F1 | Piastri admits four mistakes in one weekend are unusual but isn’t worried about Max Verstappen

Oscar Piastri experienced a weekend in Baku to forget: four mistakes, including a false start and two incidents, mark an unusual occurrence for the Australian driver, who avoided a potentially more damaging zero-point finish. Piastri knows where to focus to defend his championship lead and isn’t concerned about Max Verstappen re-entering the title fight.

Limited damage

If one were to summarize Oscar Piastri’s weekend in two words, “limited damage” would likely be the most fitting. The Azerbaijan GP paradoxically saw everything go wrong yet also surprisingly well. Yesterday’s qualifying crash, which relegated him to ninth on the grid, compounded the errors committed today, ultimately leading to his retirement.

The Australian driver made a mistake right at the start, committing a false start even before the lights went out. At the restart, he reacted slowly due to the anti-stall system, slipping to the back of the pack. Attempting to recover positions, the McLaren driver then hit the barriers at turn 5 seconds later, ending his race prematurely.

A costly error for two reasons

First, it caused retirement, eliminating the chance to limit the damage after yesterday’s qualifying incident. Second, the manner of the mistake itself was significant: Oscar Piastri kept trying to rotate the car despite locking up, ultimately hitting the wall at an angle that damaged the suspension instead of opting for a front-on impact that might have been absorbed by the front wing.

Considering how the race unfolded, a comeback into the points zone would have been unlikely anyway. The paradox is that, during the worst weekend of the season, those who should have capitalized failed to do so.

Lando Norris, in fact, had an anonymous qualifying session on Saturday, similar to today’s race, spending much of the time stuck in traffic without making a difference. On a track where overtaking is challenging, especially in a DRS train, the British driver paid the price, missing an opportunity to gain valuable points and increase breathing room in the championship. The gap was reduced but remains 25 points.

Focus on mistakes

What Oscar Piastri focused on most was the number of errors during the weekend. While not unprecedented this season, the accumulation of mistakes has made a difference compared to Norris. The British driver has made errors throughout the championship, paying the price in terms of points and lost opportunities.

Oscar Piastri emphasized how unusual it is for him to make so many mistakes in a single weekend. Even reviewing his first two years in Formula 1, he generally had anonymous weekends rather than critical errors: “Obviously, you don’t feel great after a weekend like this, but in the end, I think our pace was still good this weekend, and I believe it’s rare for me to make so many execution mistakes.”

Three errors in the same weekend, plus a “kiss” with the wall in FP2 that prevented him from pushing on low fuel, are an anomaly for Oscar Piastri. However, he remains focused, turning frustration into determination to grow in the areas he knows need improvement to prevent a repeat.

“I’m very focused on putting this all behind me. I’d be more concerned if these mistakes were due to trying to recover time or something similar. I think that, even though they were costly errors, they’re things that can be corrected quite easily.”

“In the end, I misjudged the level of grip, and much of it was probably due to dirty air, but I know I need to anticipate a lack of adhesion. So I’m certainly not blaming anything else. If I had been in a completely different mental state, it would have been easier to assign blame elsewhere. But this weekend was like all the others—simply, unfortunately, there were too many mistakes from start to finish.”

Championship implications

Today’s victory, along with 25 points gained, allowed Max Verstappen to close the gap in the standings, now 69 points behind the championship leader. The four-time world champion has won the last two races on tracks favorable to the RB21, but before understanding if he can truly re-enter the title fight, it will be crucial to observe how Red Bull performs on less suitable circuits.

Both Monza and Baku were among the tracks least favorable to the MCL39. Without yesterday’s errors, McLaren could have had the potential to fight for the podium, as they did two weeks ago in Italy. Looking ahead, upcoming tracks are expected to highlight the strengths of the papaya car, a test McLaren cannot afford to fail.

However, Oscar Piastri doesn’t seem overly concerned about Verstappen returning to the title battle, emphasizing that his focus is on himself and maximizing his car’s potential: “I don’t know, I don’t want to rule it out,” Oscar Piastri said regarding Max’s chances of re-entering the championship fight.

“Honestly, I’m not too worried. I’m just trying to recover from this weekend and deliver the best performances possible. I know that if I return to the level I know I can reach, then it’ll be more than fine,” added the Australian, who noted that Verstappen could act as a factor between the two McLaren drivers.

“If he ends up between us and I’m ahead, that’s positive for me. If it’s the other way around, then it’s negative. So there are positives and negatives. But ultimately, I want to make sure my performance is at the level it needs to be, and then I’ll let the rest unfold as it should.”