What people close to Oscar Piastri are now saying after unusual Azerbaijan Grand Prix mistakes – journalist

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri will be desperate to put the Azerbaijan Grand Prix behind him as the worst weekend of his season so far comes to an end.

Oscar Piastri has gained a reputation this season for being extremely consistent and hard to rattle.

Going into the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Piastri had won at Zandvoort, but couldn’t finish ahead of McLaren teammate Lando Norris despite a botched pit stop for his teammate, leading to him giving a position back in controversial circumstances.

His 31-point lead made him the clear favourite to win his first drivers’ championship, but errors scattered throughout the weekend have suddenly created some doubt among fans about his title credentials.

Max Verstappen is relentless, and back-to-back wins have given him an outside shout of clawing back a 69-point gap to Piastri over the final seven race weekends.

Piastri’s crash in qualifying was very out of character, but nothing compares to his horror opening lap in Baku.

A false start would have earned him a five-second time penalty, were it not for Piastri crashing five corners into the race, locking up his brakes and standing no chance of making the corner, having fallen to the back of the grid.

Journalist Jon Noble has now shared what people close to Piastri were saying after his crash on Saturday, which becomes even more interesting when you think about what played out on race day.

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Oscar Piastri’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix crash was the ‘first time’ he’s ‘taken a corner off his car’

Noble was speaking on The Race F1 YouTube channel and reflecting on events in Azerbaijan.

He stated: “Azerbaijan’s Formula 1 qualifying session was 1 hour 58 minutes long, longer than even last year’s Baku Grand Prix.

“There was a record for F1, six red flags. The world championship leader, Oscar Piastri, was in the wall, and I was told by someone quite close to him. It’s the first time in his motor racing career where he’s potentially taken a corner off his car.

“We ended up with McLaren’s worst qualifying position of the season. A Williams on the front row and also close to pole position, actually on merit, as we’ll dig into some details later.

“Liam Lawson, a driver whose future in Formula 1 isn’t guaranteed, has ended up third on the grid. It’s one of the most chaotic qualifying sessions I’ve known.”

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Oscar Piastri explains what he’s going to do next after Azerbaijan Grand Prix crashes

Piastri still has a decent lead over Norris in the drivers’ championship, as his teammate was unable to capitalise on his mistakes.

Norris called Piastri ‘incredible’ after the race, dismissing his errors as a one-off, which is how McLaren will hope he reacts to a rare off-weekend.

Speaking in his official post-race debrief, Piastri explained: “Obviously, not the weekend we were looking for in Baku. I made a mistake at the start and then locked up.

“I want to apologise to the team, especially the mechanics, after they did such a great job to get my car back together after qualifying.

“We just need to keep our heads down, review, and put this one behind us before coming back stronger next race weekend.”

It’ll be interesting to see what McLaren discover in their review with Piastri ahead of the Singapore Grand Prix.

Another high-speed street circuit could make or break Piastri’s confidence heading into the final stretch of the 2025 F1 season.