Piastri wins classic Baku race after PHENOMENAL F1 duel with Leclerc

Lando Norris did all he could to recover from a poor qualifying session, but there wasn't a safety car to aid his progress. He finished in fourth, one place ahead of his rival Verstappen so the Brit actually cut the gap to Verstappen in the World Championship. There is also good news for the Woking-based team as McLaren took the lead of the Constructors' Championship. For the first time since May 2022, Red Bull do not sit at the top of the standings.

Fernando Alonso, Alex Albon and Franco Colapinto filled the next places. It was looking like Hamilton had failed to recover from his pitlane start in his pursuit for points, but the Brit benefited from the crash at the front to score in ninth. Ollie Bearman scored one point in 10th.

The Grand Prix featured a phenomenal duel between Piastri and Leclerc for the lead of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. The battle lasted more or less the entire length of the second stint, with a third different constructor (Sergio Perez) also getting in on the action at times. The duel saw a bold overtake from Piastri, various attacking attempts from Leclerc to regain the lead and crafty dummy radio calls with Ferrari teasing an undercut. It was the McLaren driver who won the duel. Leclerc's grip ran out at the end of the race, which put him under pressure from Perez. Perez dropped behind Sainz, and then the two drivers crashed.

How the Azerbaijan Grand Prix happened

There were 18 cars on the grid, with Lewis Hamilton and Esteban Ocon in the pit lane. Charles Leclerc secured pole position, with Oscar Piastri sitting inside a Ferrari sandwich. Sergio Perez and George Rusell found themselves starting ahead of Max Verstappen. Lando Norris was out of place due to a qualifying mistake and started from P15. The front runners started on the medium, and McLaren played the long game with Norris on the hards.

Following a horror crash at the start of the F2 feature race, the F1 cars got off the line cleanly. Leclerc comfortably led going into the first corner, with Perez getting his elbows out. Eventually, Perez pushed through into third, and Verstappen jumped Russell. Norris made three places on the opening lap. Leclerc was unable to cruise into the distance, as Piastri stayed within the DRS range at the start. 

Norris breached the top ten on lap 10 with a smart overtake on Ollie Bearman. Leclerc started to open up a gap, and had a 3.5 second lead over Piastri on lap 11. Verstappen was the first of the front runners to pit for hard tyres with Russell reacting immediately. Perez followed one lap later as Ferrari opted to stay out. The pit stops elevated Norris to P5, but the Mexican returned just two seconds behind the Brit. 

During the F1 weekend, when McLaren was expected to start helping Lando Norris in his bid for the 2024 Formula 1 World Championship, it was actually Norrs himself playing the wingman role to his teammate Oscar Piastri. The McLaren team told Norris to try and hold up Sergio Perez so that the Australian wouldn't be undercut by the Mexican. In the end, Piastri returned to the track ahead of Perez, so the plan for McLaren worked during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Duel for the lead in Baku

The leader pitted on lap 17 and returned to the track in P2. He regained the lead when his teammate pitted but came under attack from Oscar Piastri. At turn one on lap 20, Piastri made the move on the inside. The two drivers continued to duel but the Australian remained ahead. Meanwhile, Perez closed the gap and looked to get in on the action at various points. Ferrari teased a dummy move, by telling Leclerc to do the opposite of what Piastri did. In the end, both cars didn't pit.

On lap 24, Norris and Verstappen engaged in a battle. The Dutchman suggested his breaks were not working as he had to cut a corner at one point. Norris stayed ahead and Verstappen actually came under attack from Russell. Norris eventually pitted on lap 38 to get rid of his hard tyres. He returned in P7. With 11 laps remaining, he had a 13 second gap to cut to Verstappen.

Leclerc's grip ran out at the end of the race, which put him under pressure from Perez. Perez attacked, but didn't overtake the Ferrari driver. Instead, Sainz got through and then the two drivers crashed.