Oscar Piastri delivers ‘only human’ verdict after Baku disaster

Championship leader Oscar Piastri is looking to a stronger Singapore Grand Prix after a disastrous weekend in Baku saw him score no points following an uncharacteristic first-lap crash.

Speaking to media ahead of this weekend’s race at Marina Bay, the Australian driver confessed that he’s “only human” and is therefore prone to mistakes — but that he’s confident that downturn is only temporary.

Oscar Piastri: “I’m only human”

McLaren Racing driver Oscar Piastri has held tight to the lead of the 2025 Formula 1 World Drivers’ Championship since snagging victory at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, the fifth race of the campaign this year.

The gap between himself and his closest title rival Lando Norris has grown and shrunk ever since, with Piastri’s consistency transforming him into a true title favorite.

But his firm grasp on the championship was firmly rattled at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, where Piastri made three major errors in 24 hours.

First, he crashed out of qualifying, confining himself to a ninth-place start on the grid. Then, he jumped the start of the grand prix, dropped to the very rear of the field, and ended his race several turns later with his MCL39 once again buried in the wall.

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But after a weekend off, Piastri has had plenty of time to get his head on straight, telling Formula1.com in the buildup to the Singapore Grand Prix that “I feel good.

“It was nice to just have a few days off to relax and reset. It’s been a productive week, just focused on this weekend and trying to get back to what we know we can do.”

Despite the positivity, Piastri isn’t going to definitively rule out the possibility of another mishap in the future.

“Obviously I don’t want to repeat what happened in Baku,” he explained, “but mistakes are going to happen. I’m only human, at the end of the day. It’s going to happen.

“Obviously I don’t want to make those again, but I think they are going to happen no matter what they look like, and just trying to make sure you move on from them is the most important thing and [to] learn from them.

“It doesn’t really matter if it’s missing an apex or locking up, jumping a start; it’s how you learn from it and move on that’s the important part, and I feel like I’ve been able to do that in the week off.”

While many pundits have speculated on whether or not the pressure of leading the championship has gone to Piastri’s head, the McLaren driver has firmly maintained that that was not the case.

In qualifying, he said he “was just trying to push a little bit too hard; it happens.”

As of the race itself, he continued, “I would say probably the crash was somewhat related to the start. It’s never easy to shake off a start like that in such a short time.

“There’s a lot of learning from that, but I think just silly mistakes more than anything else. I don’t feel like I need to change how I’m approaching things or anything like that. There’s been some good lessons, definitely, but some of those lessons have been that what I’ve been doing so far is working pretty good.”

He admitted that he hasn’t wanted to “hide from” his mistake, that instead he’s been confronting the issue head-on as he looks to take away some “good lessons” from his “difficult moments or difficult weekends.”

Heading into Singapore, Piastri still holds a strong lead over his closest rival Norris, who is 25 points — or, the equivalent of one race victory — in arrears of the Australian.

But making significant headway in the past two events is Max Verstappen. Yes, the Red Bull Racing driver remains 69 points away from the top of the championship charts, but he was able to carve off 35 points of his deficit over the course of two grand prix weekends.

One of the major factors likely to weigh in on the running of this weekend and the performance of the drivers will be the weather. The FIA has issued a “severe” weather notice for extreme heat, while forecasts show plenty of heavy rain showers throughout the race weekend itself.

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