Oscar Piastri came agonisingly close to ending his podium drought at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. But a brake error he described as "a bit weird" dashed his hopes late in the race.
The McLaren driver was running third after the second safety car restart, under pressure from Red Bull's Isack Hadjar after being overtaken by Max Verstappen at the first restart. Attempting to defend the inside into Turn 1, Piastri suffered a massive lock-up and went straight on, plummeting from third to 15th – the penultimate position in the bunched-up pack.
"I need to look, because it was a bit weird just locking up both fronts instantly like that," Piastri said. "I didn't think I did anything spectacular. Obviously I was on a different line to what I normally would be, defending. So I don't know if I was on a crown in the road or something, but it certainly was a surprise to me."
The incident left him ruing what might have been. "Once Max got ahead, I was never going to get back past, but it would have been interesting to see if I could keep Hadjar behind. To be honest, it probably would have been tough. It's hard to tell on the medium because they were pretty heavily flat-spotted, but I didn't feel anywhere near as good on the medium as I did on the soft." He believed a fourth-place finish was possible. "One thing is saying 'we could have been', and one thing is where you actually finish."
Despite the disappointment, Baku offered a glimmer of hope in a challenging season for Piastri. He has struggled with the 2026-spec machinery all year, but in Azerbaijan he outperformed team-mate Lando Norris. His third-place qualifying matched his best result of the season, and he could have taken his first podium since Miami.
"In general, I wouldn't necessarily say I've been more comfortable, but I've been able to get more lap time out of the car," he explained. "I've been able to understand which direction I need to go in with my driving especially. Apart from one moment in the race, I feel like it's been a weekend much more at the level I expect from myself. From that side of things, it's been much more encouraging. Just, obviously, it's pretty painful to not have anything to show for it yet."
Piastri then revealed the fundamental difference between previous cars and the 2026 machinery. "The previous cars, especially in the race, you drove at 99%. You had to look after the tyres a little bit, and driving at 99% was the fastest way to drive. With these cars, it feels like you have to be at 101% all the time, and as soon as you can't be, then you just haemorrhage lap time. That's why I say it's not necessarily been more comfortable this weekend, but I've been able to get to that 101% or 100% a bit easier. I feel like I've definitely learned some interesting things."
The Baku mistake was a bitter blow, but it also confirmed that Piastri is beginning to find the rhythm that had eluded him. If he can maintain his qualifying form, a first podium of the season is only a matter of time. However, he must quickly solve the mystery of that strange lock-up before the next race.
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