Oscar Piastri passed Charles Leclerc and then held off the Ferrari driver to win an intense Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku.
But the race was marred by a late crash between Sergio Perez and Carlos Sainz Jnr which meant the race ended under Virtual Safety Car.Leclerc finished second while the late collision promoted George Russell to the final podium place.
At the start, Leclerc held onto the lead from pole position with Piastri clotting into second behind him. Perez gained third place from Sainz, while Max Verstappen picked up fifth from George Russell.
Piastri kept within DRS range of the Ferrari over the early laps but Leclerc eventually pulled away, building up his lead to over five seconds. McLaren used Norris to help hold up Perez, who pitted to attempt an undercut on the McLaren driver, allowing Piastri to pit for hards and rejoin sill ahead of the Red Bull.
Leclerc eventually stopped at the end of lap 16, dropping only behind team mate Sainz, who was the last of the leaders to stop. That put Leclerc back into the race lead, with Piastri now around a second behind and Perez three seconds off the leader.
Piastri closed on the leader and got back within DRS range. He used the 100 metre longer DRS zone along the pit straight to help close on the Ferrari before diving up the inside into turn one to take the lead of the race for the first time.
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Leclerc stuck with the McLaren, keeping within DRS range for several laps. He got close enough to put the leader under pressure multiple times but was not able to make an attempt to pass.
Eventually, Sainz began to close on the three leaders, making it a four-way battle for the lead. Piastri put the hammer down and managed to escape out of reach of Leclerc before Sainz managed to overtake Perez to take third place.
As Perez fought back on Sainz at the exit of turn two, the pair made side-by-side contact, sending both into the wall. That brought out the Virtual Safety Car, effectively ending the race.
Piastri took the chequered flag for his second career victory with Leclerc taking second place. Russell was promoted to third after the crash, with Norris gaining fourth ahead of Verstappen. However, Verstappen will be investigated after the race for a Virtual Safety Car infringement.
Fernando Alonso took sixth ahead of the two Williams of Alexander Albon and Franco Colapinto. Lewis Hamilton was ninth as Oliver Bearman took the final point ahead of Haas team mate Nico Hulkenberg.
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2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix
- Verstappen: “Important” for FIA to clarify legality of McLaren’s ‘mini DRS’ wing
- Hamilton explains suspension set-up change behind “miserable” Baku weekend
- Piastri needs “crazy” results to become title contender despite Baku win
- FIA taking new look at flexing bodywork amid intrigue over McLaren’s rear wing
- Norris knew Verstappen broke VSC rules in Baku because he did the same in Melbourne
Jere (@jerejj)
15th September 2024, 14:05
Well Done Baku, once again.
Sainz initially seemed to have caused the collision, but Perez’s small rightward move may have caused the contact in the end.
Therefore, Russell got lucky, like in Austria, & Colapinto also achieved his first points finish in F1, & Bearman his second in as many starts.
Weird strategies by Alpine & Ricciardo, leaving until the very last laps without anything to achieve by doing so.
AlexTR (@petrucci)
15th September 2024, 14:12
Perez did it again
Asd
15th September 2024, 14:31
Exactly. I was cheering for him and then one moment a thought came to my mind “And what if he crashes this? That would be the final straw for me.”
And dayum! He did it just 2 minutes later ;//
You simply don’t drive on somebody’s rear tyre like that. How on Earth could he be so careless?!? Sergio seems to suffer from those lapses of reason in the worst possible moments. You can’t cure that.
Nick T.
15th September 2024, 14:45
True, but he also out drove Max by a mile.
ludewig
15th September 2024, 15:05
With nothing to show for it.
Nick T.
15th September 2024, 15:51
That was implicit in my comment…
pcxmac (@pcxmac)
15th September 2024, 19:46
yep, Horner better fire him before he throws away good points again. Its always someone else’s fault, he’s Tsunoda’s angry man child on steroids, he has no place on the grid. Throw that dude away and get someone who isn’t blaming every other driver but himself.
Edvaldo
15th September 2024, 14:21
Red Bull wasn’t terrible today, but Max was.
Now imagine if Norris could do what is asked of him with the fastest car of the moment?
The championship would be completely open already, with Max’s chances completely dependent on a late resurgence by Red Bull.
Instead, we’re race after race after race talking about when Norris will make some real ground with fewer races left.
