Oscar Piastri finds 'silver lining' after catastrophic Azerbaijan GP

Oscar Piastri has highlighted a “silver lining” after suffering a disastrous Azerbaijan Grand Prix on Sunday.

Piastri started the race from ninth on the grid after crashing during Q3.

His weekend went from bad to worse on Sunday as he committed a false start and in a hurry to rectify his mistake, dropped to the back of the field before Turn 1.

As he approached Turn 3, the championship leader locked up his tyres and speared into the barrier, marking his first DNF of the season.

Piastri insisted he is seeing the bright side in the fact that his errors were not made as he pushed to find speed from the car. 

“Obviously, qualifying yesterday was what it was, and then today, just more silly mistakes,” Piastri told Sky F1. 

“It was certainly a messy weekend, for sure. 

“I would be more concerned if I was slow and trying to make up for it that way and having these errors because of that.

“The fact that they're just simple lapses in judgment, it's obviously not a position I want to be in or put the mechanics in, because it's been a rough weekend for them.

“If I'm trying to find a silver lining, I suppose I have that.”

Team-mate Lando Norris could only bag six points, meaning Piastri still maintains a 25-point lead over his title rival.

While it may cushion the blow of the non-finish for Piastri, the Australian asserted he is not placing focus on the title repercussions of the day.

“I guess is what it is. I'm not too concerned about that,” he said.

“For me, I'm solely focused on myself and what I can do to improve. There's still a long way to go. 

“If you have good or bad weekends, the championship is far from over.”