Defensive Masterclass Lands Piastri Win in Eventful Azerbaijan GP
In what was an amazing fight at the front, it was Oscar Piastri who held his nerve to take a sensational victory in Azerbaijan! Charles Leclerc had to settle for another second place from Pole whilst George Russell rounded out the Podium after a late collision between Carlos Sainz and Sergio Perez!
The Biggest Talking Points
Whilst it was pretty clean on Turn 1 at the front with Charles Leclerc leading from Oscar Piastri with Sergio Perez overtaking Carlos Sainz for third, there was contact in the midfield between Lance Stroll and Yuki Tsunoda. I think this is very 50/50, both guys could’ve potentially handled the situation better, but at the end of the day, it ruined both of their Races. Charles Leclerc quickly started to check out at the front whilst Red Bull were the first ones at the front to box with Sergio Perez. Whilst the undercut probably would’ve worked for Checo, Lando Norris did a really good job of holding up Perez to allow Piastri to remain ahead. After most of the first pit stops had taken place, Leclerc was leading from Piastri and Perez whilst Carlos Sainz was a distant fourth. Alex Albon and the recovering Lando Norris were going long on hards as Verstappen and Norris came within inches of making contact on the run-up to Turn 3!
Back at the front and it was Oscar Piastri who pulled off another sensational overtake for the lead of the Race before Oscar had to defend very well to keep Charles Leclerc behind. Elsewhere, Lewis Hamilton was struggling to make any impact on the points as Rookies Franco Colapinto and Oliver Bearman were keeping the 7-time World Champion behind. Whilst most of the Race had a 3-way fight for the win, the final few laps became a 4-way fight as Carlos Sainz brought himself into play. Behind this, Lando Norris was able to dispatch Max Verstappen which is both a great result for Lando and a sign of just how disappointing Max’s afternoon really was! Anyway, after Oscar pulled away at the front, the big moment came as after Sainz initially passed Perez thanks to Leclerc’s hard defending, Carlos and Checo came together resulting in a massive crash that wiped both men out of the Race and gifted the rest of the field a couple of places (and a Podium in George Russell’s case)!
The Standout Drives in the Race
I’ve given out three 10’s for today’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix and the first one is obviously for Oscar Piastri! Oscar’s incredible, there’s no denying that, and I think Piastri’s shown today that he’s very much Championship winning-calibre! The second driver I’ve given out maximum points to is Alex Albon who is just driving superbly well right now! I mentioned on Thursday that Alex has been on it since the Summer Break, and this is a great result for him! The other driver I’ve given out a Perfect 10 to is Franco Colapinto who did absolutely incredibly to finish P8 for Williams in only his second-ever Grand Prix! Well done Franco, and well done Williams! Charles Leclerc also deserves massive praise, George Russell can be happy with a Podium, Lando Norris did a great job to recover to P4, Fernando Alonso did well to finish P6 whilst Oliver Bearman scored points yet again! Also, despite the incident at the end, I still feel that Carlos Sainz and Sergio Perez deserve a lot of praise because they drove a superb Race (and honestly made it so much more exciting to watch)!
Drivers Who Had a Shocker
For the second-straight Race, I haven’t actually given out a single 1! Esteban Ocon and Valtteri Bottas didn’t have very good pace today for some reason, and I will mention Lance Stroll because it was a pretty disappointing day for him.
Overall Race Results and My Ratings
Oscar Piastri: 10
Charles Leclerc: 9
George Russell: 8
Lando Norris: 8 (FL)
Max Verstappen: 5
Fernando Alonso: 8
Alex Albon: 10
Franco Colapinto: 10
Lewis Hamilton: 4
Oliver Bearman: 8
Nico Hulkenberg: 7
Pierre Gasly: 5
Daniel Ricciardo: 5
Zhou Guanyu: 5
Esteban Ocon: 3
Valtteri Bottas: 3
Sergio Perez: 8 (DNF)
Carlos Sainz: 8 (DNF)
Lance Stroll: 3 (DNF)
Yuki Tsunoda: - (DNF)
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