Oscar Piastri defeated Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari to win a thrilling Azerbaijan Grand Prix for McLaren, continuing Piastri’s strong form in Formula 1.
Piastri overtook Leclerc’s pole position advantage to secure the second victory of his F1 career with an aggressive overtaking manoeuvre at the first corner that seemingly caught Leclerc completely off guard.
Leclerc had started this race as the clear favourite to win after a brilliant performance in qualifying that saw him take pole by three tenths of a second over Piastri’s McLaren, but his control of the race seemed to depend on gently turning in the Pirelli tyres at the start of the stints.
In the first run, a comparatively short race on medium tyres for the leaders, Leclerc was able to use the superior pulling power of the Ferrari engine at low speed in the final corner and just about kept Piastri’s McLaren at a safe distance at the end of the long main straight.
HOW PIASTRI TOOK THE LEAD
Piastri appeared to push hard to apply pressure from the start, but over-stressed his tyres and lost several seconds to Ferrari in the second part of the stint.
But at the start of the second stint – on the hard (C3) Pirelli – Leclerc’s advance was thwarted when Piastri managed to overtake him unexpectedly.
Piastri activated the DRS at the end of the 19th of 51 laps and overtook the Ferrari while braking in Turn 1.
Leclerc offered no resistance at all, which suggests that he simply did not expect Piastri to attempt an attack from so far back.
Leclerc definitely had a speed advantage here, especially in the twisty castle section where you have to drive slowly, and made several attempts to overtake the McLaren again.
However, every time the Ferrari had a good run before Turn 1, Piastri was able to successfully cover the inside line and prevent the Ferrari from overtaking – either when braking before the right-hander or when Leclerc tried to cut under the McLaren and overtake on the short stretch before Turn 2.
As the long second stint progressed, it became clear that the rear tyres of Leclerc’s Ferrari had burned through while driving close to the McLaren, making it difficult for Leclerc to take the final corner cleanly enough to overtake and retake the lead with relative ease.
Thanks to his superior front tyre management, Leclerc was able to stay in the fight throughout, but Piastri was able to maintain his lead thanks to his calculated defence, driving in open air and the McLaren’s higher speed at the end of the straight.
PEREZ AND SAINZ COME TOGETHER
In the final four laps of the race, Leclerc’s rear tyres finally gave up completely, forcing him to defend his second place more and more desperately from Sergio Perez’s Red Bull – with the other Ferrari of Carlos Sainz also joining the fight.
Perez looked particularly comfortable in the improved Red Bull this weekend, at a track where he usually excels due to the need for understeer balance in the car, and he stayed comfortably within a two-second lead of the Piastri-Leclerc battle for most of his second stint.
When Leclerc’s tires finally gave up, Perez went into attack mode and tried to get past the Ferrari on the outside at Turn 1 on the penultimate lap.
Leclerc’s defence delayed Perez on the exit and allowed Sainz to attack and overtake the Red Bull on the way to turn two, securing third place.
The two then collided on the approach to Turn 3 as Perez attempted to get back under the Ferrari. It wasn’t entirely clear who was at fault, but Perez was furious with Sainz and the collision resulted in both cars crashing into the barrier on the inside of the track and the race being ended under a virtual safety car.
Behind Leclerc’s gripless Ferrari, George Russell’s Mercedes inherited the final spot on the podium. It ran at the back of the leading group at the start of the race after being overtaken by Max Verstappen’s Red Bull on the opening lap, but the Mercedes came to life on the hard tyres and was able to re-pass Verstappen’s Red Bull and comfortably hold off a late charge from the second McLaren of Lando Norris.
Although Norris started the race from a distant position due to the yellow flag in Q1 on Saturday, he recovered confidently and finished fourth from 15th place on the grid.
He used the alternative strategy of starting on hard tyres and finishing on medium tyres and also helped Piastri during the pit stop phase by delaying Perez’s Red Bull to ensure Piastri was not undercut in the pit stop phase – ironic given McLaren’s new team layout policy which would normally favour Norris from now on.
TITLE FIGHT SWING
Norris unexpectedly managed to cut Verstappen’s championship lead by three points by finishing one place ahead of the Red Bull and also setting the fastest lap of the race.
Verstappen was unhappy with the balance of his car from the start of Q1 on Saturday, feeling like it was bouncing at the back. These complaints continued throughout the race, in which Verstappen also complained of “zero bite” (front axle grip) and that his brakes “weren’t working properly”.
That he ended up 77 seconds behind the winner would be quite alarming for Red Bull, even if the damage to the Drivers’ Championship was limited by Norris having to start a comeback rather than driving with Piastri at the front.
Piastri has now come out on top in the last seven Grand Prix since Austria, outperforming everyone else.
ALONSO BEST OF THE REST
Fernando Alonso won the midfield battle for Aston Martin, completing the top six and holding off the charging Williams of Alex Albon despite a significant difference in tyre life.
Rookie Franco Colapinto supported his Williams teammate by finishing eighth and scoring the team’s first double points result of the season, while Lewis Hamilton (who was at times unhappy with the handling of his Mercedes) recovered from a pitlane start to finish ninth – ahead of Haas duo Ollie Bearman and Nico Hülkenberg.