Mclaren already has everything they need to take it all this year, but he’s letting them down.
Asd
15th September 2024, 14:32
Imagine, you don’t need to press Enter twice after each sentence.
See?
Edvaldo
15th September 2024, 14:37
I wrote from my phone, professor.
Now, imagine someone going out of their way to post this on a F1 site comments section. Wow.
Nick T.
15th September 2024, 14:48
Settle down. You ever see him do that before? No. So, it’s not like you’re correcting some recurring issue.
Crawliin-from-the-wreckage-(Unhinged) (@davedai)
15th September 2024, 15:13
I read from my phone and found it easier to read.
neiana
15th September 2024, 17:43
Ew. That starts getting wallish. Nobody likes walls.
David (@nvherman)
15th September 2024, 18:25
It’s called paragraph separation, and makes the post far easier to read.
Nothing to see here.
Leave him be.
Broke1984 (@broke1984)
15th September 2024, 14:39
Cant agree with that. One could argue that Norris should not have had everything hanging on a lap that was ruined by yellow flags but sometimes these things happen and the yellow flag was not his fault. He drove a superb race ultimately
Nick T.
15th September 2024, 14:47
Norris would have blown everything or crashed had been in Oscar’s car. Max drove an awful race, but he’s proven he knows how to win x20. Norris can’t even be classed more than a George level driver at best.
Edvaldo
15th September 2024, 14:51
Yeah, i doubt he would’ve pulled this off had he been in Piastri’s position. Would finish 2nd complaining it was too difficult to overtake.
Nick T.
15th September 2024, 14:57
What happened to Hamilton? Shouldn’t he have been able to get further up based on the same lucky breaks Norris got?
Edvaldo
15th September 2024, 15:04
He should’ve started on hards just like Norris. Starting on the same tyres as everybody else from the pits meant he was stuck in DRS trains for basically the whole race and never had a moment to unleash the pace like Norris had on the last laps.
David BR (@david-br)
15th September 2024, 15:06
Hamilton was poor this weekend. A match for Max in fact.
Nick T.
15th September 2024, 15:11
@Edvaldo/David BR
Ahh, OK, that makes sense.
CL vs LH is going to be an incredibly interesting. It will either be hammer and tongs or if age has caught LH, it might be very frustrating for Lewis.
Broderick Harper (@banbrorace)
15th September 2024, 18:20
Is it ‘let’s bash Norris time’ or do you simply not like him or alternatively is it because you love Piastri so much?
David (@nvherman)
15th September 2024, 18:27
There is a lot of Norris bashing on this site.
Tristan
15th September 2024, 19:23
I thought it was strange too, don’t get where the Norris hate is coming from.
I thought he had a great race all things considered. Great damage control from the championship perspective.
David BR (@david-br)
15th September 2024, 22:02
@banbrorace @nvherman Tristan
Not sure everything has to be labelled ‘hate,’ ‘dislike’, ‘bashing’ and so on – maybe just disappointed he hasn’t converted his chances enough this season? Personally, he seems very likeable.
MacLeod (@macleod)
16th September 2024, 8:47
indeed Max didn’t defend the inside line at all when Russell overtook him that was surprising. This wasn’t Max weekend clearly enough.
MichaelN
15th September 2024, 15:11
Ferrari lost a lot of points today. Disappointing.
That McLaren isn’t 1-2 in every race is pretty impressive in a bad way, they’ve build a great car!
Davethechicken
15th September 2024, 15:55
I don’t think McLaren should have won today. Both Ferrari and Red Bull with Sergio and Charles had more pace
But for Sergio being held up by Norris was critical, after his stop. Without that was p2 behind Charles.
Charles made a mistake not defending harder and pushing harder after his pitstop. Again he had more pace than Oscar/McLaren
Edvaldo
15th September 2024, 16:06
Leclerc was able to catch Piastri at the end of the straight numerous times, but different from him, Piastri defended himself.
And the fact that Sainz caught them after erasing a 10-second deficit shows that Piastri was slower than the guys behind him, as he usually is after a while. Leclerc would’ve had it easier than Piastri had he not allowed that overtake to happen without even attempting to protect himself.
