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McLaren F1 team principal Andrea Stella defended Oscar Piastri after his lap 1 crash at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, claiming that many other greats of the sport have had similar moments. The Italian boss also added that there was no need to worry about the Australian driver after the accident.
Piastri had perhaps his worst race weekend of the 2025 F1 season at the Azerbaijan GP. The 24-year-old crashed out of qualifying before doing the same on the first lap of the race.
Having started the race in ninth, Piastri jumped the start, stopped after the lights went out, and was relegated to last place. On Turn 5 of the first lap, the Aussie driver locked up and ended up in the barriers, ending his race.
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Speaking to the media after the race, McLaren boss Andrea Stella defended Piastri, claiming that similar incidents have happened to even some of the greatest ever F1 drivers.
"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 severely, as his teammate and closest championship rival, Lando Norris, was unable to capitalize on his error. The Briton could only finish seventh, meaning he was only able to reduce his deficit in the standings by six points, and still trails by 25 points.
Oscar Piastri keen to put difficult Azerbaijan GP weekend behind him
Speaking to the media after the Azerbaijan GP, Oscar Piastri said that he was focused on putting the disastrous weekend behind him as quickly as possible. The McLaren man also added that he was happy with the pace throughout the weekend at Baku.
After his race ended prematurely, Piastri explained how he was feeling to the media.
"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 driver's character will now be tested in ways he would not have experienced before, as the pressure ramps up heading into the final stages of the 2025 season.
