Jacques Villeneuve concerned by what he saw from Oscar Piastri before Azerbaijan Grand Prix crash

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Oscar Piastri made an extremely rare mistake in qualifying for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix as he crashed out of Q3. It condemns the championship leader to ninth on the grid.

After Charles Leclerc wedged his Ferrari in the wall and brought out the red flags, Piastri was the next to falter. Having steamed into turn three too fast, he was left climbing out of the stricken McLaren.

In Piastri’s defence, this was a session riddled with errors throughout the field. Williams’ Alex Albon, Haas’ Oliver Bearman, Alpine’s Franco Colapinto and Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg all crashed too.

But Piastri has built his title bid on consistency. Fortunately for the Australian, he starts only two places behind his only realistic competitor, Lando Norris.

Jacques Villeneuve says Oscar Piastri has been ‘driving erratically’ in Baku

Piastri never really looked like a pole contender in Baku. He was three-tenths slower than his teammate in FP1 after an early engine issue, and way down in 12th in FP2 after a near-miss at turn 15.

He again couldn’t match Norris in the final practice session, and was sixth in Q1. Though he made a slight improvement in the segment, he never managed to set a representative lap when it counted.

1997 F1 world champion Jacques Villeneuve, speaking on his Instagram story, believes Piastri is ‘feeling the pressure’. He’s seen him ‘driving erratically’ all weekend.

There are also questions, though, about whether Norris is ruthless to capitalise on opportunities. McLaren may have sent out the Briton too early to enjoy the best track conditions at the end of Q3, but they were clearly wary of further stoppages.

“The other drivers… not fantastic laps. Piastri put it in the wall, the championship leader. He’s been driving erratically this weekend, so it looks a little bit tough. He’s feeling the pressure, [but] saved by the fact that Norris messed up his laps as well, so they will both start in the midfield.”

The strangest detail about Oscar Piastri’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix crash

Bernie Collins noticed that Piastri braked later into turn three than he had in Q2. This was a gamble given that the track appeared to more treacherous.

Collins was studying the telemetry, while Jolyon Palmer was looking at the onboards. Palmer was baffled by Piastri’s crash, suggesting he’d simply carried far too much speed into the corner.

The lack of a dramatic lock-up suggests this was nothing more than a complete misjudgement from last year’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix winner.

Piastri has been no lower than fourth in every competitive session since the first race of the season in Australia, when a spin saw him drop to ninth. That run comes to an end here, but there are still opportunities afoot in the race.