F1 | Monstrous plates in Baku on Leclerc, McLaren leading the Constructors’ category

Oscar Piastri gave a demonstration of his crystalline talent: the 23-year-old Australian from Melbourne, won the Azerbaijan GP at the end of 51 perfect laps. Starting second, alongside poleman Charles Leclerc, Oscar skewered the Monegasque’s Ferrari on lap 19, pushing hard on the hard tyres after the pit stop on lap 16, one lap before Leclerc’s stop.

Piastri tried an attack at the braking point of turn 1 using the DRS and surprised Charles right at the end who, perhaps, was not expecting the overtaking. Oscar from that moment did not make a single mistake in the remaining laps until the checkered flag, although Leclerc tried to maintain maximum pressure from the SF-24 until a couple of laps from the end, when the Monegasque lost contact with the MCL38 due to a sudden drop in the rear tyres.

The battle was beautiful, spectacular: the boy followed by Mark Webber made his granite mental strength count. He was imperturbable in holding off a Leclerc who was convinced he could reattack the McLaren. This was not the case: the papaya single-seater proved to be faster on the straight and more capable of conserving the tires. The Ferrari driver was unable to do his long run on Friday due to the crash in FP1 and, probably, he paid for that mistake today, having to deal with greater degradation of the rear train.

After 10 years, McLaren returns to the top of the Constructors’ World Championship standings thanks also to Lando Norris’ fourth place, moving into the lead, overtaking Red Bull by a margin of 20 points, giving the impression that it can take off.

Andrea Stella’s team capitalized on its potential this time, after the yellow flag in qualifying that forced Norris to line up 15th. Lando drove a very consistent race that took him to fourth place, reducing the points from Max Verstappen to 59. The Englishman, who started with the hard tyres, delayed his pit stop until lap 38, to fit the medium tyres and also build a run that earned him the overtaking on the world champion on the track and the additional point for the fastest lap (1’45″255).

Red Bull’s weekend was disastrous with Verstappen in the role of the domestique who didn’t have the pace with the RB20, while Sergio Perez was in the game with the first two until a couple of laps from the end when the Mexican tried to pierce Leclerc and, instead, found himself skewered by Carlos Sainz who made a sublime comeback from behind. The Spaniard in the acceleration phase moved slightly to the left to take the fastest trajectory, while Checo went a bit wide. The left rear of the SF-24 hooked up with the right front of the Red Bull. The crash on the left side of the barriers with the two cars stuck together was inevitable. It will be difficult to establish responsibilities, but the crash allowed George Russell to earn a truly unexpected podium with Mercedes.

Ferrari leaves Baku defeated, Leclerc does not collect the first success on the Azerbaijani citizen after four pole positions, but Charles cannot be blamed for the slightest responsibility, if not for a bit of naivety in the overtaking that decided the race. McLaren is the technical point of reference, but the red one is not far away. Second place is important to give continuity to the results, waiting for Singapore which will be another favorable race for the Scuderia. Sainz’s points are missing, which will have an impact in the pursuit of the brands.

Positive sixth position for Fernando Alonso with Aston Martin: the Spaniard scored important points, while Lance Stroll had to stop due to a brake problem, and preceded the two Williams with Alexander Albon ahead of the extraordinary Franco Colapinto, in the points in his second race in F1. Lewis Hamilton, who started from the pit lane to replace the power unit, did not impress: with a W15 that struggled to collect two points, the seven-time world champion had to juggle among the new faces of the Circus. Oliver Bearman, on his debut with Haas, finished tenth ahead of Nico Hulkenberg. The young Englishman returns to scoring points, after his first outing with Ferrari in Jeddah. Everything else is just background…