Piastri laments Sprint crash: I will try to put this behind me

The Australian driver has struggled for form since the beginning of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix weekend, crashing out in Baku and failing to appear on the podium in the last four rounds.

Generally, the McLaren driver has underperformed compared to his teammate Lando Norris, who surpassed his points tally by a single point after winning the preceding Mexico City Grand Prix.

Piastri qualified in third position for the 24-lap Sprint behind Norris and the Mercedes of Andrea Kimi Antonelli, and was running close behind the latter in the opening phases before disaster struck on lap six.

The 24-year-old caught a puddle of water on the kerb at Turn 3, which resulted in a loss of grip and a subsequent collision with the barriers on the outside of the same corner. Nico Hulkenberg and Franco Colapinto of Kick Sauber and Alpine respectively suffered the same fate just a few seconds later.

After a brief Red flag period the race resumed, with Norris winning the Sprint ahead of Antonelli and the other Mercedes of George Russell. With that, Norris has extended his advantage over Piastri in the Standings to nine points.

Despite the disappointment of crashing out, Piastri chose to forget about the outcome of the Sprint and instead make sure he maximises Qualifying later in the day and the Grand Prix on Sunday.

He said: "I will try to put this behind [me].

"There's a lot more points on offer tomorrow, so the better job I can do in Qualifying to get a good starting spot, the better it will be," Piastri stated.

McLaren Team Principal Andrea Stella believes that Piastri will bounce back in Qualifying as well as the main race, as the driver has the fundamental pace around the Interlagos Circuit to challenge for a big haul of points.

He added: "Mixed feelings. We got a victory with Lando, were in a strong position with Oscar. But, mixed conditions, tricky conditions, you put a wheel too far and three cars crashed out.

"It's just an episode. Oscar has been fast this weekend. We look forward to regrouping, repairing the car. The big points are tomorrow, so we will capitalise on the speed in Qualifying and tomorrow with Oscar.

"He has a very functional mind. The most important point is the speed is there. The points is the points. It's a number, it's unfortunate. It is what it is. You can only do your best," concluded Stella.

Can Piastri challenge Norris? Qualifying commences at 18:00 GMT (15:00 local time).