Oscar Piastri passes Charles Leclerc to win F1 Azerbaijan GP, with George Russell in third after late crash which put McLaren on top.
It was a clean start to F1 Azerbaijan GP in sunny conditions at Baku City Circuit, as Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc led the way from McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, who traded blows early on. Red Bull’s Sergio Perez made a move on Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz at the start to be third.
Likewise teammate Max Verstappen cleared Mercedes’ George Russell to be fifth, as Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso was seventh from the Williams pair of Franco Colapinto and Alexander Albon, where the Thai racer was the lead driver on the hard tyre.
The Top 10 was rounded out by Haas’ Oliver Bearman, as Visa Cash App RB’s Yuki Tsunoda and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll made contact on Lap 1 when fighting for positions. The Canadian was forced to pit due to puncture and dropped to last.
The Japanese driver continued on but had damage to drop down the order. McLaren’s Lando Norris, meanwhile, gained up to 11th in the first few laps, while Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton was up to 15th after starting from the pitlane.
The Mercedes driver was stuck in a train, but Norris managed to get himself in 10th after passing Bearman. The Haas driver was asked to give way to Hulkenberg after losing 10th in early team orders, with Kick Sauber also applying one to get Zhou Guanyu ahead.
The first round of pit stop started to happen with the medium tyres not working as good. The Ferrari pair kept it late to pit and Norris played a team game to hold up Perez, which cost the Mexican a chance to clear Piastri in the pit stop game.
They were close together with Perez chasing Piastri for second and despite a late stop for Leclerc, the three were within DRS of each other. Albon was also in the mix, but without having stopped. He was cleared by the three to get on with the lead battle.
Leclerc was the one to lose out big chunk after building a good gap. Piastri hustled him and eventually made the move by braking late at Turn 1 to lead F1 Azerbaijan GP on Lap 20. The Monegasque stayed with and brought along Perez with the three close together.
The second group was led by Sainz, who had Verstappen and Russell behind him. The catch was Albon and Norris, who were yet to pit and holding the group of cars. Behind Russell, it was Alonso ahead of Colapinto in the Top 10 points battle.
Tsunoda, meanwhile, retired after a hole damage on his sidepod. Hamilton was struggling outside the Top 10 behind the pair of Haas. At the front, Piastri had Leclerc close to him all-through, with Perez slightly off the Top 2 battling for the race lead.
Leclerc hustled Piastri couple of times after playing the waiting game but the Australian held on to the lead by just. This brought Perez close behind the Monegasque to make it a three-way fight for the F1 Azerbaijan GP lead and potential victory.
Sainz was a lonely fourth from Norris who continued to run. But Russell managed to clear Verstappen for track position. Alonso held on to track position but Hulkenberg managed to get behind him along with Albon, with Colapinto just behind with Bearman and Hamilton.
Having passed Hulkenberg, Albon in ninth was in the chase of Alonso. The German had Colapinto on his tail with Hamilton joining in after finally clearing Bearman. Among all of this, Norris pitted to return in seventh in the chase of Verstappen.
He did catch him and cleared him for sixth eventually with two laps to go. At the front, Piastri had it covered after Leclerc started to suffer from the rear tyres. He came in the clutches of Perez and Sainz where the Mexican tried a move on him at Turn 1.
But Leclerc held on which allowed Sainz to clear Perez at the exit of Turn 1. The Mexican came back on him at the exit of Turn 3 but the two made contact to crash out. It was a win for Piastri in F1 Azerbaijan GP from Leclerc, as Russell ended up on the podium.
Norris was fourth from back of the grid to lead Verstappen, who stopped for the fastest lap but the Brit had it after the race ended under Virtual Safety Car for the incident. Alonso was sixth from Albon and Colapinto, as Hamilton managed to climb up to ninth.
Bearman scored in 10th as teammate Hulkenberg dropped out of points. Both Verstappen and Hulkenberg were pinged by the stewards, who will also look at the Perez and Sainz incident. The Mexican’s crash meant McLaren are now the constructors’ leaders.
They have 476 points to Red Bull’s 456. Also, Williams went past Alpine for eighth with 16 points to 13 after the double points. Alpine’s Pierre Gasly was 12th from Visa Cash App RB’s Daniel Ricciardo, Guanyu, Alpine’s Esteban Ocon and Kick Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas to see the chequered flag.
Although Perez, Sainz and Stroll were classified as finishers, they did not see the flag and were noted as two laps down for the former two and six laps for the latter against the leaders. Both Ocon and Bottas too finished a lap down to the leaders.
UPDATE: The stewards termed the incident between Sainz and Perez as a racing one with no one driver to be blamed for it. Here: https://www.fia.com/sites/default/files/decision-document/2024%20Azerbaijan%20Grand%20Prix%20-%20Decision%20-%20Car%2055%20-%20Alleged%20incident%20with%20Car%2011.pdf
McLaren, meanwhile, were fined €5,000 for moving towards parc ferme while pit stops were being performed. Here: https://www.fia.com/sites/default/files/decision-document/2024%20Azerbaijan%20Grand%20Prix%20-%20Infringement%20-%20McLaren%20Formula%201%20Team%20-%20Pit%20Lane%20Infringement.pdf
The stewards also let off Verstappen, Hulkenberg, Gasly and Ocon with a warning for their virtual safety car infringement of overtaking cars after the chequered flag. The stewards, though, noted that if in future there is any overtaking situation, the drivers will be penalised.
Here (same for all drivers): https://www.fia.com/sites/default/files/decision-document/2024%20Azerbaijan%20Grand%20Prix%20-%20Infringement%20-%20Car%201%20-%20Virtual%20Safety%20Car%20infringement.pdf
Here’s link to a F1 Discord channel, join in to interact