McLaren driver Oscar Piastri won the Formula 1 race for the Grand Prix of Azerbaijan in Baku today, after which his team took the lead in the Constructors’ Championship.
It is the second victory in the season and in his career for Pjastrij. He achieved his first victory in Hungary. Second place was taken by Charles Leclerc from Ferrari, third was George Russell from Mercedes, he says Sports Journal.
The race ended under a virtual safety car, as Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and Red Bull’s Sergio Perez collided on lap 50.
Previously, a great fight was led by Piastre and Leclerc, but the young Australian managed to defend the victory on several occasions, which he achieved thanks to the fact that he overtook Leclerc in the 20th lap.
McLaren driver Lando Norris was fourth, with an additional point for the fastest lap, Max Verstappen from Red Bull was fifth, and Fernando Alonso from Aston Martin was sixth.
Williams drivers Aleksandar Albon and Franco Colapinto took seventh and eighth place, ninth was Luis Hamilton from Mercedes, who started from the pits due to the penalty he received for changing the engine, and 10th place was taken by Oliver Berman from Has.
McLaren now has a 20-point advantage over the leading Red Bull, and Norris has reduced the gap to Verstappen to 59 points in the drivers’ competition.
The next race in the championship is on September 22 for the Singapore Grand Prix.
Lekler started well and kept the first place ahead of Pjastri, and the Red Bull drivers also started well, Perez overtook Sainc for third, and Ferštapen overtook Rasel for fifth place. Norris moved up two positions at the start to 13th, while Hamilton was 19th after starting from the pits due to an engine change penalty.
In the second lap, Norris was 12th and Hamilton 17th. By the sixth lap, Leclerc gained 1.3 seconds ahead of Piastri, who then had the fastest lap. Norris was making up positions from lap to lap and in the eighth he climbed to 10th, by the 12th lap to ninth, and after Alonso pitted to eighth place.
In the 13th lap, Ferštapen went to change tires, followed by Russell, and they returned to the track in 10th and 12th respectively. Hamilton immediately went to the pits and came back in 18th. Perez also went to change tires and returned to the track in sixth behind Norris. Russell overtook Ricardo for ninth place, and Gasli did the same and climbed to 10th. Pjastri went to change tires on the 16th lap, and at that moment Perez overtook him for fifth place. Pjastri returned to the track in fourth ahead of Perez, and behind Albon, who had not gone to change tires until then. Leader Lekler pitted on the 17th lap and returned to the track second behind teammate Sainc and ahead of Albon.
On the 18th lap, Sainz went to change tires and returned to the track sixth behind Norris and ahead of Verstappen. Soon Perez overtook Albon and took third place. Pjastri attacked Leclerc in the 20th lap with a safe and good maneuver and took the first place. Leclerc tried to fight back, but Piastre defended himself, and Perez joined them.
On the 23rd lap, Sainz overtook Norris for fifth place, and a lap later, Albon for fourth place. At the same time, Verstappen was closing in on Norris, who managed to defend himself on two occasions, and the Dutchman complained on the radio that the brakes were not working. Leclerc attacked in the 29th lap of Piastri, but the young Australian defended himself well, just like in the 31st lap.
Albon went to change tires and returned to the track in the 32nd lap in 10th place. Pjastri again defended well against Leclerc in the next round, and their fight was used by Perez, who was closing in on them, and fourth-placed Sainz was closing the gap.
Verstappen complained to the team via radio about the grip, after which Russell overtook him on the 34th lap and took sixth place. On lap 38, Norris went to change tires and returned to the track seventh ahead of Alonso, and 15 seconds behind Max. Leclerc unsuccessfully attacked Piastri on the 41st lap, and Hamilton overtook Berman for 12th place. In the meantime, Norris was reducing the gap to Verstappen and in the 45th lap he came within five seconds. Leclerc did not give up, he was 0.5 seconds behind Pjastri and was trying to overtake him. Piastre increased his lead to 1.5 seconds on the 47th lap, and Leclerc complained about the rear tires and tried to defend himself from Perez and keep the second place. Norris overtook Verstappen on the 49th lap and took sixth place.
There was an incident in the 50th lap. Perez attacked Leclerc, and Sainc was closing in on them, who took advantage of their fight and overtook Sergio. Soon there was contact between Saic and Perez, they hit the wall together and damaged their cars.
He introduced a virtual safety vehicle under which the race ended, and after Perez and Sainz retired, Russell climbed onto the podium, in third place.
That incident will be under investigation.
Ranking of drivers in the race for the Grand Prix of Azerbaijan:
1. Oskar Pjastri (Meklaren) up to 32 minutes, 58,007
2. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) + 10.910 seconds
3. George Russell (Mercedes) + 31.328
4. Lando Norris (McLaren) +36,143
5. Maks Ferštapen (Red Bul) + 77,098
6. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) + 85,468
7. Aleksandar Albon (William) + 87,396
8. Franko Colapinto (Williams) + 89.541
9. Luis Hamilton (Mercedes) + 92,401
10. Oliver Berman (Has) + 93,127
11. Niko Hulkenberg (Has) + 93,465
12. Pierre Gasly (Alpin) + 117,189
13. Danijel Ricardo (RB) + 146,907
14. Zhou Guangyu (Zauber) + 148.841
15. Esteban Okon (Alpin) one lap
16. Valteri Botas (Zauber) one lap
They did not finish the race:
Sergio Perez (Red Bull)
Karlos Sainc (Ferari)
Lens Strol (Aston Martin)
Juki Cunoda (RB)
Source: Sports Journal
Foto: Screenshot / Formula 1 YouTube
Source: autoblog.rs