MichaelN
15th September 2024, 16:24
I’m sure Piastri would have preferred to build a gap if he could, but it’s always hard to say how someone in the lead is balancing risk/reward. After all, he didn’t get in a position to overtake by being off the pace. And then, especially after he got the memo that Leclerc’s overtaking toolbox was quite limited and lacking in creativity, he might have figured he was cool with pacing himself to the end.
Piastri is a smart guy. His driving reminded me of Schumacher pulling the wool over his brother’s eyes at Interlagos in the early 2000s. The Williams was easily the faster car, but Schumacher countered in the exact place where it mattered, managed his pace in the rest of the lap, and duly won the race.
Norris might rue not doing a better job this year; if Piastri keeps improving his tyre management, Norris might not get that #1 role again.
If I'm not wery much mistaken (@ifiamnotwerymuchmistaken)
15th September 2024, 15:16
I have to say, I’m sorry Newey didn’t choose to retire. F1 without him is just fantastic.
Piastri did a great job. He is quick, cool headed and aggresive. Great overtake and then cool umder pressure.
Leclerc did a poor job defending, not aggresive enough.
A great race all around, and I have no idea who will be fastest in a week’s time.
Asd
15th September 2024, 15:38
Wait, was Newey Mercedes’ designer when they dominated for half a decade?
He obviously was not. And it was only thanks to him that RedBull was able to put up a fight in the last 2 seasons of Mercedes domination. Otherwise those seasons would’ve been utter garbage.
Nick T.
15th September 2024, 15:53
Uh, he only had the best chassis during that time. Had they had the Mercedes engine, that time would have been “utter garbage” for Mercedes. Your nonstop denial of Newey’s track record is both amusing and inexplicable.
Asd
15th September 2024, 17:32
“Your nonstop denial of Newey’s track record”
Nick, you are confusing me with somebody else. I happen to be a great Newey fan and I even think he should own all those Vettel’s and Verstappen’s driver’s titles.
Anyway, you missed my point. And your argument only adds to my point. And you have literally not refused anything I said, so you should calm down a bit, because you got angry like a woman.
The thing is: even if Newey designs the best car, it doesn’t automatically means winning championships! And conversely, if you don’t have the best car, you can still have the best engine and win based on this (which you pointed out using Mercedes as an example).
Davethechicken
15th September 2024, 16:04
@Asd, you must mean 2019/2020.
As in the 2021 season, the Red Bull was the fastest car, According Newry himself.
Edvaldo
15th September 2024, 16:10
Gotta love how people distort the facts to fit their narrative about something that happened just a few years ago and that everybody here knows or can check in a couple of minutes.
Red Bull was out of contention for most of the last decade because they were stuck with a bad engine, nothing to do with Newey’s designs not being good enough.
MichaelN
15th September 2024, 16:28
The “explanation” (or: excuse) is always: the engine was bad.
Newey is rightly lauded for his work, but some have pushed that into an awkward hero-worship in which everything he touches is painted as an instant title winner and only ever fails because the engine/driver/team principal/tyres are bad.
Tifoso1989 (@tifoso1989)
15th September 2024, 19:07
MichaelN,
Absolutely. Many people forget that in 2015 RBR produced a subpar chassis. Moreover, during the 90s and early 00s, when the competition was more open, Rory Byrne consistently proved to be Adrian Newey’s kriptonite. Despite Newey having access to larger budgets at times, whether with Williams or McLaren, he often struggled to match Byrne’s ingenuity who is continuing to provide consultancy for Ferrari, with his contract extended until 2027.
Adrian Newey is undoubtedly a genius, no question about it, though people often overlook the fact that he’s backed by a team of incredibly talented engineers. One of them is Rob Marshall who has joined McLaren, and now they’re leading the WCC. While McLaren had a strong foundation already, there’s no doubt in my mind that Marshall, the father of the mass damper, has been instrumental in making them competitive again.
MichaelN
16th September 2024, 17:16
Indeed, it’s actually a bit puzzling Rory Byrne doesn’t get more credit. I suppose it doesn’t sit well with some of the usual corners of the media landscape that he worked at the “wrong” teams, and with Schumacher to boot.
Schumi_alonso
15th September 2024, 15:52
Vs Oscar yes he could have done better. But I do think he defended well against Checo. Not gonna say “see what happened when he did”, but Checo being closer was much more difficult to defend especially when the rears had fallen off the cliff.
