BAKU, Azerbaijan – Australian Oscar Piastri won the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on Sunday ahead of Monaco’s Charles Leclerc, while defending champion Max Verstappen, still leading the championship, finished fifth behind his overall rival Lando Norris, who was fourth on the streets of Baku.
Proof that the championship is now much tighter than at the start of the season – and even tighter than last year, which was dominated by Verstappen and Red Bull – victory was for a long time played out between Ferrari, McLaren and the Austrian team, the reigning champion.
Leclerc, who started in the lead through the streets of the Azeri capital for the fourth consecutive time, held the lead until the 20th lap (out of 51), when he was overtaken by Piastri’s McLaren.
The Australian then had to resist until the last laps the attempted attacks of the Ferrari driver, determined to take back his property.
“I made a great effort and hung on for 35 laps!” said the day’s winner after “one of the best races of [sa] career “.
“McLaren and Oscar did an exceptional job and were better than us,” praised Leclerc, who finished second. “We lost the race because I didn’t defend as well as I could have,” he also acknowledged.
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 third place, and the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz.
Behind the strong drivers of the day, the fiery Max 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 on the grid.
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.
Quebecer Lance Stroll did not finish the race, being forced to retire due to brake problems a few laps from the end. He was riding in 17th position.
Stroll started in 13th position and was in 12th place when he attempted to overtake Yuki Tsunoda. The two men collided, causing Stroll to suffer a puncture and Tsunoda to retire later.
Relegated to last place, Stroll was never able to get close to the top-10 before his retirement.
The action will resume next weekend with the Singapore GP.
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