Oscar Piastri reveals 'pretty painful' misery after Baku 'surprise'

Oscar Piastri has conceded to being baffled by a double front lock-up that wrecked an improved Azerbaijan Grand Prix weekend.

Piastri was on for a strong points finish at the Baku City Circuit, only to suffer a major lock-up on the approach to Turn 1 on lap 40 as he defended from Red Bull's Isack Hadjar.

Up until that point, the McLaren driver had performed superbly in holding onto second place by keeping Red Bull's Max Verstappen at bay through to lap 30 when Alex Albon sparked the first safety car.

Piastri was helpless to defend at that restart, and then a lap after the second restart, sparked by Franco Colapinto taking out Alpine team-mate Pierre Gasly and F1 champion Lando Norris in his McLaren, the Australian suffered his misery.

The incident dropped Piastri down towards the rear of the field before taking the chequered flag in 13th, leaving McLaren without a point and losing further ground to Ferrari in the fight for second in the constructors' championship.

"It was a bit weird, just locking up both fronts instantly like that," said Piastri, speaking to the media, including RacingNews365. "I didn't think I did anything spectacular

"Obviously, I was on a different line than what I normally would be defending, so I don't know if I was on a crown in the road or something, but it certainly was a surprise to me."

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Piastri - A weekend of progress undone

Despite the costly error, Piastri insisted the rest of his weekend had been a step forward, even if the result did not reflect it.

"In general, I wouldn't necessarily say I've been more comfortable, but I've been able to get more lap time out of the car," he said.

"I've been able to understand which direction I need to go with my driving, especially.

"Apart from one moment in the race, I felt like it's been a weekend much more at the level I expected from myself.

"From that side of things, it's been much more encouraging. Obviously, it's pretty painful to not have anything to show for it yet."