Oscar Piastri produced a masterclass in the
Azerbaijan Grand Prix, despite high pressure from
Charles Leclerc behind him. For
Red Bull Racing, the
Formula 1 race ended in disappointment after
Max Verstappen's fifth-place finish and
Sergio Perez's retirement. These are the ratings given to the
F1 drivers by GPblog.
McLaren went into the race weekend at the
Baku City Circuit as the strong favourites. The British team lived up to that status, but not - as perhaps expected - with
Lando Norris. Instead, it was his teammate
Oscar Piastri. Piastri overtook Leclerc through a bold move and managed to keep the Monegasque's
Ferrari, which stayed within DRS distance for the majority, behind him until the finish. A perfect score for the race winner.
Meanwhile, title contenders Verstappen and Norris had a down weekend. Norris didn't escape Q1 during qualifying after making a mistake in his second run and then abandoning his attempt due to a yellow flag. Verstappen got no further than sixth on the grid due to a wrong choice in his set-up.
Eventually, the Dutchman gained another place in the race because of Perez and
Carlos Sainz's crash. Up to that point, Perez was driving an excellent weekend, but both he and Sainz could have avoided the crash, and at least one of them could have made the podium. Rookies Oliver Bearman and
Franco Colapinto both drove a fine second
F1 race.
F1 Ratings for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix
Charles Leclerc - 8
Oscar Piastri - 10
Carlos Sainz - 5
Franco Colapinto - 7
Alex Albon - 7
Fernando Alonso - 7
Sergio Perez - 5
Oliver Bearman - 7
GPblog Season F1 Ratings after the Azerbaijan Grand Prix
Max Verstappen - 8.4
Lando Norris - 7.5
George Russell - 7.1
Charles Leclerc - 7.1
Oscar Piastri - 7.0
Carlos Sainz - 6.6
Nico Hulkenberg - 6.6
Franco Colapinto - 6.5
Lewis Hamilton - 6.4
Alex Albon - 6.4
Fernando Alonso - 6.4
Yuki Tsunoda - 6.1
Esteban Ocon - 6.0
Pierre Gasly - 6.0
Valtteri Bottas - 5.8
Daniel Ricciardo - 5.8
Lance Stroll - 5.2
Guanyu Zhou - 5.0
Sergio Perez - 4.9
Oliver Bearman - 8.0
This article has been created in collaboration with Matt Gretton
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