McLaren make Oscar Piastri prediction after ‘uncharacteristic’ Baku weekend

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella does not expect to see Oscar
Piastri repeat the costly errors that unfolded during the
Azerbaijan Grand Prix weekend. Piastri crashed out of qualifying in
the opening minutes of Q3, cementing his starting position in the
midfield. The championship leader then made a false start by
releasing his clutch before the lights went out, and as he
rectified his mistake,  he dropped to the rear of the field. His
race came to a premature end only moments later at Turn 3 as
another error saw him lock up and spear into the barrier, marking
his first non-finish of the season. As Piastri aims to close in on
his first world championship, Stella does not believe the
Australian will make such mistakes again. “These errors that we've
seen on Oscar's side, they are definitely uncharacteristic,” Stella
told media including RacingNews365 . “Oscar has been the most solid
driver in the 2025 campaign so far, and from what I can see, even
with multi-champion drivers, sometimes you have a weekend which is
all about learning. “And I think Oscar concentrated some learning
opportunities in this weekend, despite his will. “The start, it's
just for an excess of eagerness. I'm sure we have seen this now,
and we won't see this anymore. “In terms of the lock-up, similar to
yesterday, he just misjudged the level of grip available. “Perhaps
this was compounded with a slow start, with the false start. We
don't know yet. This is not relevant, really.” Stella is not
expecting Piastri's slump to continue into Singapore in over one
week's time, stating he will only emerge from the disappointment as
a stronger driver.  “But I think one of the strongest features of
Oscar is how rapidly he learns, how rapidly he improves, and now he
can come back stronger,” he said. “That’s why he's been so
successful in every category, and I think that's exactly what will
happen in his F1 career, and we will see it in the remainder of the
season.”