Oscar Piastri lost significant ground to Max Verstappen in Baku.

F1 Grand Prix of AzerbaijanOscar Piastri has refused to rule Max Verstappen out of World Championship contention, but declared that he is ‘not too concerned’ with the Red Bull driver’s recent surge. The reigning world champion has won back-to-back Grands Prix, trimming the deficit to P1 in the Drivers’ Championship standings from 104 points to 69.

Verstappen’s latest inroads came following a dismal weekend for the current championship leader. Piastri made an uncharacteristic mistake on Saturday, crashing in qualifying, and then jumped the race start on Sunday. Then, at Turn Five on the opening lap, he found the barriers after locking up in the dirty air. The Red Bull driver, meanwhile, sealed the sixth Grand Slam of his career with a flawless outing at the Baku City Circuit.

From here, Verstappen would need to out-score Piastri by an average of 10 points throughout the remaining seven rounds of the 2025 campaign to win the crown. While unlikely, Red Bull’s strong performance in Monza and Baku will give Verstappen confidence that he can compete.

Despite losing significant ground to the reigning champion, Piastri isn’t panicking. “I’m not going to rule him out,” the Australian said after his first DNF of the campaign. “But I’m honestly not too concerned with that.

F1 Grand Prix of Azerbaijan - Practice

“I’m just trying to bounce back from this weekend and put in the best performances that I can. I know that if I get back to where I know I can be, then I’ll be more than okay, so that’s what I’m going to focus on.”

Verstappen was asked directly about his title aspirations on Sunday. The Dutchman overcame a 46-point deficit to beat Charles Leclerc in 2022, but Red Bull don’t enjoy a similar advantage in their fight with McLaren. The Milton Keynes squad also have to weather potential banana peel weekends in Singapore and Las Vegas before the year is over.

“Seven races to go and it is still 69 points… It’s a lot,” Verstappen told Sky Sports F1. “Basically everything needs to go perfect from my side, and then a bit of luck from their side, I need as well, so it is still very tough.”

As Helmut Marko explained, the Singapore Grand Prix will set the tone for the run-in. Norris was a step above the rest at the Marina Bay Circuit last year, and Red Bull has historically struggled around F1’s toughest race. Verstappen will need to punch in another statement victory in two weeks’ time to make McLaren’s drivers worried.