It was “one of the rare mistakes from Oscar Piatri”, so it described Formula 1 expert Ralf Schumacher at “Sky”: World Cup leader Piatri was injured and excreted in the final segment in Baku in the final segment in curve 3 and excreted prematurely.
Shortly afterwards, Piatri stood up to the media representatives and admitted: “I tried a little too much. And a little bit can make a huge difference.”
But it was not that scarce according to Schumacher: in his opinion, Piatri went into the third curve “far too quickly”. At their output, the McLaren MCL39 bored into the gangs and was damaged at the front, so that Piatri had to give up immediately.
Everything because he simply “slowed down a little too late”, as Piatri assumes himself. “I haven’t seen any data yet. But usually you are a little too late when the brake blocks.”
The McLaren driver advertises for understanding: Qualifying was chaotic, the weather changeable – in Q3 even drizzle went down over the route. “There were a few curves that even felt a bit tricky in the warm -up round. But I don’t know if curve 3 was one of them. I just wanted a little too much there,” says Piatri.
What role did the wind play in Baku?
Maybe the wind also played a role. After qualifying, several Formula 1 drivers stated that they were captured by particularly strong gusts-including the two Alpine drivers Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto on their “double departure” in curve 4.
But Piatri is not sure: “I don’t push something different, but on myself. And I also stay until I see something that proves the opposite.”
McLaren team boss Andrea Stella cannot provide such evidence. “It just looked as if Oscar had exaggerated a bit while braking – and we know that this place doesn’t forgive something like that,” says Stella at Sky. “In a way, he seems to have overestimated the grip at the brake point and has flown. But that can happen.”
Until then, Piatri showed a “very strong” performance, says Stella. Piatri himself also speaks of a “good condition” of his car-and of a “disappointing ending” of his Formula 1 Saturday in Azerbaijan. “But when it is cold on a city course when there is wind and an uncertainty on the tires, as well as rain – then something like this occurs.”
“The victory will be difficult”
Whether Piatri would have looked at his accident in a similar way if his World Cup rival Lando Norris had done more of this situation than just two positions in the starting line-up? “Possibly,” says Piatri. “But of course you can also argue that I would have had a good chance of making progress myself. But what happened has happened.”
He is now only concerned with damage limitation in Baku. “The victory will be difficult” from starting place nine, says Piatri. “But we wait. The car is quick this weekend. Hopefully we can use it to make up for a few positions. The strategy is also open. That gives us opportunities.”
In order to be able to use this, McLaren team boss Stella announces a “reset” – and that his team wants to “get back the positions” on Sunday. It would be the second “comeback” for Piatri this weekend after a technical problem in Friday training. “And then Oscar increased again,” says Stella – a good omen for the Grand Prix?