Oscar Piastri has said the shock moment that saw him plummet from third to outside the points at a single stroke “certainly took me by surprise”, as the Australian picks up the pieces from another disappointing Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

A year on from the first-lap crash that derailed his hopes of a fairytale championship, the 25-year old sparked hopes of a first podium finish since the Miami Grand Prix in May when he surged past Charles Leclerc into second spot behind eventual winner George Russell in the opening seconds.

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But after being overtaken following a tense battle with Max Verstappen, disaster struck on the 40th lap to turn what seemed a return to form into another disaster in what has become a horror 2026 season.

Looking to fend off Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate Isack Hadjar on turn one, Piastri’s brakes locked up to send him flying past the turn and off the track.

By the time he had turned around, he had dropped from third to 15th, wiping out not just a podium finish, but any points he hoped to accrue.

What would have been just his third top-three finish of the year ended with Piastri in 14th, and ruing yet more F1 disappointment.

Speaking post-race, Piastri was at a loss to explain exactly what had happened with his car.

“I need to understand what happened, because it certainly took me by surprise,” he said.

“I didn’t think I braked super late or super hard – just instantly locked both fronts, so I need to look at that.

“I don’t know if it was a bump in the road or what.”

“Just a disappointing end to the day. The first half of the race was very strong, so a shame to not have anything to show from it.”

Oscar Piastri looks dejected after his 14th-place finish in Baku. (Photo by Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images

The moment summed up a nightmare afternoon for McLaren, with teammate Lando Norris crashing out after being caught up in a friendly fire collision on Turn 1 when Alpine’s Franco Colapinto collided with Pierre Gasly following a race restart.

Gasly then careened into the Briton, sending him into the barrier and out of the race.

Colapinto apologised to his teammate afterwards, saying he had made “a big mistake” on Turn 1.

“A bit of disappointment for myself, for the team, and just a big sorry to all of them,” he said.

“To the factory, to Pierre, of course. (I) took him out, so yeah, really disappointed.

“We’re both in a good position to score points, so it was a big day for the team, and (I made) a big mistake.

“A big sorry, it shouldn’t happen. I was locking up and completely out of control, so not a lot I could do.”

Colapinto was handed a ten-second penalty for the incident, which will see him penalised on the grid at the upcoming Bahrain Grand Prix, to be held in Malaysia, as he failed to finish in Baku.

But Norris, whose DNF saw him lose more ground to third-placed Lewis Hamilton in the Drivers’ Standings, is adamant there should be more severe penalties.

“The FIA should be more strict and start handing out bans for this kind of stuff,” he said.

“It’s careless from people. It costs a lot of money.

“All my parts are in the bin now, so people should just get banned for this kind of driving.

“Just some drivers that shouldn’t be in Formula 1, to be honest.

“If you cause a crash on a restart like this, you should have at least a one-race ban.”

Russell holds off Max in AMAZING finish | 00:24

The race was won by George Russell, who closed the gap to standings leader and Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli in thrilling fashion.

Holding off Verstappen, the gap of 0.196 seconds between first and second was the closest Grand Prix finish since the US Grand Prix in 2002.