McLaren team principal Andrea Stella expects Oscar Piastri to bounce back quickly from a rare off-weekend in Baku, describing the Azerbaijan errors as "uncharacteristic" for the 2025 championship leader.
Costly cascade of mistakes
Piastri’s troubles began in qualifying with an early Q3 crash that left him mired in the midfield for Sunday’s race. At lights-out, he committed a false start by releasing the clutch too soon, then dropped to the back while rectifying the error. Moments later, a lock-up at Turn 3 sent him into the barriers and out of the race — his first DNF of the season.
Stella’s perspective
While expensive in the moment, Stella framed the weekend as an intense, unwanted learning module for a driver he says has been the most consistent performer of 2025.
"These errors that we've seen on Oscar's side, they are definitely uncharacteristic. Oscar has been the most solid driver in the 2025 campaign so far... sometimes you have a weekend which is all about learning," he said.
"The start, it's just for an excess of eagerness... In terms of the lock-up, similar to yesterday, he just misjudged the level of grip available. Perhaps this was compounded with a slow start, with the false start. We don't know yet. This is not relevant, really."
Eyes on Singapore
Stella underlined Piastri’s hallmark trait: rapid improvement.
"One of the strongest features of Oscar is how rapidly he learns, how rapidly he improves, and now he can come back stronger. That's why he's been so successful in every category... and we will see it in the remainder of the season."
Key points
- Q3 crash, false start, and Turn 3 lock-up led to Piastri’s first DNF of 2025
- Team labels the mistakes "uncharacteristic" for the championship leader
- McLaren confident he will rebound strongly, with Singapore up next
