Piastri shoulders blame for “disappointing” Baku Qualifying crash

One of six casualties in Azerbaijan’s two-hour Qualifying chaos, Championship leader Oscar Piastri crashed out in the closing stages of Q3, before admitting he “tried a bit too hard” as he prepares for a P9 start in Sunday’s Grand Prix.

Fending his way through five Red Flag delays, changeable weather, and the always unrelenting competition in the pitlane, Piastri’s luck ran out with just four minutes remaining on the clock in Q3.

Yet to record a time to his name, the Australian set off on what he hoped would be his first official timed lap, however, as Piastri approached the third corner of the challenging street circuit, a combination of over ambition, gusty conditions, and a light drizzle of rain threw Piastri’s hopes of securing a front row start out the window.

The #81 committed to taking Turn 3 at full effort, however, his late-braking approach backfired and left him regretting his actions as he dove nose-first into the barriers, as opposed to aborting to the run-off area.

“You know, having it this windy is very tough,” Piastri said. 

“You add in the compounds, I think everyone expected the medium to be a good step better. 

“In the end, I don’t really think it was, so a bit of an interesting dynamic from that side as well.  

“But you add in wind, a tyre uncertainty, a little bit of rain, cold conditions on a street track like this, and stuff’s going to happen — as you’ve seen.”

Prompting a sixth Red Flag, Piastri’s crash was the cherry on top to earn Saturday’s Qualifying session in Baku an all-time record for the most Red Flags in Formula 1 history.

The costly Q3 moment is Piastri’s second major incident in 2025, with the first taking place all the way back at the opening round, where the Australian heartbreakingly spun out of winning contention at his home event in wet conditions.

“I think yesterday was a bit of a struggle, definitely,” Piastri said.

“I think today I felt much happier with the car and the job I was doing. 

“It was just a bit difficult to get it all together – that was the biggest thing, but the potential was there, whereas yesterday, it was a very hard day. 

“I think I was much happier today, just, ultimately, I think I tried a bit too hard in Turn 3.  

“I haven’t actually looked at what I did differently, because I didn’t feel like I did that much differently. 

“But, you know, a tiny bit can make a massive difference, so, obviously disappointed with how I performed.”

The #81 added: “There was a bit of rain around, yes, so I don’t know if that contributed.”

“I don’t know if I got a gust of wind… I don’t know, but at the moment, I’m never one to blame it on something other than myself. 

“And that’s what I’m going to stick with until I see something that tells me otherwise.”

Finally making his way back to the McLaren garage, a shattered Piastri watched on as his teammate continued the fight for pole, however, the remaining minutes evolved into a lacklustre Q3 result for Lando Norris, who failed to capitalise on his championship rival’s misstep when he could only manage a P7 start for tomorrow’s race.

When asked if Norris’ poor result is any consolation for his own errors, Piastri said “potentially, but [he’s] more disappointed”. 

“You could also argue that it was a good opportunity to make progress,” the Australian said.

“But what’s done is done, and I’ll try and score some, or claw back some points tomorrow.”

Avoiding a penalty for the late disruption to Qualifying, Australian finds himself preparing to line up alongside Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in P9 and P10, with the Monegasque becoming the fifth driver to crash out of today’s two-hour-long session at Turn 15.

On the possibility for more chaos unfolding in tomorrow’s race, Piastri also noted that “not many people have done long runs this weekend”.

“The strategy’s kind of up in the air a little bit,” he said. 

“That gives us opportunities, so we’ll have to wait and see.”

Lights out for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix will take place at 21:00 AEST.

Image: Jayce Illman/Getty Images

2025 Azerbaijan Grand Prix Weekend Schedule (AEST):

Friday, September 19th:

FP1: 18:30 – 19:30

FP2: 22:00 – 23:00

Saturday, September 20th:

FP3: 18:30 – 19:30

Qualifying: 22:00 – 23:00

Sunday, September 21st:

Race: 21:00

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