Oscar Piastri’s championship fall cushioned by Lando Norris

The seemingly unflappable Oscar Piastri revealed himself to be human at the 2025 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, making a series of mistakes across the Baku weekend that could have placed his championship lead in far greater peril.

Could have, but didn’t — and that’s because title rival Lando Norris looked just as wobbly, completely unable to make any significant gains in carving down the gap to his teammate. Piastri erred, but his fall was cushioned by Norris’ struggles.

Oscar Piastri’s championship fall cushioned by Lando Norris

Championship leader Oscar Piastri suffered the messiest weekend of his title run at the 2025 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, retiring from a race for the first time in 34 events. Yet what could have been a disaster for his title hopes had Lando Norris moved to the front of the field was softened into nothing more than a bad day when the Briton finished only seventh — exactly where he started.

Piastri’s poor weekend kicked off in Free Practice 1, when a power unit issue kept him in the garage for much of the session, and it was only made all the worse when he crashed in qualifying.

With four minutes remaining in Q3, Piastri clattered into the Turn 3 wall and brought out the sixth red flag of an already-lengthy qualifying session. The result was a ninth-place start on the grid.

Then came teammate Lando Norris’ first opportunity to claw back the 31 points that separated him from Piastri in the title standings coming into Baku. Conditions were indeed tricky, but if Norris was able to qualify well, he’d have a great shot at battling his way to a podium finish, or even to victory.

But Norris was the first car out on track when the session resumed after the red flag, when conditions were slippery and cool following a brief smattering of rain. The time he set was only good enough for seventh on the grid, leaving him just one row ahead of his teammate.

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Norris’ second shot at revitalising his championship challenge came during the first lap of the Grand Prix.

As the red lights ticked closer to the start of the race, Piastri jumped the start, caught his mistake, then initiated antistall as he tried to make up for his error. The rest of the field bypassed the Australian as he remained stationary on the grid.

Piastri got going, but he was 20th on track. Five corners later, a locked brake saw him end his race with the nose of his MCL39 buried in the wall. His first race retirement since 2023.

Thus the opportunity opened for Norris to battle through the field and scoop up as many points as possible knowing his teammate wouldn’t score any.

But it wasn’t to be. Norris simply didn’t have the pace, and a slow pit stop demolished his chance of a strategic gamble. Norris finished exactly as he started, taking home a meagre six points for his efforts.

Now, the gap between Piastri and Norris has shrunk, but only to 25 points — the amount a driver can earn for winning a race. The Australian driver’s fall has been cushioned by the unremarkable performance of his biggest rival.

It should be noted that Piastri’s season hasn’t been entirely flawless up to this point. His 10-second penalty in Silverstone for erratic braking was an avoidable one. He locked up while trying to overtake Norris in the Hungarian Grand Prix, thereby squandering his chances of snagging a win. He kicked off the 2025 season by running off track and spinning onto the wet grass in Australia.

Azerbaijan, though, represented Piastri’s messiest event of the season, where his mistakes compounded from qualifying into the race. Prior errors were largely made in isolation, and Piastri was generally able to maximise his performance regardless of the mistake.

The same can’t be said for Lando Norris. His crash in Canada attempting to overtake Piastri stands out, as does his messy start in Spa and his repeated qualifying errors that have deprived him of pole.

Pundits have already been wondering if the F1 2025 title will be decided in favour of the driver who makes the fewest mistakes, making it critical for both Norris and Piastri to be prepared to leap at any opportunity to capitalise on the errors of the other.

How will the 2025 Azerbaijan Grand Prix impact the championship?

Oscar Piastri was lucky enough to stave off disaster in Baku despite his missteps, but some major questions remain: What happens next? Has Piastri fallen into an ill-timed performance rut, or is this a rare fumble that isn’t destined to be repeated? Can Lando Norris use his difficulty in Azerbaijan as motivation, or will he be left stewing and demoralised?

We won’t know until the season continues on in to Singapore, Austin, Mexico, and beyond. With seven grands prix remaining, there’s still plenty to play for and plenty of opportunities for the 25-point gap between Piastri and Norris to grow or shrink.

And if both stumble, Max Verstappen appears to be on a tear at the moment, ready to succeed where the McLaren drivers fail.

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