Anthony Davidson on Oscar Piastri's mistake
Former Formula 1 driver Anthony Davidson, on Sky Sport F1, discussed the reasons for Oscar Piastri's double mistake at the start of the race in Baku...
Anthony Davidson: "I can't remember the last time Oscar Piastri made so many mistakes over a weekend. Apparently, as McLaren team principal Andrea Stella said, they had been building up for a long time.
Realising he'd made a jump start, he sharply stopped the car. The anti-stall system kicked in. A corresponding message flashed on the steering wheel. He would have felt it straight away – you release the clutch but the car doesn't move, and the engine is just spinning freely. But the car lurched, the revs dropped, and so he ended up losing so many positions. He immediately realised he'd also get a five-second penalty – and set about trying to recover.
He calmly took the second corner on cold tyres, by the third he had picked up speed and overtook Albon's Williams, then gained another position. On the outside of the fourth corner was Ocon's car, and he took up a position behind him.
At the fifth corner everything went wrong. In front of him was Hulkenberg, who was trying to pass one of the Haas drivers around the outside. Piastri decided he could brake later, but Hulkenberg went too wide.
Oscar was simply reacting to Nico's actions, who was attacking too. He was judging the distance between his car and Nico's, which confused him, and he crashed into the barrier.
I think if Hulkenberg had braked a bit more calmly in front of him, Oscar would have braked earlier too and wouldn't have crashed. But I'm not trying to excuse him. You don't expect a driver of that level to make such mistakes, however difficult the situation. I understand his frustration."
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Anthony Davidson on Oscar Piastri's mistake
Former Formula 1 driver Anthony Davidson, speaking on Sky Sport F1, discussed the reasons behind Oscar Piastri's double mistake at the start of the race in Baku…