Oscar Piastri gives McLaren the lead in F1, Lando Norris saves face and Carlos Sainz and Sergio Perez crash

What a great Formula 1 race we had in Baku. Oscar Piastri has scored his second victory of the season being smarter than Charles Leclerc, whom he overtook when the Monegasque driver was distracted and then managed to keep him behind him for the entire race until the Ferrari ran out of tyres.

Max Verstappen’s situation is terrible. The world leader and world champion is in a tailspin, so much so that today Lando Norris has again closed the gap on him despite starting from far behind. Norris finished in fourth position, and together with Piastri’s victory, he is given a McLaren leads the constructors’ championship.

Miraculous sixth place for Alonso and first points for Colapinto

It seemed like Leclerc had to win in Baku, but Piastri drove him crazy and robbed him of the victory. The Ferrari driver was driving at will, so much so that he was too relaxed, Piastri overtook him and then gave a defensive recital not only to leave him behind, but also to cause Leclerc to run out of tyres.

Leclerc’s decline caused the group to become more compact, leading to an accident that ended the race with a safety car. Sergio Pérez and Carlos Sainz crashed on the penultimate lap when they were fighting for the podium, in what seems to be an unfortunate incident during the race, as the wheels got stuck.

The one who takes advantage of the accident between the two Hispanics is George Russell, who has rescued a podium that seemed impossible for Mercedes. The Briton benefited from the huge block that Norris put on Verstappen to overtake the Dutchman, and then climbed onto the podium while his teammate, Lewis Hamilton, who started from the pits, was completely lost.

In the battle for the title Norris continues to cut, but too little seeing Verstappen’s problems. Today the Dutchman was even slower than Sergio Perez, and finished fifth by a miracle. He went into the pits to put on new tyres and do the fastest lap, but even that didn’t work out because the Safety Car prevented him from doing so.

Norris keeps that fastest lap that allows him to stay 59 points behind Verstappen With seven long races and three sprints to go, Norris has plenty of time and car to win this championship, the big question is whether he will stop making silly mistakes and start making up for points in a big way. Singapore should be his territory.

WHAT AN ACCIDENT BETWEEN SAINZ AND PÉREZ WHEN BOTH WERE FIGHTING FOR THE PODIUM!

Sad ending when both had made a real race #AzerbaijanDAZNF1 pic.twitter.com/DSQfljdzqc

— DAZN Spain (@DAZN_ES) September 15, 2024

Miraculous Sixth position for Fernando Alonso with an Aston Martin which was not up to such a pace. A configuration that gave him a lot of top speed and a very early pit stop allowed Alonso to achieve his second best result of the season despite Williams and Haas seeming faster.

First points in Formula 1 for Franco Colapintowho despite an early pit stop managed to finish in eighth position, just behind his teammate Alexander Albon. The best race for the Williams team since the 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix.

Second race of Oliver Bearman in Formula 1 and back in the pointsKevin Magnussen’s replacement was tenth with the Haas, ahead of his teammate and battling with Hamilton. By the way, Lance Stroll and Yuki Tsunoda were out of the race at the first opportunity due to an accident.

Formula 1 GP Azerbaijan 2024 race results

Formula 1 general classification

1st. Max VERSTAPPEN (Red Bull-HOL), 313 points

2nd. Lando NORRIS (McLaren-GBR), 254 points

3rd. Charles LECLERC (Ferrari-MON), 235 points

4th. Oscar PIASTRI (McLaren-AUS), 222 points

5º. Carlos SAINZ (Ferrari-ESP), 184 points