Leo B
15th September 2024, 15:21
– Oscar, we need you to help out Norris for his championship..
– Yeah sure thing, I’ll be there just as soon as I’ve finished winning this race and starting my own championship right here.
Broderick Harper (@banbrorace)
15th September 2024, 18:25
How exactly is Piastri doing that, considering he’s 91 points behind Max?
Maybe, from reading this thread, that Piastri is so good and the rest so rubbish (apparently particularly Norris) that he’s going to win all the remaining races – whilst Lando / Max, will struggle to be in the Top 5
dan
15th September 2024, 18:20
Norris in practise ” See people need to stop thinking we are quick everywhere”. I even said wait till the weekend is over Lando. Well ya teammate won he now has 2 wins to your 2, is the champ leader in the last 7 races. Lando had the cheek to moan at Lewis in Silverstone cool down room when Lewis said you guys were so quick, Lando said you had a quick car for years. Embarassing Lando this should not even be a champ fight it should almost be nailed on right now as a Lando WDC win.
Broderick Harper (@banbrorace)
15th September 2024, 18:25
Impressive from Nando. Although you wouldn’t think it from reading some of the comments on here.
David (@nvherman)
15th September 2024, 18:31
Too many people want to just pile on him because he’s very open whenever he makes a mistake.
But he started 15th, 9 places behind Verstappen, and finished 4th*, 1 place ahead, with the point for the fastest lap.
*Yes, I realise this would’ve been 6th without the Sainz/Pérez collision, but he was still ahead of the one driver he needs to beat
Broderick Harper (@banbrorace)
15th September 2024, 18:42
Yes. He should have more points, but reading this thread you’d think that Piastri was the second coming. I mean he’s good, but it’s going to take something to be as good as some of his fanboys on here, clearly think he is. LOL.
It’s also hilarious how quickly Max has become just another driver amongst the fickle fans on these boards. With Lewis and Fernando, yesterdays men or course.
David BR (@david-br)
16th September 2024, 2:27
It was impressive and his holding up of Pérez was vital to Piastri staying ahead after his pit stop and eventually winning. But he was playing catch up after the Q1 exit when he should have been finishing 1st or 2nd. I thought he bailed out of the lap too quickly, but OK, maybe it was just bad luck. But you have to admit we’re still waiting for that dominant race weekend from Lando, getting P1 in qualifying, starting without losing places and winning the race. The car is good enough.
Broderick Harper (@banbrorace)
16th September 2024, 12:19
Oh I agree. Lando has dropped the ball a little too much.
My point was, that comments like yours are constructive and of course fine. But there’s not a disrespectful tone creeping in towards him from some.
We’ll see as for me, subject to foul ups and unlucky crashes beyond his control, he should win the WDC. Max can barely get past the Mercs, never mind the reinvigorated Ferrari’s. Lando should surely be getting top three for the rest of the season and needing an average of 8 points is doable. That’s if he’s the real deal.
David BR (@david-br)
16th September 2024, 15:15
@banbrorace I agree. Piastri and Leclerc seem to be in the form drivers right now, but maybe that’s just because Lando fell back at Monza after Piastri passed him at the start and then dropped out in Q1 at Baku. It still feels like – as you say, going on how the cars are performing – Norris could still win this. However, I think Baku reset the McLaren mindset to let them both race each other. It’s kind of what I expected TBH. If Red Bull don’t look like they’ll recover much ground, then theoretically Norris, Leclerc and Piastri all have chances and really it’s on a race-by-race basis.
Mark Zastrow (@markzastrow)
15th September 2024, 21:12
We all remember to criticise DRS when it produces dull overtakes, so we should give credit when its due. Today was a good day for DRS, producing consistent overlaps in braking zones without being overpowered. Without DRS, we’d hardly have anything to talk about, and certainly not the enthralling battle we saw up front.
AlanD
16th September 2024, 3:22
Good point Mark. I think though that another reason today was a better day was because there was more differentiation between teams. The Mercs seemed slow in the corners but fast in a straight line whilst the Red Bull seemed much stronger in the corners, for instance. We also had significantly different tyre strategies and cars starting out of position. This all made the race less predictable, but in an authentic way. Still though, you are right, if we didn’t have DRS zones it is hard to see how it would have been anything other than a drag race to first corner then a race between pit crews, with drivers chugging around to pad it out for TV.