Oscar Piastri handed 'weakened' defence as McLaren prediction delivered

Oscar Piastri will not have "weakened his confidence" through his calamitous weekend at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, according to former Haas F1 team principal Guenther Steiner.

The Australian crashed in qualifying and the race in Baku, as well as being found guilty of a jump start, mere corners before he put his MCL39 in the barriers for the second time in two days.

However, despite the disastrous and uncharacteristically error-strewn event, he still leads the F1 drivers' championship standings by 25 points over Lando Norris.

The title fight would have been closer, but for an underwhelming performance from McLaren and his team-mate in the city on the shores of the Caspian Sea, where the British driver could only finish in seventh, scoring just six points.

In the aftermath, there has been considerable talk about the damage Piastri's off-colour weekend in Baku could do to the 24-year-old psychologically as the title battle grows ever more intense.

However, Steiner has backed the nine-time grand prix winner to bounce back in the Singapore Grand Prix, which is expected to be a happy hunting ground for the Woking-based squad.

The 60-year-old told Lottoland: "Oscar, up to now, has made very few mistakes in his career.

"Baku was one where he did, but I think he’s one of those guys who can say: 'I made mistakes, I get over it, I get back to being my normal self.' I don’t think it weakened his confidence.

"Now, going back to what I would call more normal circuits, I think McLaren will be stronger again."

Norris crushed the opposition at the Marina Bay Street Circuit last season, easing to victory over Max Verstappen by close to 21 seconds.

Despite the Red Bull driver's back-to-back victories in Monza and Baku vaulting him back into the championship picture, Steiner does not believe the RB21 will have enough to trouble the McLarens as the title fight comes down to the wire.

The Dutchman is 69 points behind Piastri, and the Italian feels that is "just too far back" to make a comeback at this late stage.

"The races Max won were on high-speed circuits, with the Max factor involved — like Baku, where that guy can just pull it off sometimes," Steiner said. "But he cannot do it consistently, because his car is not as good as the McLaren." 

He added: "You can never write Max completely off... [but] if everything goes as it should, he cannot win it anymore. He’s just too far back, and the McLarens at the moment are the better car."