McLaren’s Oscar Piastri has admitted that his championship ambitions cannot withstand another disastrous outing like the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, with the Australian reflecting on the hard lessons learned from his nightmare weekend in Baku.
The Formula 1 title leader saw his margin at the top of the standings shrink after a chaotic first lap in which he jumped the start, dropped to the back, and eventually crashed out.
With just seven rounds remaining, Piastri now holds a 25-point advantage over teammate Lando Norris, while Max Verstappen has clawed his way back into contention with consecutive victories for Red Bull.
Reflecting ahead of this weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix, Piastri emphasized the need to avoid repeating the mistakes that derailed his race in Azerbaijan.
"We don't want to have weekends like Baku and we know we can't afford to have weekends like Baku,” he told reporters.
"Certainly from my side of things there was some tough lessons to take but I think as a team we kind of recognised a few opportunities from the weekend to try and improve. So that's always an important thing.
“Baku was quite a good reminder of firstly how quickly everything can change but also on some of the things that have made the season so successful for myself and the team.
“So I think just trying to stay focused on that will naturally take care of the championship picture.”
Lessons in Risk and Recovery
Despite the costly setback, Piastri believes the experience has made him sharper in handling pressure and risk management.
"There's some lessons about how I can deal with that better and just lessons on risk I guess is the best way to put it,” he said. “There's nothing revolutionary that I think needs to change or that I am going to change.
“For 16 of the 17 weekends what I've been doing has worked very well. If I make sure I stay focused on the things that have gone well then it will continue to go that way. Nothing revolutionary. I'm just putting it down to some mistakes.”
The 23-year-old added that the process of moving on was less difficult than it may have appeared from the outside.
"I think it was relatively easy to move on from actually. I think in some ways because the mistakes were so obvious, you leave every weekend trying to find how you can improve.
“But there's some weekends, normally the ones that go well, where it's a bit more difficult to find where it's possible to improve.
“But also if you don't have a clear idea of where things went wrong then often the hardest part is finding where to start. I think when the mistakes and the consequences are so obvious it's quite easy to find where to look.
“I think the reflection on that has been pretty straightforward and I feel comfortable coming back in now.”
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Piastri’s remarkable ability to swiftly refocus underscores his maturity as a championship contender.
“I certainly haven't had to dwell on it too much, the lessons are there but I've been able to move on from it quickly and just approach this weekend like any other weekend."
With Singapore promising to be one of the trickiest tests on the calendar, and with Norris and now Verstappen hot on his heels, the Australian driver knows another misstep could prove very costly.
However, his calm demeanor and clear-eyed analysis suggest he’s ready to tackle the challenges ahead, starting with a strong showing under the Marina Bay lights.
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