Oscar Piastri will not have "weakened his confidence" through his
calamitous weekend at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, according to
former Haas F1 team principal Guenther Steiner. The Australian
crashed in qualifying and the race in Baku, as well as being found
guilty of a jump start, mere corners before he put his MCL39 in the
barriers for the second time in two days. However, despite the
disastrous and uncharacteristically error-strewn event, he still
leads the F1 drivers' championship standings by 25 points over
Lando Norris. The title fight would have been closer, but for an
underwhelming performance from McLaren and his team-mate in the
city on the shores of the Caspian Sea, where the British driver
could only finish in seventh, scoring just six points. In the
aftermath, there has been considerable talk about the damage
Piastri's off-colour weekend in Baku could do to the 24-year-old
psychologically as the title battle grows ever more intense.
However, Steiner has backed the nine-time grand prix winner to
bounce back in the Singapore Grand Prix, which is expected to be a
happy hunting ground for the Woking-based squad. The 60-year-old
told Lottoland : "Oscar, up to now, has made very few mistakes in
his career. "Baku was one where he did, but I think he’s one of
those guys who can say: 'I made mistakes, I get over it, I get back
to being my normal self.' I don’t think it weakened his confidence.
"Now, going back to what I would call more normal circuits, I think
McLaren will be stronger again." Norris crushed the opposition at
the Marina Bay Street Circuit last season, easing to victory over
Max Verstappen by close to 21 seconds. Despite the Red Bull
driver's back-to-back victories in Monza and Baku vaulting him back
into the championship picture, Steiner does not believe the RB21
will have enough to trouble the McLarens as the title fight comes
down to the wire. The Dutchman is 69 points behind Piastri, and the
Italian feels that is "just too far back" to make a comeback at
this late stage. "The races Max won were on high-speed circuits,
with the Max factor involved — like Baku, where that guy can just
pull it off sometimes," Steiner said. "But he cannot do it
consistently, because his car is not as good as the McLaren." He
added: "You can never write Max completely off… [but] if
everything goes as it should, he cannot win it anymore. He’s just
too far back, and the McLarens at the moment are the better car."
calamitous weekend at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, according to
former Haas F1 team principal Guenther Steiner. The Australian
crashed in qualifying and the race in Baku, as well as being found
guilty of a jump start, mere corners before he put his MCL39 in the
barriers for the second time in two days. However, despite the
disastrous and uncharacteristically error-strewn event, he still
leads the F1 drivers' championship standings by 25 points over
Lando Norris. The title fight would have been closer, but for an
underwhelming performance from McLaren and his team-mate in the
city on the shores of the Caspian Sea, where the British driver
could only finish in seventh, scoring just six points. In the
aftermath, there has been considerable talk about the damage
Piastri's off-colour weekend in Baku could do to the 24-year-old
psychologically as the title battle grows ever more intense.
However, Steiner has backed the nine-time grand prix winner to
bounce back in the Singapore Grand Prix, which is expected to be a
happy hunting ground for the Woking-based squad. The 60-year-old
told Lottoland : "Oscar, up to now, has made very few mistakes in
his career. "Baku was one where he did, but I think he’s one of
those guys who can say: 'I made mistakes, I get over it, I get back
to being my normal self.' I don’t think it weakened his confidence.
"Now, going back to what I would call more normal circuits, I think
McLaren will be stronger again." Norris crushed the opposition at
the Marina Bay Street Circuit last season, easing to victory over
Max Verstappen by close to 21 seconds. Despite the Red Bull
driver's back-to-back victories in Monza and Baku vaulting him back
into the championship picture, Steiner does not believe the RB21
will have enough to trouble the McLarens as the title fight comes
down to the wire. The Dutchman is 69 points behind Piastri, and the
Italian feels that is "just too far back" to make a comeback at
this late stage. "The races Max won were on high-speed circuits,
with the Max factor involved — like Baku, where that guy can just
pull it off sometimes," Steiner said. "But he cannot do it
consistently, because his car is not as good as the McLaren." He
added: "You can never write Max completely off… [but] if
everything goes as it should, he cannot win it anymore. He’s just
too far back, and the McLarens at the moment are the better car."
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