Oscar Piastri issues ‘tricky’ Baku verdict after rare McLaren fumble

Oscar Piastri conceded to enduring "tricky moments" in what was arguably his worst day behind the wheel of his McLaren this season.

In the first practice session for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Piastri was forced back to the garage after two exploratory laps due to what appeared to be, at the time, a terminal power unit problem.

Fortunately for Piastri, his team managed to fix the issue during a 26-minute red-flag period that followed soon after, ensuring he did not miss out on too much track activity compared to his rivals.

After recovering to finish second-quickest behind team-mate Lando Norris by three-tenths of a second, albeit clipping a barrier along the way, the championship leader repeated the feat in FP2.

The hit, minutes after Norris had clouted a wall, breaking the left-rear suspension, came on his low-fuel run, forcing him back to the pits for an inspection, with light damage to the tyre and wheel visible.

Piastri ultimately finished 12th quickest, two places and a tenth of a second behind Norris. It is the first time this year that neither driver has finished in the top three on the FP2  timesheet.

Assessing his day, Piastri said: "A bit tricky, a bit up and down. We had an issue in FP1, but the team did a great job getting us back out on track. 

"The pace is there. It's just not the easiest to get the most out of it at the moment, so that's probably the main thing."

As to what needs to happen going into qualifying, the Australian added: "It is a little bit tricky. We tried a few things in FP2, which seemed to keep us progressing.

"We'll look back and see what we can change for tomorrow to keep us on that track. I think it's going to be a bit different with tyre choices and stuff like that.

"There are still a lot of positives from today, just a few tricky moments, but looking forward to seeing what we can do tomorrow."

To conclude Piastri's day, he was also issued a reprimand from the stewards for failing to slow under yellow flags.