McLaren F1 team principal Andrea Stella backed Oscar Piastri after his lap 1 crash at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, saying that many other greats of the sport have had similar moments. The Italian boss also said that there was no worrying sign about the Australian driver after the accident.
Piastri had his worst race weekend of the 2025 F1 season at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. The Australian racer crashed out of qualifying before doing the same on the first lap of the race.
After starting the race in ninth, Piastri jumped the start, stopped after the lights went out, and was relegated to last position. On Turn 5 of the first lap, the Aussie racer locked up and ended up in the barriers, finishing his race.
Interacting with the media, McLaren boss Andrea Stella backed Piastri, claiming that similar incidents have happened to even some of the biggest F1 racers.
"I've worked with multi-champion drivers and in every season, even the most dominant, even by one of the best drivers in the history of F1, like Michael Schumacher, I have seen events like this," said Stella, via Motorsportweek.
"So a one-off weekend in which things don't go your way, and you ultimately have lots to review, is no surprise, no exception that we should be worried about. Because this has happened to pretty much all champions, even the ones with the best track record," he also added.
Luckily for Oscar Piastri, his mistake in Baku was not punished heavily, as his teammate and championship rival, Lando Norris, failed to bank on his error. The British racer could only finish seventh, meaning he was only able to reduce his gap in the standings by six points, and still trails by 25 points.
Oscar Piastri determined to put Azerbaijan Grand Prix weekend behind him
Interacting with the media following the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Oscar Piastri said that he was determined on putting the disastrous race weekend behind him as quickly as possible. The McLaren racer also said that he was satisfied with the pace throughout the weekend at Baku.
"Obviously you are never going to feel amazing after a weekend like this but ultimately, I felt like the pace has still been good this weekend. And I think it's rare that I have so many executional errors. So I’m very much focused on putting that behind me," said Piastri, via Road and Track.
"I would be much more concerned if these errors were because I was trying to make up time, or do things like that. Obviously they've been costly errors, but they’re things that can be very, very easily rectified," he added.
Piastri still leads the world championship by 25 points with only seven rounds to go this season. The racer will be tested in various ways as the pressure increases going into the final stages of the 2025 season.