Race report
Spectacular race in Baku two weeks after Leclerc’s magic in Monza, once again with the Ferrari driver from Monaco taking centre stage on the Azerbaijani street circuit. The winner this time was the one who came in behind the Ferrari driver in the last Italian GP: Oscar Piastri. Starting in second place on the grid and remaining behind Leclerc until lap 20, shortly after the first and only stop in the pits for a tyre change, the McLaren driver held firm to the lead from that moment until the checkered flag, fending off Leclerc’s attacks with determination and taking his second career win after the Hungarian GP. Leclerc’s constant attempts, however, cost the #16’s tyres dearly, as they collapsed right at the end of the race. An episode that inevitably favored the recovery of Perez and Sainz behind him: just two laps from the end, the Mexican attempted an attack that seemed obvious on the Ferrari driver for 2nd place, but was involved in contact with the second Ferrari of Sainz, who was also close to moving into third place. In a completely unexpected way, Russell thus conquered the podium ahead of Norris, who remained on the track with the hards until 38th and rejoined behind an anonymous Verstappen, recovering until passing the reigning world champion just before the contact between Sainz and Perez, thus finishing 4th. A result that in this way allows McLaren to move into the lead of the Constructors’ standings, overtaking Red Bull.
The words of the top 3
Oscar Piastri (1st, McLaren): “At the start I tried to get ahead, but once I came out of the DRS I didn’t have the pace. After the pit stop we got really close again and I felt like I had more grip, so I had to attack and I knew if I didn’t pass him at the start of the stint I wouldn’t be able to pass him, so it was quite a risky move because I passed him from a long way off but I managed to close it. Then I had to manage and in the last couple of laps I managed to come out of the DRS and calm down a bit more, but you can’t relax here. It was tiring, but it was also one of my best races ever. Considering where we started with the team when I arrived, when we were literally last, we are now leading the championship, so you have to give a lot of credit to the team for the big turnaround they managed to make in the time I was here, improving the car and also contributing to my improvement. A few months ago a result like this would certainly not have been possible from my side, so it’s a huge team effort and I’m excited about what the future might bring.”
Charles Leclerc (2nd, Ferrari): “We were competitive on the mediums, the car was working well, but unfortunately in FP1 and FP2 we couldn’t do the race simulation, so that gave me problems in managing the race. We struggled to manage the hard tyres and towards the end I thought I was going to hit the wall, and in fact I was very close. McLaren and Oscar did an exceptional job, they were better than us. It’s a huge shame about what happened to Carlos on the penultimate lap, but I hope everyone is OK. Obviously it’s not a great day for the team. Every lap there were a lot of opportunities, I think the McLaren had less downforce so they were very quick on the straight, while we were slightly quicker than them in the corners. When Oscar overtook me I thought it was just a matter of keeping calm to manage the tyres and then overtake him later, but in reality it was more difficult than I thought because on the straight I couldn’t get as close as I wanted. We lost the race when I couldn’t get close enough as I wanted at the end of the straight, but that’s how it went.”
George Russell (3rd, Mercedes): “I am definitely surprised to be on the podium. I am happy that Carlos and Checo are OK. I think there was a lot of work from the team with the engine change for me and Lewis, a lot of things happened and everyone worked so hard. I had a terrible start and was losing a lot of ground at the beginning, but with the hard tyres we were among the fastest. It was great to overtake Max and then there was this bonus that put me on the podium. Driving flat out in front of a carbon fibre wall on the penultimate lap was the most difficult moment, it was really crazy. Something was happening but you couldn’t really understand, then the Safety Car didn’t come out and anything could have happened, but I am happy that everyone is OK. It was a very long and strange race and I am happy to be on the podium. We have to be realistic: today we should have finished 5th, that was the real result for our value. Clearly without the problem Lando had yesterday in qualifying he would have been ahead too, so I don’t want to get carried away by the enthusiasm for this podium. There’s a lot of work to do and hopefully Singapore will be a slightly better weekend.”
#Piastri #result #months
