Piastri: “In Baku things weren’t working, I was overdriving…”
The turning point, in a negative sense, of Oscar Piastri’s season was the controversial team order issued by McLaren in Monza, after Lando Norris suffered a slow pit stop that cost him his position relative to Piastri. The request to give back second place had psychological repercussions for Oscar Piastri, who then endured a disastrous weekend in Azerbaijan, ending with a first-lap crash: “Before Baku there was Monza, which I didn’t consider a particularly positive weekend for my performance, and then of course what happened with the pit stops. But then also in Baku, Friday was tough, things weren’t working, I was overdriving, and I wasn’t very happy with how I was driving. In the end, I probably tried to compensate a bit on Saturday. I think there were some things in the preparation phase that maybe weren’t the most helpful, and then incidents occurred during the weekend.”
He added: “We had an engine issue in FP1 that destabilized things a bit, and then I wasn’t driving very well. That weekend we used the C6 tires (Pirelli’s softest compound), notoriously tricky to manage. There were a lot of small factors that ultimately contributed.”
The worst weekend of his career, yet valuable
Reflecting on Baku, Oscar Piastri admitted it was the lowest point of his racing career, not just in F1: “Obviously, it was a pretty terrible weekend, but I think I learned a lot, both technically and emotionally. No sugarcoating, it was the worst weekend I’ve ever had in racing, but probably the most valuable in some ways.”
To process the disappointment, Oscar Piastri considered the experiences of other champions during their careers: “When you start looking at things this way, it usually helps a lot. If you consider some names who have had shocking weekends, races, or almost unbelievable moments where things went wrong, it happens to everyone. There isn’t a single person in racing who doesn’t have a story of a weekend gone badly. Seeing things from this perspective helps a lot, but you still need to learn a lesson from a weekend like that.”
Support from Webber and Stallard
Discussing this difficult period, Oscar Piastri highlighted the importance of two key figures. The first is Mark Webber: his compatriot, manager, and former F1 driver who has endured his share of bitter weekends, particularly during his long stint at Red Bull. Oscar Piastri explained: “I imagine he had to face a similar struggle in his career. And unfortunately, it didn’t go as he wanted. But the lessons he learned and the things he thought went well, and the things he would have done differently, are things he can pass on to me before I have to experience them myself, which is sometimes invaluable.”
The other crucial figure is his race engineer, Tom Stallard. Before his F1 career, the Briton was a top-level athlete, winning a silver medal in rowing at the 2008 Beijing Olympics: “I’d say the pressure Tom faced in his Olympic career, or that of any Olympian, is the epitome of sporting pressure for me. You have one chance every four years to make something happen. I struggle to think of a more intense pressure situation in sport. Even just the experience is valuable, and having him pass it on to me, directly or indirectly, is very important.”
Speaking about Tom Stallard, Oscar Piastri concluded his introspective analysis by emphasizing the importance of the team in achieving results: “Another important thing I’ve learned is that it’s not just up to me. I can’t win this championship alone. I need the team around me, and it’s not just pressure on me. It’s intense pressure for all the engineers, mechanics, everyone. It’s tough for everyone. We are all fighting for the championship. So what Tom can contribute, not just to me but to everyone around us, is really important.”
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