Baku bites: Davidson sees Hulkenberg factor in Piastri’s Turn 5 shunt — but the leader isn’t buying excuses
Oscar Piastri will want the Azerbaijan Grand Prix filed and forgotten. The McLaren driver arrived in Baku with a shot at wrapping up the Constructors’ title for the team and left with a bruised weekend: a qualifying accident, a jump start that tripped anti-stall, and a first-lap lock-up that speared him into the Tecpro at Turn 5.
Sky F1’s Anthony Davidson reckons there was more to that crash than simple overreach. In his breakdown, the analyst suggested Nico Hulkenberg’s wide approach in the Sauber ahead may have “goaded” Piastri into braking too late — not by intent, but by the subtle, split-second cues drivers use to judge their markers in traffic.
“He was quick to start making positions again,” Davidson said of Piastri’s recovery after the false start. “By Turn 3 he’s going past Albon, then around the outside of Gasly at Turn 4. He slots in behind Ocon’s Haas — and that’s where it all goes wrong at Turn 5.
“Hulkenberg’s in front trying a move round the outside and runs very wide. I think Oscar, in a way, uses that car as a reference: ‘that’s where I brake.’ You judge the gap to the car ahead. If the car in front goes deep, it can drag you in. If Nico had been a bit easier on the brakes, naturally Oscar would’ve braked earlier as well.”
It’s a nuanced read of a very busy first lap. Piastri, after all, had already done the hard bit: surviving the jump start drama, getting the car going again, and immediately picking off cars on cold tyres. Then came the misjudgment. He locked the front, slid straight on, and the points leader’s day was done before the end of Sector 1.
Davidson, though, didn’t let the bigger picture slide. “Giving him excuses there, the calibre that he is as a driver leading the World Championship, you shouldn’t be expecting mistakes like that. Really disappointing weekend.”
McLaren’s, too. Both orange cars brushed walls in qualifying, scrapping what should’ve been a straightforward title-clincher against a field that hasn’t matched their Sunday pace for most of the year. When Piastri jumped the start, it put the constructors’ ribbon firmly on ice.
Piastri wasn’t interested in apportioning blame anywhere but the mirror. “Certainly not my finest moment,” he admitted. “Just anticipated the start too much. Silly, simple error. And then the crash — didn’t anticipate the dirty air the way I should have. Went into the corner way too hot and that was that.”
Was it the classic first-lap red mist after a bad launch? “Potentially,” he said. “The grip level was low, but I should know that. Not blaming anything other than myself. I didn’t make the judgment calls I needed at the right time.”
If there was a silver lining for McLaren, it was that Lando Norris limited the damage with P7 on a scratchy weekend for the team. Even so, Piastri’s cushion shrinks: his lead over Norris is down to 25 points with seven rounds left.
What’s striking in all this is how thin the margins are at the front right now. One overeager clutch bite, one misread of the car ahead, and a weekend unravels. Piastri’s been relentlessly tidy in 2025; Baku was an outlier. You suspect he’ll treat it like a cut on the thumb — tape it up, move on, and be unpleasantly fast next time out.
As for Hulkenberg, there was nothing malicious in the move Davidson highlighted — just the kind of first-lap probe every veteran tries when tyres are cool and gaps are there to be tested. But it did underline a truism: your braking point in traffic is often only as good as the car you’re following. Shadow the wrong reference, and the wall arrives fast.
McLaren will be annoyed they didn’t slam the door on the Constructors’ race when it was begging to be shut. Piastri will be annoyed with himself. And the rest of the field? They’ll be encouraged — a wobble from the benchmark team, a reminder that pressure still stings in late September.
Next stop: a reset, and a leaderboard that suddenly feels a touch more alive than it did a week ago.
