Watch: Oscar Piastri crashes into wall in Baku GP qualifying chaos

Oscar Piastri has crashed into the barriers and out of the final qualifying session at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix - yet his rare mistake could have proved much more costly.

Australia’s championship leader reckoned he had been pushing too hard on Baku’s testing street circuit in windy, rain-spattered conditions on Saturday (Sunday AEDT) when he slammed his McLaren into the wall in the third qualifying session.

It left him qualifying in ninth but his teammate and nearest title challenger Lando Norris couldn’t take full advantage as he went flat-out for pole only to also have a slight brush with the wall on the way to finishing only seventh fastest.

Red Bull’s world champion Max Verstappen went on to take an immaculate pole - his sixth of the season - in the crash-strewn, chaotic qualifying session which dragged on for nearly two hours and featured six red-flag stoppages.

“I think I just braked a little bit late. I have not seen any data or anything, but it’s normally what happens when you end up locking your brake,” sighed Piastri, whose brilliant career has been marked so far by an absence of such mistakes.

“So, yeah, just disappointing. Obviously, I felt like the car was in a good place and it’s a disappointing way to end.”

A disappointed Oscar Piastri said he has an ambitious target ahead of him.Credit: AP

Piastri, who won this race last year but who had looked uncomfortable all weekend on the tight circuit having also brushed the wall in practice on Friday, shrugged: “Ultimately, I need to go and have a look. I think it was just a case of trying a little bit too hard and paying the price.”

Asked if he could still gain victory from ninth on the grid, he said: “I think the win is ambitious, but I think we’re good enough to make progress. The car’s been quick this weekend, so hopefully we can use that to make some progress.”

Piatsri, who hadn’t qualified outside the top four all season before Saturday, is certainly in a better position than he had expected to be, straight after the accident.

Thirty-one points ahead of Norris in the championship race, the Englishman would have had a golden opportunity to reduce the deficit substantially if he had got on to the front row.

Instead, his scrappy lap means he also has his work cut out from seventh on the tight circuit, especially if the gusty conditions are replicated on race day on Sunday.

Oscar Piastri driving the McLaren MCL39 Mercedes on track during qualifying.Credit: Getty Images

The problems for their dominant duo of drivers represented a double blow for McLaren, who are hoping to wrap up the constructors’ title with seven rounds to spare this weekend.

Carlos Sainz put his Williams on the front row alongside the four-time world champion Verstappen. Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson qualified third with Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli fourth in an all-rookie second row.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who was bidding for a fifth successive Baku pole, also hit the wall in the top-10 shootout.

AAP

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