Piastri concedes errors as McLaren’s title wait goes on

Written by Kavi Khandelwal

The championship leader crashed on the first lap of the Grand Prix | Credit: Formula One

McLaren's Oscar Piastri offered a frank and self-critical assessment of his race, calling his performance "certainly not my finest moment" after a chaotic start and subsequent crash brought his Formula One Grand Prix to a premature end.

Speaking to reporters after the race, the Australian driver took full responsibility for the incidents, attributing them to "simple lapses in judgement".

The trouble began right at the start. Piastri moved before the lights went out, an action that triggered his car's anti-stall system and saw him plummet to P20. He admitted: "Just anticipated the start too much and, yeah, silly simple error really with that."

His attempt to recover from the early setback ended in the wall. Piastri explained: "The crash just didn't anticipate the dirty air in the way I should have and yeah, clearly went into the corner way too hot and that was that."

The championship gap between the teammates is down to 25 points | Credit: Formula One

The mistake was magnified by the high stakes of the weekend, as Piastri’s DNF effectively ended McLaren's hopes of clinching the World Constructors' Championship at this event. While teammate Lando Norris brought his car home in seventh, the points haul was not enough to secure the title for the team. Norris' seventh-place finish also meant little ground was gained in the tight Drivers' Championship battle, making the loss of a potential double-points finish all the more significant.

Reflecting on the event, Piastri described it as a "messy weekend for sure," despite feeling the car had strong pace. He believed that "the potential was very good," mentioning that "sequences or sectors that were incredibly strong," but lamented that he "just never got it all together".

Despite this disappointing result, Piastri viewed his mistakes as correctable errors rather than a fundamental lack of speed.

He explained: "I would be more concerned if I was slow and trying to make up for it that way and having these errors because of that.

"The fact that they're just simple lapses in judgement... you know, it's obviously not a position I want to be in or put especially the mechanics in because it's been a rough weekend for them, but if I'm trying to find a silver lining then I suppose I have that."

Looking ahead, Piastri dismissed concerns about the championship standings, stating his attention is entirely on his own performance: "I'm not too concerned about that. I think for me, I'm solely focused on myself and what I can do to improve. There's still a long way to go and... the championship is far from over, so that's what I'm focused on."