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<\/p>\nThis Saturday\u2019s Azerbaijan Grand Prix, the 10th running of the Baku street race, fires the starting gun on a frantic final phase of the season.<\/p>\n
With nine grands prix scheduled in just 11 weekends \u2014 Middle Eastern rounds pending \u2014 what happens this weekend will set a trajectory that will be difficult to redirect before the end of the season.<\/p>\n
A driver who generates some momentum this weekend could be impossible to stop before the end of the year.<\/p>\n
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Fox Sports, available on Kayo Sports, is the only place to watch every practice, qualifying session and race in the 2026 FIA Formula One World Championship\u2122 LIVE in 4K. New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.<\/a><\/p>\n And a driver who fumbles in Baku might find themselves unstoppably spiralling.<\/p>\n Just ask Oscar Piastri.<\/p>\n The Australian was on top of the world arriving in Baku last season, with a comfortable world championship lead and the wind seemingly in his sails.<\/p>\n But the worst weekend of his sporting life completely changed the complexion of the campaign, and by the end of the year he\u2019d lost his title chance.<\/p>\n They say the speeds are higher in the land of fire. So are the stakes.<\/p>\n F1 stars set to race in Bathurst?! | 03:54<\/p>\n CAN PIASTRI FIND REDEMPTION?<\/p>\n Piastri has been at his best and worst in Baku.<\/p>\n His victory in 2024 was sublime. After picking Charles Leclerc\u2019s pocket to take the lead with a last-of-the-late-brakers move into the first turn, he defended superbly for the rest of the race to absorb the Monegasque\u2019s pressure and take what even to date is his most impressive victory.<\/p>\n The Piastri that turned up one year later couldn\u2019t have looked more different.<\/p>\n He crashed out of qualifying. He jumped the start. He crashed out on lap 1. He left with no points.<\/p>\n \u201cLove-hate,\u201d is how he described his relationship with the high-speed street track.<\/p>\n \u201cI think probably my best race ever has been at this track and probably my worst race ever has been at this track.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s always eventful, which I know.<\/p>\n \u201cHopefully this year is more like 2024.\u201d<\/p>\n But the context for Piastri\u2019s weekend is greater than just the wild form swings at this circuit over the last two years.<\/p>\n He\u2019s a driver under pressure to close the gap to teammate Lando Norris.<\/p>\n PIT TALK PODCAST: Formula 1 confirms a 24-race, 10-sprint calendar for 2027, but what does it mean for the future of F1\u2019s schedule? And we look ahead to this weekend\u2019s Azerbaijan Grand Prix, the first of nine races in 11 weekends to end the season. | Listen to Pit Talk here ><\/a><\/p>\n He was belted by his teammate in Spain, where he was almost 0.5s slower in qualifying. It\u2019s the second time in four rounds he\u2019s been blown away by such a large single-lap margin and the ninth time in the last 11 rounds that he\u2019s been outpaced in qualifying.<\/p>\n Though these big-margin weekends are outliers \u2014 on average Piastri and Norris are more closely matched \u2014 there have been enough of them to characterise the Australian\u2019s season as he grapples to match his driving style to this generation of car.<\/p>\n But a breakthrough in Baku is a big ask, particularly given it\u2019s unclear whether the McLaren will suit this circuit.<\/p>\n On paper it shouldn\u2019t. Baku demands high aerodynamic efficiency \u2014 that is, a low-drag car \u2014 which is one of McLaren\u2019s key weaknesses this season. The MCL40 also doesn\u2019t love the slow, short corners that dominate much of the lap.<\/p>\n But the team was unexpectedly competitive in Madrid, including through the parts of the track that share some of these characteristics, and now McLaren is saying its car has \u201can increasingly competitive operating window\u201d.<\/p>\n The missing ingredient, then, is confidence for Piastri.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s always a big confidence track, and obviously you need to push the limits a lot,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s quite a rare combination of a street circuit with so many massive braking zones.<\/p>\n \u201cWe talk about kind of spirals or snowballs, and we\u2019ve seen it time and time again, but it can go both ways.<\/p>\n \u201cYou gain confidence and it unlocks one thing, that unlocks the next, that unlocks the next, and all of a sudden you\u2019ve gone a lot quicker. And it goes the opposite way as well.\u201d<\/p>\n Which way will it go for Piastri this season?<\/p>\n 2027 Aussie Grand Prix gets sprint race | 01:29<\/p>\n BAKU SPECIALIST LECLERC ON PENALTY CUSP<\/p>\n Only Max Verstappen and Sergio P\u00e9rez have multiple wins in nine years of racing in Azerbaijan, with both having triumphed twice.<\/p>\n The story couldn\u2019t be more different in qualifying, however. Charles Leclerc is the only multiple pole-getter, and he\u2019s taken top spot in qualifying four times, a 44.4 per cent hit rate.<\/p>\n Despite never converting to victory \u2014 largely thanks to his car \u2014 Leclerc is arguably the most formidable force in Baku.<\/p>\n There\u2019s something about this circuit that just clicks for him \u2014 that suits the way he manipulates the car to rotate through short corners and that suits his comfort taking risks between the walls.<\/p>\n \u201cThe secret to any city track is commitment and how much you\u2019re willing to commit on a track like this,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s always a balance between the risks you want to take.<\/p>\n \u201cFor me it\u2019s just commitment and precision as well. To use even those two, three, five centimetres to get closer to the wall makes a big difference on tracks like this.<\/p>\n \u201cIt all goes back to how much you are committing yourself and going into Q3. That\u2019s what I particularly enjoy of these tracks.\u201d<\/p>\n But the fact Leclerc is almost certain to be a factor this weekend \u2014 even if it\u2019s despite his car \u2014 makes the next question only more difficult.<\/p>\n Is this the weekend to take an engine penalty?<\/p>\n MORE FORMULA 1<\/p>\n \u2018NOT GOOD ENOUGH\u2019: What\u2019s really happening in Piastri\u2019s struggles as Lando barb resurfaces<\/a><\/p>\n \u2018FREE AGENT\u2019: Late F1 silly season twist looms as star hints at imminent axing for young gun<\/a><\/p>\n