Oscar Piastri missed out on pole in qualifying but was able to find the pace to turn his efforts into a win on Sunday this aftrnoon for the Azerbaijan grand prix. The win marks Piastri’s second win in Formula One. Despite McLaren esolidifying themselves as the car to beat. The end of the race came down to a 4 driver showdown between Piastri, Carlos Sainz, Segio Perez and Charles Leclerc battling it out. However, the unthinkable happened when Perez and Sainz came together after a failed pass by Perez on Leclerc. Both drivers crashed out of the race with one lap to go. The race ended under a virtual safety car. At the end of the drama McLaren overtook Red Bull as the constructors championship leader.
Oscar Piastri Spoke on the Win
Piastri said, “P1! I’m so happy to have won my second Grand Prix. This is the best win of my career. I’m proud of what we did today. I tried at the start of the race to get in front, but once I dropped out of DRS, I just didn’t have the pace. 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. So, I went for a pretty big lunge, but managed to pull it up, and then hung on for dear life for the next 35 laps. It was hard work, but I think that definitely goes down as one of my better races.
“We’re now leading the World Championship. It’s a massive team effort and everyone at McLaren deserves full credit for the turnaround that’s happened in my 18 months here. The car has improved, but I think they’ve helped me improve as well: 12 months ago, I definitely wasn’t capable of achieving results like this. I’m excited to see what the future holds.”
Full Azerbaijan Grand Prix Results
| Pos | No | Driver | Car | Laps | Time/retired | Pts |
|---|
| 1 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren Mercedes | 51 | 1:32:58.007 | 25 |
| 2 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 51 | +10.910s | 18 |
| 3 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | 51 | +31.328s | 15 |
| 4 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren Mercedes | 51 | +36.143s | 13 |
| 5 | 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT | 51 | +77.098s | 10 |
| 6 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes | 51 | +85.468s | 8 |
| 7 | 23 | Alexander Albon | Williams Mercedes | 51 | +87.396s | 6 |
| 8 | 43 | Franco Colapinto | Williams Mercedes | 51 | +89.541s | 4 |
| 9 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 51 | +92.401s | 2 |
| 10 | 50 | Oliver Bearman | Haas Ferrari | 51 | +93.127s | 1 |
| 11 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas Ferrari | 51 | +93.465s | 0 |
| 12 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine Renault | 51 | +117.189s | 0 |
| 13 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | RB Honda RBPT | 51 | +146.907s | 0 |
| 14 | 24 | Zhou Guanyu | Kick Sauber Ferrari | 51 | +148.841s | 0 |
| 15 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine Renault | 50 | +1 lap | 0 |
| 16 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Kick Sauber Ferrari | 50 | +1 lap | 0 |
| 17 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT | 49 | DNF | 0 |
| 18 | 55 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | 49 | DNF | 0 |
| 19 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes | 45 | DNF | 0 |
| NC | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB Honda RBPT | 14 | DNF | 0 |
| Note – Norris scored an additional point for setting the fastest lap of the race. |