crash just didn’t anticipate the dirty air in the way I should have.

“Clearly, I went into the corner way too hot and that was that.”

On whether low grip played a part in his accident, Piastri was unequivocal: “Potentially. The grip level was low but I should know that. I

“I am certainly not blaming it on anything but myself. I didn’t make the judgement calls that I needed to make at the right time and that’s obviously disappointing.”

A Weekend to Forget

Piastri’s Sunday disaster capped a messy weekend in Baku that had already left him on the back foot. He brushed the barriers in free practice, sustained damage, and later crashed out of Q3 with a heavy lock-up at Turn 3, leaving him ninth on the grid.

“More or less. Friday was a tough day. Saturday, the potential was very good,” he said. “I had a lot of sequences or sectors that were incredibly strong and just never got it all together.

“Qualifying yesterday, it was what it was. Today, more silly mistakes. It was certainly a messy weekend for sure.

“I would be more concerned if I was slow and trying to make up for it that way, and having these errors because of that.
“The fact that there are just simple lapses in judgement is obviously not a position that I want to be in and not the position it puts the mechanics in. It’s been a rough weekend for them. If I am trying to find a silver lining then I suppose I have that.”

Damage Limitation in the Championship

Despite his self-inflicted woes, Piastri emerged from Baku still very much in control of the championship picture. With teammate Lando Norris only managing seventh place, the Australian’s lead shrank by just seven points and remains a healthy 25 with seven rounds to go.

• 2025 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Race results

Piastri refused to dwell on what happened with Norris or the title mathematics, instead stressing that his focus must remain on correcting his own mistakes.

“That I guess is what it is. I am not too concerned about that,” he said.

“For me, I am solely focused on myself and what I can do to improve. There’s still a long way to go. If you have good or bad weekends, the championship is far from over. That’s what I am focused on.”

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