An uncharacteristic weekend in Azerbaijan for Oscar Piastri has been dismissed as just that by former team boss Guenther Steiner.<\/p>\n
Piastri was an opening lap retirement in Baku after he jumped the start, fell to the back of the pack, and then slid into the wall midway around the opening tour.<\/p>\n
Oscar Piastri tipped to bounce back by Guenther Steiner<\/p>\n
It marked the Australian\u2019s first retirement since his rookie season of F1 with teammate, and title rival, Lando Norris edging closer.<\/p>\n
Piastri continues to lead the championship, though his margin now stands at just 25 points with seven races (and three sprints) remaining.<\/p>\n
Having forged a reputation as being cool and calm under pressure, Azerbaijan hinted at the first signs of cracking from the 24-year-old.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut hopefully he\u2019s got it out of the system now,\u201d Steiner told the Red Flags podcast. \u201cHopefully it doesn\u2019t make any more [mistakes].<\/p>\n
\u201cBut he was pretty cool afterwards. He said, you know, it was a shit weekend, they happen, you know.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo all normal human beings, it happens. I had a lot of shit days, and you just get up again and go again.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow should we speak about a lot of other drivers who had more than one shit weekend? I mean, Oscar had one shit weekend, and that\u2019s it, you know. I think he can recover pretty quick from it; done and dusted.\u201d<\/p>\n
Azerbaijan marked the end of a 44-race finishing streak, Piastri having been the only driver to have completed every racing lap of 2024, the second longest in F1 history.<\/p>\n
It was just the fourth retirement of his 63-race career, and the first time he\u2019d crashed out solo.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s only one weekend, so it\u2019s all done, and now he starts fresh,\u201d Steiner declared.<\/p>\n
\u201cGet it out of the system, boom, I go now again \u2013 he just wanted to watch the race from that position in that chair,\u201d he added in jest. \u201cThat\u2019s what he was dreaming of. It was a childhood dream of his, and that is how he did it!\u201d<\/p>\n
Piastri\u2019s Baku weekend was compromised from the outset, with reliability gremlins curtailing his Friday practice running.<\/p>\n
He then nosed into the barrier at the end of Qualifying 3, limiting him to only ninth on the grid, having brushed the wall earlier too.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you start off the weekend like he did in qualifying, with what he did I think at the start, obviously, he wanted a little bit more to make up as much as he can,\u201d Steiner reasoned.<\/p>\n
\u201cMade a mistake again, and then just misjudged the braking because he wanted too much too quick.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think what he learned out of it is, if you do something wrong, it\u2019s no point to try and make it up by making more mistakes, by taking too much risk.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut it all started in qualifying.\u201d<\/p>\n
Steiner went on to suggest that it was too early for Piastri to start driving to protect his title advantage, which stood at 34 points following his win at the Dutch Grand Prix \u2013 a race Norris retired from.<\/p>\n
More on the F1 2026 title fight<\/p>\n
\ud83d\udc49 How McLaren can secure the Constructors\u2019 Championship at the Singapore GP<\/a><\/p>\n