Overview

• Oscar Piastri crashed in qualifying, jump-started, then hit the Turn 5 barrier on lap one in Baku, ending his 34-race finishing streak.
• Piastri’s championship lead over Lando Norris shrank to 25 points, with Baku winner Max Verstappen now 69 points back and viewed as re-entering the fight.
• Lando Norris finished seventh and struggled to pass due to minimal tyre degradation, a muted DRS effect and a strategy that offered little undercut potential from a medium-tyre start.
• A 4.1-second McLaren stop and rivals exploiting the hard-then-overcut approach, exemplified by George Russell, further limited Norris’s gains as Yuki Tsunoda and Liam Lawson claimed key points ahead.
• Team boss Andrea Stella defended Norris and highlighted team execution shortfalls, while Anthony Davidson suggested Nico Hülkenberg’s braking line may have influenced Piastri’s Turn 5 misjudgment.