“Piastri Wins in Baku to propel McLaren to the top of the standings in a dramatic Azerbaijan Grand Prix.”
Oscar Piastri won the Azerbaijan Grand Prix and with him, McLaren has now surmounted the constructors’ standings. The race which consisted of 51 laps contains many thrilling actions and strategies, emulation between Piastri and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, and of course, the late-race crash between Sergio Perez and Carlos Sainz that made spices.
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McLaren takes the lead in the Constructors’ Standings
The win in Baku was one of the decisive moments of the Formula 1 season because having scored 25 points for the victory, McLaren took a 20-point lead over Red Bull. The victory was Piastri’s second career win while also provided a big boost to McLaren’s championship campaign. The Australian began the race from the second position on the starting grid and overtook the leader of the race Charles Leclerc on the 20th lap holding the position till the end.
At the beginning of the race, Leclerc tried to overtake Piastri for the position of leader, maintaining the distance of several laps. But as Will’s tires degraded, the Ferrari driver could not maintain the pace and Piastri took off. Leclerc put immense pressure on Piastri, but he did not yield saying it was the most stressful afternoon of his life, but the race appeared to be one of the best performances of his career.
The Racing Issues of Ferrari and the Demise of Leclerc
Ferrari started the race with a winning mindset in Azerbaijan but quickly lost the direction. There was an ‘overcut’ on lap 20 by Piastri seeing the Frenchman, who had started from the pole position, succumb to the pressure. Leclerc tried to overtake the Ferrari of his teammate to regain the lead but his tires wore out and thus was an easy target for attacks. He then managed to finish the race in second place but was left far behind by Piastri towards the last circuits.
Sergio ‘Checo’ Perez, who started from the pit lane due to a power unit change, produced a brilliant drive to come close to a race victory until a penultimate lap incident involving Leclerc’s Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz. While contesting for third position with Sergio Perez a crash on the penultimate lap saw both the drivers hitting the wall and bringing their race to a premature end.
Verstappen and Norris fought it out for the fourth place.
Current world champion, Max Verstappen, surprisingly did not enjoy a very lively race for his standards and came at the 5th position. The Dutchman, who started from position 4, lost 5 points in the drivers’ standings a result that left him 59 points behind the leader as his rival Lando Norris of McLaren overtook him on lap 49 benefitting from new tires.
Norris who was starting from 15th position did an amazing job to come within 15 seconds of the leader Verstappen in the last few laps of the race. However, his hard work materialized in the fourth position and secured an additional point for achieving the quickest lap time. As a consequence of this McKay went on to score more points and ensure that McLaren remained dominant in not only the drivers’ championship but also the constructors’.
Midfield Battles and Return of Hamilton
The midfield delivered some action too, the Mercedes of George Russell took the third position after the collision of Perez and Sainz. A fellow British driver, Russell competed in the same race against his teammate, seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton who started the race from the pit lane following a technical hitch during the qualifying phase. Hamilton moved up through the rank and finished the race in the ninth position which was good for Mercedes to get some points.
Fernando Alonso also had a good run as Aston Martin driver coming out in the 6th position. Daniel Saldana finished behind him and Williams’ Alex Albon scored seven after the late-race confusion with Colapinto and others finishing right behind him in the eighth.
Oliver Bearman’s Impressive Performance
Another drive that impressed in Azerbaijan was British newcomer Oliver Bearman, who brought a single point for Haas in the second Formula 1 race. Bearman, who replaced Kevin Magnussen temporarily had an excellent run for someone who has not competed at this level much. His point-scoring effort meant that Bearman has scored points for two different teams and in races, having made his debut for Ferrari this season as a replacement for Carlos Sainz.
Late-Race Drama: Two Spanish racer cars owned by Perez and Sainz collide in the race.
The final lap for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix experienced much drama with Sergio Perez of Force India and Carlos Sainz of Toro Rosso crashing while they were battling for the third place on the podium. Nevertheless, Perez who had been attempting to chase down Leclerc for the second position saw himself locked in a close combat with Sainz. In turn two the two drivers had a coming together and both went into the wall which caused the end of their racing session.
The two drivers spoke their minds over the situation. “What happened there?!?” over the radio Sainz was shocked, the same questions appeared in Perez’s mind only more abusive. The accident led to the use of a virtual safety car to remove the wreckage and there could be no more overtaking before the end of the race.
McLaren’s Championship Hopes Brighten
McLaren is 20 pts clear of Red Bull in the constructors championship and with seven races still to run in the season, their chances of clinching the crown look brighter than ever. Piastri gains a title at Baku establishing him as a Formula 1 promising talent While Lando Norris remains dominant in the drivers’ championship.
Piastri finishing first along with his team-mate Norris coming from the back of the grid to fourth place showed that McLaren was not a pushover against Red Bull in the remaining races. As both the drivers went to their best McLaren will be eyeing to increase their points tally and continue it as the season goes on.