Piastri blames himself for ‘silly error’ on opening lap crash

Oscar Piastri said he blamed himself for committing a ‘silly error’ when he crashed out on the opening lap of Sunday’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix as McLaren missed out on a chance to clinch a second straight teams’ title.

The series-leading 24-year-old Australian locked up and hit the barriers at Turn Six, ending his run of 34 races in the points, before Red Bull’s four-time champion Max Verstappen delivered a masterclass to claim his second win in a row. 

With team-mate and title rival Lando Norris battling home seventh, Piastri’s McLaren team were unable to beat Ferrari by nine points to secure their 10th Constructors’ Championship. 

“That was not my finest moment,” he admitted. 

“I just anticipated the start too much and then I made a silly, simple error and crashed. I didn’t anticipate the dirty air as I should have done and going into the corner I was too hot. 

“I am not blaming anything or anybody but myself. I didn’t make the judgement calls I needed to at the right times.”

Piastri’s crash handed Norris the perfect chance to trim his 31-points lead in the title race, but he was unable to exploit the opportunity fully. 

He took just six points to reduce his deficit to 25 points with seven races remaining. 

“I did my best but really every race is an opportunity missed,” said Norris, talking to Sky Sports F1. 

“I lost it yesterday in qualifying when I went early, had a bad lap and lost a couple of positions.”

He said he did not know what had happened to Piastri, who had been supremely consistent and reliable this season, before Sunday’s crash. 

“I dont know what happened,” he said. “Oscar is an incredible driver but I focus on myself. People just dont understand how easy it is to make mistakes in these cars.”

McLaren team chief Andrea Stella said it had been a difficult weekend.

“Today we made it worse with the crash and the somewhat uncharacteristic mistakes from Oscar,” he said. 

“I hope we have collected them all here in this event. 

“He is probably the most solid and consistent driver so we hope this has been a one-off. 

“Lando did not have a fast enough car to get through the field so now have to just re-set and go again in Singapore.”