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Piastri 'surprises' McLaren with divebomb for Baku victory
Oscar Piastri's phenomenal divebomb on Charles Leclerc was the highlight of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. In a tight race where the pair battled for almost all 51 laps around the streets of Baku, Piastri's first corner overtake, which helped him secure his second Grand Prix victory, will not be easily forgotten. McLaren team boss Andrea Stella talked about the move in the paddock after the race. The Italian admits that even he was nervous the ambitious overtake would fail.
Piastri managed to hold off Leclerc after the overtake caught the Monegasque by surprise. The pair were inseparable for almost the entire race. As Leclerc's tyres started to degrade, Piastri extended his lead out front in the closing stages before a late VSC neutralised the race after the crash between Sergio Perez and Carlos Sainz.
Stella: 'My instinct said he was going to go long'
McLaren moved above Red Bull in the constructor's standings after round 17 in Azerbaijan as they hunt their first title since 1998. Team principal Andrea Stella analysed the move when asked by media present, including GPblog, in the paddock. "When I watched it live and I saw him going, my instinct said, ‘He's going to go long.’ Because the delay in the braking point was kind of like… if Leclerc brakes there, that must be the braking point. So my instinct was he's going to go long, but that's why I wanted to emphasise in my answer before just the precision in the execution to then actually be on the inside apex curve in corner one. So, yeah, I was surprised," Stella began.
'Piastri is always surprising us with his talent'
Despite his first instinct, Stella is full of praise for the young Australian who continues to improve race by race. "But Oscar is always surprising us with his talent, with his ability, and I would say today, he also gave a demonstration of his mental strength. He drove like a driver who has a lot of experience, who has been under this kind of pressure before, who can look with one eye at the mirror, with the other eye at where the breaking point is," Stella continued.
"Oscar did it again with a great level of precision and pretty controlled. Even when he was talking on the radio, he seemed very, very much under control. Yeah, phenomenal driver, brilliant drive today." The Italian concluded. After the race victory in Baku, Piastri now sits on 222 points. Just 13 behind third-placed Leclerc.
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