Oscar Piastri believes McLaren had the pace to finish on the Azerbaijan Grand Prix podium before a costly Turn 1 lock-up destroyed his hopes in Baku. The Australian had started third and briefly ran second, but eventually finished 14th after dropping to the back of the field with damaged tyres.
It completed a miserable race for McLaren, with both drivers leaving Baku without points despite having opportunities to fight near the front. Lando Norris retired after becoming caught up in the collision triggered by Franco Colapinto, while Oscar Piastri’s own mistake removed him from podium contention.
Oscar Piastri looked capable of a Baku podium
The Azerbaijan Grand Prix initially looked far more promising for Oscar Piastri. After qualifying an impressive third, the McLaren driver gained a position at the start and moved into second place.
Oscar Piastri then resisted pressure from Max Verstappen for a period before eventually losing out to the four-time world champion. Even after dropping behind the Red Bull, however, Oscar Piastri remained firmly in contention for a top-three finish.
The first stint had been particularly encouraging and suggested that the MCL40 had enough race pace to challenge for the podium despite the difficulties McLaren had experienced elsewhere during the Baku weekend.
Turn 1 lock-up sends Piastri to the back
The race changed completely when Oscar Piastri made an error approaching Turn 1 while trying to defend against Isack Hadjar.
Oscar Piastri locked his front tyres under braking and ran into the escape road. The mistake dropped the number 81 McLaren to the rear of the field and also left him with damaged, flat-spotted tyres, severely limiting his chances of recovering positions.
The Australian was unable to return to the points and eventually crossed the line in 14th place.
Piastri: ‘We had the pace to be on the podium’
“It’s really disappointing, it’s not the day we wanted,” Oscar Piastri said after the race. “We had the pace to be on the podium and we were in the right position to achieve that.”
“The first stint was really strong, but the Medium tyre didn’t feel the same in the second stint. The lock-up at Turn 1 then dropped us to the back of the pack with damaged tyres, which significantly limited our chances of recovering.”
Despite the result, Oscar Piastri believes there were positives to take from his weekend in Azerbaijan, particularly in terms of understanding how to extract more performance from the McLaren.
“Outside of the result, it was a very positive weekend for me: I learned a lot and I feel more comfortable getting the most out of the potential of our car.”
“We’ll analyse what happened, turn the page and focus on the next race. Let’s see what we can do in Malaysia.”
McLaren leaves Baku without points
Oscar Piastri’s mistake compounded an already difficult race for McLaren. Lando Norris was later forced to retire after being caught up in the Turn 1 collision involving Franco Colapinto and Pierre Gasly, leaving the Woking team with no points from Azerbaijan.
For Oscar Piastri, the frustration is heightened by how competitive the car had looked during the opening part of the race. A podium had appeared achievable, but the Turn 1 lock-up transformed a potentially strong result into a 14th-place finish.
The focus now moves immediately to Malaysia, where Oscar Piastri will try to build on the progress he felt inside the MCL40 while avoiding the kind of mistake that proved so costly in Baku.
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