F1 championship leader Oscar Piastri suffers Baku nightmare as McLaren star OUT at Azerbaijan Grand Prix

Oscar Piastri looks deflated in front of the Azerbaijan flag — Photo: © IMAGO

Azerbaijan GP

Oscar Piastri suffers Baku nightmare as McLaren star OUT at Azerbaijan Grand Prix

The action in Azerbaijan got underway on Friday

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Friday 19 September 2025 11:02 Updated: 11:48

Oscar Piastri's Azerbaijan Grand Prix got off to a disastrous start in Baku as the F1 championship leader suffered an early setback.

The Australian was told over team radio by his engineer Tom Stallard to 'keep revs low' as he trundled back to the pits, before getting out of his car and taking off his racing gear.

Sky Sports F1's Ted Kravitz revealed that the problem may be terminal, telling viewers that McLaren had told Piastri that it may take all session to fix it.

Article continues under video

"I’m sorry to say that I’m thinking this might be terminal in terms of this session for Oscar Piastri," Kravitz said live on air.

"The moment that car came back, the mechanics, the engine mechanics as well, getting their fire proofs on, they told Oscar ‘look this is going to take at least some time, if not the whole session.’

"Oscar’s now out of the car, taking his gloves off, about to take his helmet and his balaclava off and I do not like the look of this one little bit for Oscar playing himself in to this session. If it was going to take 10 or 15 minutes, he would have stayed in the car."

Piastri on verge of penalty

Shortly after Piastri's issue, a red flag was called after debris on track caused by George Russell's Mercedes needed to be swept away.

Kravitz later revealed that the issue with Piastri's MCL39 was an engine issue, with the broadcaster suggesting that it may take the full break between FP1 and FP2 to complete the work to his car.

In more bad news for Piastri, he is on the cusp of a huge 10-place grid penalty, due to the fact that he has used four elements across the season for the four separate power unit entities.

A fifth being used across any of the four areas would be a slam dunk 10-place grid penalty for the weekend, which could be disastrous for the Australian.

Either way, the early exit from the first session of the weekend is not ideal preparation for the championship leader, as he looks to continue his fine form that has seen him open up a 31-point gap on team-mate Lando Norris.

After a lengthy delay, Piastri was able to get going again for the final 20 minutes of FP1 in what would have been a big relief to those on his side of the McLaren garage.

F1 COMMENTATORS: Meet the Sky Sports and Channel 4 teams including Martin Brundle, Naomi Schiff and Danica Patrick

F1 HEADLINES: Verstappen open to Ferrari move as F1 team axe driver for 2026

McLaren Oscar Piastri Azerbaijan Grand Prix