‘Weird’ – Oscar Piastri baffled by race-wrecking Azerbaijan GP mistake

Oscar Piastri says the Turn 1 lock-up that cost him third place in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix was “weird” after both front tyres locked up.

But while he doesn’t believe it cost him a podium finish, he would’ve at least liked the opportunity to try to hold off Isack Hadjar.

Oscar Piastri explains Azerbaijan Grand Prix Turn 1 lock-up

Piastri was running second on the streets of Baku, where his race engineer Tom Stallard warned him that the Red Bulls were closing in.

“These Red Bulls can be a problem. We want to try and keep them out of range,” Stallard told his driver.

But despite Max Verstappen and Hadjar closing in on his rear wing, Piastri held his own against the Red Bull teammates.

The story of the race changed when Alex Albon crashed and brought out the Safety Car.

Piastri lined up second for the restart, but was overtaken by Verstappen before the Safety Car was deployed for a second time due to a multi-car collision caused by Franco Colapinto.

Having already lost out to Verstappen, Piastri tried to defend against Hadjar at the next restart, only to lock up into Turn 1. Forced to take to the run-off area, he dropped from third to 15th.

Piastri says he was surprised by the lock-up.

“I need to look because it was a bit weird just locking up both fronts instantly like that,” he told PlanetF1.com and other media. “I didn’t think I did anything spectacular.

“Obviously, I was on a different line to what I normally would be defending.

“So I don’t know if I was on a crown in the road or something, but it certainly was a surprise to me.”

He added: “It’s pretty painful to not have anything to show for it yet.”

Piastri finished the Grand Prix in 14th place, the second-last classified runner.

More from the Azerbaijan Grand Prix

Lando Norris demands one-race ban for Franco Colapinto after Baku crash

Liam Lawson confused as FIA investigation clears Lindblad over Baku F1 collision

Asked if the lock-up had cost him a podium result, the Aussie conceded he probably would not have been able to keep Hadjar behind.

He, though, would’ve liked the opportunity to at least try.

“Once Max got ahead, I was never going to get back past, but it would be interesting to see if I could keep Hadjar behind,” he said.

“I think, to be honest, it probably would have been tough.

“We didn’t seem – it’s hard to tell in the medium because they were pretty heavily flat-spotted – but I didn’t feel anywhere near as good on the medium as I did on the soft.

“So, yeah, I think potentially we could have been P4. But it’s one thing saying we could have been, and were we actually finished.”

Piastri remains seventh in the Drivers’ Championship on 120 points, 182 behind championship leader Kimi Antonelli.

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

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