Oscar Piastri rues 'silly, simple error' as Lando Norris snaps and Max Verstappen shines

Max Verstappen gave his faint Formula 1 title hopes a shot in the arm as McLaren's coronation was delayed. They needed to outscore Ferrari by just nine points at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix to seal the constructors' title but suffered an immediate blow when Oscar Piastri crashed out on the first lap.

Lando Norris finished where he started in seventh as he failed to capitalise on his team-mate's error. Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc were behind him as both Ferrari and McLaren took home six points each. And so the champagne remains on ice until the Singapore Grand Prix next month.

It remains a formality that McLaren will secure their 10th teams' championship, though things remain tight in the drivers' title race. Piastri crashed in qualifying on Saturday and repeated the trick moments after jumping the start of the race.

"Certainly not my finest moment", Piastri said with a rueful smile. "I anticipated the start too much – a silly, simple error. The crash, I just didn't anticipate the dirty air in the way I should have. I clearly went into the corner way too hot and that was that."

Yet he remains 25 points – a full race victory – clear of team-mate Norris who baulked at the suggestion it was an opportunity wasted. The Brit snapped: "I don't know why everyone says that. I did the best I could yesterday and the best I could today.

"Of course I wanted more. Seventh was not a good result, but I couldn't do anything more today. It was lost [in qualifying]. It was impossible to overtake. I look back to yesterday more than anything today. The pace was alright when it needed to be."

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And Norris defended his title rival when asked for his verdict on Piastri's crash, adding: "Oscar is an incredible driver. I don't know what happened [to him] today, to be honest, but I don't think people realise how easy it is to make mistakes around here."

Verstappen looked comfortable for the whole race and secured back-to-back wins for the first time all year. "It was pretty straightforward," he said. "This weekend has been incredible for us. Of course, last week it was already great, but for us to win here again is fantastic."

Red Bull have sparkled since the summer break with upgrades working wonders. Verstappen is 69 points behind Piastri now and, while his title chances are slim, he remains in the conversation. He added: "The last few weekends have been amazing for us. Singapore is a completely different challenge with the high downforce, so we'll see what we can do."

George Russell overcame illness to finish second while Carlos Sainz completed the podium a first top-three for Williams since Russell at the rain-shortened 2021 Belgium race. "Out of all the drivers who have changed teams, I have been the one who adapted best to the car," beamed the Spaniard. That could be seen as a subtle dig at Hamilton who mumbled: "We were slow. My pace was decent but the others were just rapid. I'm definitely disappointed to come away with nothing."