Oscar Piastri was left frustrated by the “lapses in judgement” and “silly mistakes” that combined to end his Azerbaijan Grand Prix on the opening lap.
Championship leader Piastri was on a 34-race points-scoring streak ahead of the Baku weekend, with his consistent scoring a cornerstone of his title charge.
However, after an error in Saturday’s Qualifying that saw him collide with the wall in Q3 – leaving him with a ninth-place starting slot on the grid – Sunday’s failed to get any better for the Australian.
A jump start on the grid, and an ensuing anti-stall, immediately pushed the McLaren man towards the back of the order, before he broke late for Turn 5, locked his front-left tyre and slid helplessly into the wall, ending his race there and then.
“Certainly not my finest moment,” he told Sky Sports F1. “I just anticipated the start too much, and it was a silly, simple error with that. Then, the crash – I just didn’t anticipate the dirty air in the way I should have. I clearly went into the corner way too hot and that was that.
“The grip level was low, but I should have known that. I’m certainly not blaming it on anything other than myself, I just didn’t make the judgment calls that I needed to at the right time, and that’s obviously disappointing.”
The weekend as a whole was far from ideal for Piastri with the damage caused by his Q3 crash also resulting in a chassis swap for the Grand Prix.
“Qualifying yesterday, it was what it was,” he added. “Then today, just more silly mistakes. It was certainly a messy weekend for sure, but I would be more concerned if I was slow and trying to make up for it that way and having these errors because of that.
“But the fact that they’re just simple lapses in judgment, it’s not a position I want to be in or to put the mechanics in, because it has been a rough weekend for them. If I’m trying to find a silver lining, at least I have that.”
An added positive for Piastri is that his McLaren team mate Lando Norris could only manage seventh place in Baku, meaning the Australian retains a 25-point lead in the Drivers’ Standings.
“I’m not too concerned about that,” he said. “I’m solely focused on myself and what I can do to improve. There’s still a long way to go, and if you have good or bad weekends, the championship is far from over.”