McLaren’s Oscar Piastri scored a tightly-contested victory in Sunday’s Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Piastri vaulted to the lead late following polesitter Charles Leclerc’s lone pit stop. He held off the Ferrari driver in the closing laps as Leclerc’s tires faded.
It was the 23-year-old’s second career win as McLaren has surpassed Oracle Red Bull Racing for first place in the constructors’ championship.
“I tried at the start of the race to get in front but once I dropped out of DRS [range to Leclerc] I just didn’t have the pace,” said Piastri. “After the stop, I saw we were pretty close again and I felt like we had a little bit of extra grip. I had to go for it because I knew that if I didn’t get past at the start of the stint, I was never going to get past.
“I went for a pretty big lunge but managed to pull it off and then hang on for dear life for the next 35 laps. The last couple of laps, once [Leclerc] dropped out of DRS, were a little bit more relaxing, but there’s no such thing as a relaxing lap around here so it was hard work.
“It definitely goes down as one of the better races of my career.”
On the final lap, Oracle Red Bull Racing’s Sergio Perez and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz got together while battling Leclerc for the runner-up position. The scrum sent the two drivers into the wall between turns two and three. They would fail to finish as a virtual safety car ended the race.
“Today was very unfortunate, the last person I wanted to have a contact with is Carlos and to both end our weekends like that is a disaster for both of us,” Perez said following the race. “I feel that we exited turn two with lots of room between the cars and as Charles was moving to the inside, Carlos looked to pick up the tow from him. As he picked up speed, he moved very quickly, touched my front tire and it was game over for me.
“It is a shame for the team and the championship, after the race we had today and the work we have done all weekend it’s hard for everyone to take. I feel super sad for the team, but the positive thing is the pace is back, the changes to the car seem to have put us back in contention,” Perez continued. “We were fighting for the win and looking like we were going to have a strong result – that’s what we need to take out of today.
“We need to keep it up with the progress we have made and hopefully in the coming races we can be very strong.”
George Russell inherited the third and final podium position in third. Following a poor qualifying effort in 15th on Saturday, McLaren’s Lando Norris rebounded to place fourth. He passed title rival Max Verstappen late in the race as Verstappen settled for fifth position.
Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso placed sixth ahead of the two Williams Racing drivers, Alexander Albon and rookie Franco Colapinto.
Lewis Hamilton salvaged a ninth-place result while Oliver Bearman placed 10th for the final points on the day in his first race with Haas F-1. Teammate Nico Hulkenberg finished 11th.