Up Next
Oscar Piastri defeated Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari to win a thrilling Azerbaijan Grand Prix for McLaren and continue Piastri’s strong run of recent form in Formula 1.
Piastri overturned Leclerc’s pole position advantage to claim his second career victory in F1, thanks to a lunging pass on the Ferrari into Turn 1 that seemed to catch Leclerc unawares.
After a brilliant qualifying performance to claim pole by three tenths of a second from Piastri's McLaren, Leclerc began this race the clear favourite for victory - but his control over this race appeared to hinge on him bringing the Pirelli tyres in gently during the early part of the stints.
In the first, a comparatively short one on medium tyres for the leaders, Leclerc was able to use the Ferrari engine’s superior low-speed punch off the final corner to just about keep Piastri’s McLaren at a safe distance come the end of the long main straight.
HOW PIASTRI TOOK THE LEAD
Piastri seemed to be pushing hard to apply early pressure but in so doing also overworking his tyres and so he dropped several seconds to the Ferrari over the second part of that stint.
But at the start of the second stint - on the hard (C3) Pirelli - Leclerc’s approach was undone by Piastri managing to overtake him unexpectedly.
Piastri picked up DRS at the end of lap 19 of 51 and overtook the Ferrari on the brakes into Turn 1.
Leclerc put up no defence at all, which suggested he simply didn’t expect Piastri to attempt a move from so far back.
Leclerc definitely had a pace advantage here, particularly through the winding, slow-speed castle section, and made several attempts to repass the McLaren.
But each time the Ferrari got a good run approaching Turn 1, Piastri was able to successfully cover the inside line and prevent the Ferrari from coming past - either under braking for that right-hander or when Leclerc attempted to cut underneath and out-accelerate the McLaren on the short run to Turn 2.
As that long second stint wore on, it became apparent Leclerc’s Ferrari had cooked its rear tyres following the McLaren so closely, which hurt Leclerc’s attempts to get off the final corner cleanly enough to make a relatively easy pass to reclaim the lead.
Leclerc’s superior front tyre management kept him in the fight throughout, but Piastri’s calculated defence, running in clean air, and the McLaren’s superior end-of-straight speed, kept him ahead.
PEREZ AND SAINZ CLASH
As the race reached the final four laps, Leclerc’s rear tyres finally gave up completely and forced him into an increasingly desperate defence of second place from Sergio Perez’s Red Bull - with the other Ferrari of Carlos Sainz joining the fight too.
Perez was feeling especially comfortable in the upgraded Red Bull this weekend, on a track at which he usually excels given the necessity for an understeer balance in the car, and he just sat comfortably within a two-second margin of the Piastri/Leclerc battle during the bulk of that second stint.
When Leclerc’s tyres finally gave up Perez went into attack mode and on the penultimate lap tried to come around the Ferrari’s outside into Turn 1.
Leclerc’s defence delayed Perez on the exit and allowed Sainz to attack and overtake the Red Bull for third on the run to Turn 2.
The two then collided on the run to Turn 3 as Perez tried to come back underneath the Ferrari. It wasn’t completely clear who was to blame, but Perez was furious with Sainz and the collision took both cars into the barrier on the inside of the track and meant the race finished under a virtual safety car.
Behind Leclerc’s grip-less Ferrari, George Russell’s Mercedes inherited the final podium spot. He ran at the back of the lead group in the early part of the race, after being overtaken by Max Verstappen's Red Bull on the first lap, but the Mercedes came alive on the hard tyre and was able to repass Verstappen’s Red Bull and comfortably hold off a late charge from the second McLaren of Lando Norris.
Despite starting well down the grid thanks to the yellow flag disaster in Q1 on Saturday, Norris recovered expertly to finish fourth from 15th on the grid.
He utilised the alternate strategy of starting on the hard tyre and finishing on the medium, and also helped Piastri during the pitstop phase by delaying Perez’s Red Bull to make sure Piastri wasn’t undercut in the pits - ironic considering McLaren’s new policy of team orders that would ordinarily favour Norris from now on.
TITLE FIGHT SWING
Norris unexpectedly took three points out of Verstappen’s championship lead by finishing one place ahead of the Red Bull and taking the race’s fastest lap too.
Verstappen was unhappy with his car’s balance from the start of Q1 on Saturday, feeling like it was bouncing at the rear - and those complaints continued throughout a race in which Verstappen was also complaining of “zero bite” (front grip) and his brakes “not working” properly.
For him to finish 77 seconds off the win will be quite alarming for Red Bull, even though the drivers’ championship damage was limited by Norris having to do a recovery drive rather than racing with Piastri at the front.
Piastri has now outscored everyone over the past seven grands prix stretching back to Austria.
ALONSO BEST OF THE REST
Fernando Alonso won the midfield battle for Aston Martin by completing the top six, holding off Alex Albon’s charging Williams despite a significant tyre-life offset.
Rookie Franco Colapinto backed up his Williams team-mate by finishing eighth and recording the team’s first double points finish of the season, while Lewis Hamilton (unhappy at times with how he had to drive his Mercedes) recovered from a pitlane start to finish ninth - ahead of Haas pair Ollie Bearman and Nico Hulkenberg.
