BAKU, SEPT 16 – McLaren driver Oscar Piastri showed excellent performance after winning the Azerbaijan Grand Prix yesterday, thus leading McLaren over Red Bull in the Formula 1 (F1) team championship.
His win ended Red Bull’s dominance of more than two years, confirming McLaren are now the team to beat after scoring the highest points in the last seven races.
Piastri, 23, drove with confidence and control on the challenging 6-kilometer Baku road circuit, beating Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who started from pole for the fourth time in a row.
“Yes,” said Piastri calmly on the team radio. “That was the most thrilling evening of my life. Thanks to the car! Today is amazing! Thank you all.”
Piastri took the lead on lap 20 after passing Leclerc on the first lap and finished the race 10.910 seconds ahead of Leclerc who struggled with worn tires on the final lap.
George Russell took advantage of a late crash between Red Bull’s Sergio Perez and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz to finish third for Mercedes.
Perez and Sainz were involved in a collision that sent both crashing into the wall on the penultimate lap, ending the race with Virtual Safety Car.
Piastri’s team-mate Lando Norris started the race in 15th place and managed to finish fourth, beating three-time champion Max Verstappen to fifth. It extended Verstappen’s streak to seven races without a win.
Piastri’s victory took McLaren to 476 points, ahead of Red Bull by 456 points in the team’s title race, while Norris cut Verstappen’s lead to 59 points.
Verstappen now has 313 points while Norris has 254, with seven races and three races to go. – AFP
