Even Michael Schumacher had weekends like Piastri, McLaren chief insists

<ul><li><p>Australian leads standings but crashed early in Baku</p></li><li><p>Mistake ends driver’s 34-race points scoring sequence</p></li></ul><p>The McLaren team principal, Andrea Stella, has backed Oscar Piastri to come back strongly after crashing out of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, noting pointedly that even the seven‑time champion Michael Schumacher made similar errors.</p><p>Piastri leads the world champion­ship but he endured a shocking ­weekend in Baku, where the race was <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/sep/21/verstappen-wins-f1-azerbaijan-gp-while-norris-struggles-after-piastri-crash">won by Max Verstappen</a> from pole. Piastri crashed out in quali­fying leaving him ninth on the grid and on Sunday he made a false start and the car entered anti-stall, dropping him to the back of the field.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/sep/22/oscar-piastri-mclaren-azerbaijan-grand-prix-michael-schumacher-andrea-stella-f1">Continue reading...</a>