McLaren’s Oscar Piastri won the Azerbaijan Grand Prix to celebrate his second career victory.
“It was one of the best races of my career. I experienced perhaps the most nervous day in my life,” admitted Piastri at the finish line.
Qualifying winner Charles Leclerc finished second with Ferrari, who led the first twenty laps.
Third place literally fell into the lap of George Russell in Mercedes. In the penultimate lap, Sergio Pérez with Red Bull and Carlos Sainz junior in Ferrari crashed into each other in the fight for third place.
Both drivers engaged in a fight for the lead at the end of the Grand Prix, after which they at least tried to catch up to Leclerc. However, their efforts ended in barriers. Both riders escaped without injury and subsequently without penalty.
Championship leader Max Verstappen was fifth. He got out of the investigation for violating the rules of the virtual safety car with a warning.
Lando Norris, his challenger in the fight for first place, finished just ahead of the Dutchman, who is 59 points behind the defending champion.
Thanks to the Briton’s result today, McLaren moved into the lead of the Constructors’ Cup for the first time since 2014.
An even longer wait is over for Argentina fans who were waiting for points from their compatriot. After 42 years, when Carlos Reutemann last scored points, newcomer Franco Colapinto finished eighth.
Another newcomer, Oliver Bearman, also did a great job. Today, the tenth driver in the final standings became the first driver to score points in the first two races behind the wheel of formulas from two different brands. The Brit was seventh in Saudi Arabia.
“The point doesn’t quite tell the whole story of the race, I was outside the top ten almost the whole time. But you always have to expect some drama in Baku,” stated Bearman.
The championship continues in a week with another race on the city track, this time in the streets of Singapore.
