McLaren and Piastri shine, Red Bull falters. Australian Oscar Piastri won the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on Sunday ahead of Monaco’s Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) in the streets of Baku that saw Red Bull lose the lead in the constructors’ championship to McLaren for the first time in two years.
On the urban track of the Azeri capital, a clever mix of speed and driving, it was a clever person who predicted Piastri’s success, with victory having long been played out between Ferrari, McLaren and Red Bull.
Leclerc, who started in the lead through the streets of Baku for the fourth consecutive time, held the lead until lap 20 (out of 51) when he was overtaken by the Australian’s McLaren.
Piastri then had to resist until the last laps the attempts of the Ferrari driver, determined to take back his property.
“I made a great effort and I hung on for 35 laps!” declared the winner of the day at the end of “one of the best races of [sa] career”.
“McLaren and Oscar did an exceptional job and were better than us,” said Leclerc, who finished 2nd.
“We lost the race because I didn’t defend as well as I could have,” he also admitted, “frustrated” at not having managed – once again – to take his pole position in Azerbaijan where he has never won.
– Verstappen leader weakened –
Briton George Russell (Mercedes) finished 3rd in this 17th round of the season marked by the collision at the very end of the GP between Sergio Pérez (Red Bull), who had long seemed certain of this third place, and the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz. Both drivers emerged unharmed from the accident.
“Surprised” to find himself on the podium, Russell explained at the finish that “with the hard tyre, [il] was among the fastest, before overtaking Max (Verstappen, editor’s note).”
Precisely, behind the strong drivers of the day, the fiery Verstappen, leader of the championship, was never able to play at the front.
Sixth on the grid, he finished 5th in the GP behind Norris, who started from a very distant 15th place.
In the championship, while Verstappen maintains a 59-point lead over Norris in the drivers’ standings, in the constructors’ standings, Red Bull has lost the overall lead for the first time in over two years to McLaren, which now has a 20-point lead over the reigning champion team.
– Bearman in the Top 10 –
Like Norris, seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton also made a fine comeback after starting from the pit lane in his Mercedes. He crossed the finish line in 9th, just ahead of youngster Oliver Bearman in 10th.
Bearman, who replaces Dane Kevin Magnussen at Haas who has been suspended for one race, picks up an additional point in the championship.
The Briton, expected next year with the American team for his first full season of F1, was competing in Baku in his second GP in the elite, after replacing Carlos Sainz earlier this year in Saudi Arabia, where he finished 7th.
Another young talent on the grid, Argentinian Franco Colapinto, who was competing in only his second top-flight GP with Williams, finished 8th, behind his team-mate Alexander Albon, 7th.
Among the French, Pierre Gasly finished 12th after starting 18th and last on the grid at the wheel of his Alpine.
For his 150th GP in the elite, his teammate Esteban Ocon crossed the finish line 15th. Like Hamilton, the Norman had started from the pit lane.
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