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F1 championship leader Oscar Piastri had a weekend to forget at the 2025 Azerbaijan GP as the Australian retired from the race. Max Verstappen, on the other hand, dominantly won the race and put himself back in title contention. Piastri recently came out and suggested that he's not losing sleep over the Dutchman's recent run of wins.
Coming into the 2025 season, the McLaren was the best car in the performance index by a margin. Max Verstappen, on the other hand, struggled with the RB21, but still managed to grab a couple of wins in the first half. Unfortunately for the Dutchman, he ran into a winless streak from Monaco till Zaandvoort.
As Verstappen continued to struggle with the RB21’s balance, and Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris ran away with the championship, many expected the F1 title to be a two-horse race between the two McLaren drivers. However, the Red Bull driver has found form since the summer break, with a P2 at Zandvoort, followed by wins at the Italian GP and the Azerbaijan GP.
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With Oscar Piastri retiring from the Azerbaijan GP after a crash on Lap 1, the Australian scored no points while Max Verstappen won the race with the fastest lap and scored 26 points, cutting the gap to the championship leader down to 69 points.
However, McLaren star Oscar Piastri isn't too worried about the threat from the Dutchman amid Verstappen's recent wins, as he said,
“I’m not going to rule him out, but I’m honestly not too concerned with that. I’m just trying to bounce back from this weekend and put in the best performances that I can. I know that if I get back to where I know I can be, then I’ll be more than okay, so that’s what I’m going to focus on.”
McLaren Team Principal on Oscar Piastri's “uncharacteristic” mistakes at the Azerbaijan GP
Oscar Piastri didn't put a foot wrong in the 2025 F1 season. However, it was a different story on the streets of Baku. Piastri brushed the barriers multiple times in practice, crashed out in the qualifying, and only started P9. The Australian jumped the start, then stalled the car, and eventually crashed just a few corners into the race.
McLaren Boss Andrea Stella came out and suggested that the Australian won't be making such mistakes again, as he said,
“These errors that we've seen on Oscar's side, they are definitely uncharacteristic.Oscar has been the most solid driver in the 2025 campaign so far, and from what I could see, even with multi champion drivers, sometimes you have a weekend in which it’s all about learning.” (via F1)
“And I think Oscar concentrated some learning opportunities in this weekend, despite his will. The start, I think it's just for an excess of eagerness. I'm sure we have seen this now, and we won't see this anymore,” he added
With seven race weekends to go, Piastri only has a 25-point lead over Lando Norris, and Verstappen is just 69 points away. Norris' poor result at Baku meant the Briton wasn't able to capitalize on the championship leader's retirement in Azerbaijan.
