'Certainly took me by surprise' – Piastri reflects on Azerbaijan GP result after mistake

McLaren suffered a difficult Azerbaijan Grand Prix as neither Oscar Piastri or Lando Norris scored points.

Sep 26, 2026 4:47pm UTC

Oscar Piastri admits that the lock-up which potentially cost the Australian driver a podium in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix "certainly took me by surprise", on a day where McLaren failed to score a point.

Piastri had enjoyed a strong first half to the 51-lap race around Baku's historic streets, overtaking Charles Leclerc for second through the opening corner.

The McLaren driver then held off the charging Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar as both Red Bull drivers showed strong pace early on.

Piastri maintained second when pitting under the first of two Safety Cars, but at the restart, he was unable to hold Verstappen behind and dropped to third.

A second Safety Car was called after a collision at the opening corner, involving McLaren team mate Lando Norris, and Piastri once again faced pressure from behind at the restart, this time from Hadjar.

Having initially rebuffed the Frenchman, Piastri went defensive into Turn 1 on the following lap, suffering a double lock-up that sent him into the run-off area and down the order.

‘Some drivers shouldn’t be in F1’ – Norris on Baku clash

"Just disappointed. Obviously I think the first stint and the first half of the race was very encouraging and then from there on, it kind of unravelled," said Piastri, who was eventually classified in P14.

"The lock-up I need to understand what happened because it certainly took me by surprise. I need to go and have a look, but obviously very disappointing not to have a result at the end."

Piastri has endured a difficult season so far in 2026, taking just two podiums with the last one coming at Miami in May, while Norris has taken two wins from the previous five races.

Despite missing out on the result, Piastri was encouraged by his performance over the weekend in Baku having been back towards the front of the field.

"I think once the dust settles there will be a lot of positives from this weekend," he said.

"I think Qualifying yesterday was good, I think in general I felt much more comfortable, well maybe not more comfortable but I've had more direction on what I need to do with the car.

"There's plenty of positives it just hurts obviously when you don't have any points or a trophy at the end."