'Everyone' in F1 was comparing Piastri to one world champion before Azerbaijan Grand Prix howler – pundit

Oscar Piastri’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix was one to forget for the Australian driver, crashing out from qualifying and the first lap of the Grand Prix as he failed to add any points to his championship-leading tally.

From pole position, Max Verstappen didn’t put a foot wrong as he clinched his fourth win of the current campaign, and second successive Grand Prix victory after the Italian Grand Prix a fortnight ago.

After beating Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri to the chequered flag at Monza, Baku was a different story.

Neither McLaren driver ended up on the podium for just the second time this season, with seventh being the best that Norris could muster following the early retirement of his Australian counterpart.

The result means that Piastri’s 31-point lead in the F1 standings ahead of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix was cut down to 25 points. Verstappen crept closer to the McLaren duo, now sitting just 44 points shy of Norris’ tally in second.

READ MORE: What people close to Oscar Piastri are now saying after surprising Azerbaijan Grand Prix mistakes

Oscar Piastri’s blunders at Baku have debunked comparisons to Max Verstappen

Piastri has been subject to comparisons with Verstappen in the past due to their similar driving styles, in which no outside factors can affect them in their desire to place their F1 car exactly where they want to during wheel-to-wheel battles.

However, former racing driver Mike Hezemans believes that Piastri’s poor judgment on the streets of Baku has forced the comparisons to be taken away from the 24-year-old.

Speaking via RacingNews365.nl, the Dutch racing driver tried to make sense of Piastri’s actions, saying, “I don’t know what he was thinking, but he certainly wasn’t there all weekend.

“Not even during qualifying, where he was already hanging it against the wall. Everyone says Piastri is so cool and has the same mentality as Max Verstappen.

“I don’t know, I think he still has something to learn. Everyone thought he was so much better than Norris. He also had a disastrous weekend, by the way.”

After the four-time world champion took maximum points away from the race as the two championship protagonists faltered, F1 fans believe Piastri has blown the title fight wide open.

READ MORE: Lando Norris makes ‘incredible’ Oscar Piastri comment after his unusual Azerbaijan Grand Prix crash

The mistakes from Oscar Piastri in Azerbaijan were highly uncharacteristic

Following Piastri’s DNF, many figures in the F1 space shared their thoughts and opinions on what happened to the championship leader.

Juan Pablo Montoya had ‘never seen’ that side of Piastri, theorising that he may have gotten too comfortable with being at the top of the pack, and once he was thrust into the midfield, he got desperate.

Piastri is only blaming himself for the costly error, stating that he had a momentary lapse of judgement at the times he needed them the most.

He was lucky to miss out on a penalty for jumping the lights at the beginning of the race, something that Fernando Alonso was penalised for.

The 24-year-old’s chance to rectify himself will come at the Singapore Grand Prix in a fortnight’s time.

Norris was successful at the circuit last season, and Piastri should take confidence in knowing that the MCL39 may be fairly handy on the Singaporean tarmac.