Former F1 driver Jolyon Palmer breaks down Oscar Piastri’s Baku battles and what it means for his title fight
Oscar Piastri had a weekend to forget in Baku, but a former F1 driver has warned it’s a sign of pressure mounting on the Australian as he tipped a momentum shift in the title fight.
Former F1 driver Jolyon Palmer believes the momentum in the title fight between the McLaren frontrunners was shifting towards Lando Norris as he suggested Oscar Piastri was “feeling the pressure more” after his forgettable round in Baku.
As Piastri attempts to strike back from his worst race of the season, Palmer also warned the Australian title leader could face “similar issues” to his Azerbaijan troubles on the streets of Singapore street this weekend.
Piastri suffered his first DNF for the season - and his first retirement in 35 races - after he crashed out on the opening lap in Baku, which had also followed a crash in qualifying.
While McLaren teammate Norris failed to fully capitalise on his teammate’s early exit from the race, finishing seventh, the Briton was able to trim the margin to Piastri in the driver’s standings to 25 points as Max Verstappen went on to claim his second straight win.
Describing the weekend in Baku as a “chink in the armour” for Piastri, Palmer suggested the Melbourne racer’s troubles underlined the pressure he was facing in the title battle.
“I think we saw, just purely, a chink in the armour,” Palmer told the F1 Nation podcast.
“We just saw a driver making a really basic human mistake …. I can’t see anything other than he just got jittery, it must be that he just got jittery.
“That’s just pressure, it’s jitters, and then the rest of it was compounded by the first mistake.
Palmer added Norris’ improved pace had turned up the pressure on his teammate, leading to his uncharacteristic mistakes.
“The last few races …. we are starting to see Lando be a bit quicker, consistently,” he said
“Through Monza, Lando was a bit quicker. Through Baku, I felt like Lando was a little bit quicker. I even think through Zandvoort, Lando was a little bit quicker. Didn’t do the lap in Q3, but through the rest of the weekend, he was just probably a shade quicker.
“And that is probably also why Oscar is maybe starting to overdrive a little bit and maybe why he is feeling the pressure more than he has done.”
The papaya pair will renew their title fight on the streets of Singapore where Norris won last year ahead of Verstappen and Piastri.
Palmer felt Norris would again be the driver to beat for the night race as momentum moved towards the Briton.
“I think Norris would be favourite for this one …. the momentum is starting to go with him,” Palmer said.
“The gap has come down to 25 and I think the way that Lando is driving, I think he is getting more comfortable in the car and he is getting consistent laps out of it pretty well.
“Generally, I think he is a little bit quicker than Oscar in the last few races and … Singapore was a great track for him last year, he was quick. You turn up, you’ve got a spring in your step and I think that momentum is starting to go towards Lando.”
Asked how Piastri recovered from his Baku battles to move on for the Singapore race, Palmer warned Piastri could face similar issues on another street circuit.
“Normally, I’d say park it (Baku) and look ahead,” the former Renault driver said.
“The problem is the next track is Singapore, so there’s similar issues. The street circuit is there again. If you make mistakes, you’re going to find the barriers, you’re going to be on the back foot.”
The other danger facing Piastri and Norris is the spectre of Verstappen, who has emerged as a late threat after wins in Italy and Azerbaijan to cut the gap to Piastri to 69 points.
While Palmer felt the margin was too large for Verstappen, who has never won in Singapore, to make up, he said “never say never”.
“This is the question I think on everyone’s lips, isn’t it,” Palmer said.
“I was pretty quick to shoot anyone down that kept saying after Monza, ‘Max is in it, Max is in it.’ No way. He’s so far away, it’s just not possible. But then he’s just gone and closed a full 25 points in a weekend.
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“Obviously, the conversation is coming up again with a little bit more ferocity right now. I still can’t see that Max wins it - 69 points behind Oscar, you’ve got Lando there as well.
“But because it’s Max, I think you’d never say never.
“Even for Max, I think this is too far, I think he is going to be swinging away and take some race wins and you never know.”
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