Azerbaijan GP driver ratings: Perfect Piastri and a big drop for Perez

Oscar Piastri notched up his second F1 win of his career in a perfect performance while Sergio Perez and Carlos Sainz crashed out late on.

A close-run race was taken by Piastri who moved past Leclerc with a smart overtake into Turn 1. From there, the Australian dictated the tempo all the way to the finish line.

Driver ratings for the 2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix

Oscar Piastri – 10

Oscar Piastri may only have two race wins so far by they are two of the most commanding victories you would ever want to see.

If the Hungary victory was won on the opening lap, this time it was in lap 20 when he caught Charles Leclerc cold and produced a late-braking overtake that has come to represent his driving style.

Once he got past Leclerc, it was an excellent performance of keeping a driver behind despite the DRS advantage. He won by 10 seconds in the end but the race was far closer and it was an excellent drive.

Charles Leclerc – 9

A great drive from Leclerc but ultimately one that came up short. Leclerc and Ferrari tried every trick in the book to force Piastri into a mistake but the McLaren man wasn’t for budging.

It’s hard to know how much the fault of the loss was on Leclerc considering it was Ferrari’s decision to bring him in a lap later than Piastri and the warmed up tyres combined with a DRS boost from Alex Albon gave Piastri the oomph he needed to get by and dictate the race.

George Russell – 8

Mr Right Place, Right Time strikes again as he picked up an unlikely podium. Carlos Sainz and Sergio Perez’s crash saw all but Leclerc and Piastri move up two spots but you have to be in to win it and Russell was there due to some excellent tyre preservation.

Lando Norris – 8

When he lined up 15th on the grid, Lando Norris would probably have bitten your hand off for a P4 and finishing ahead of Verstappen.

The McLaren man achieved that by a great long run on the hard tyre and his task was made all the harder by the presence of Albon who stopped Norris from getting further down the road.

In the end, Norris on fresher tyres breezed past Verstappen and the late crash pushed him up into P4.

Max Verstappen – 7

This was the time that Max Verstappen needed to seize to turn the tide back in his direction and yet he has come away with Norris closer than he was when they touched down together in the same private jet.

Verstappen was on edge throughout the race with a car that is not giving him what he wants and did not even seem to challenge Norris much when he drove past late on.

Verstappen and Red Bull are running out of time to turn it around.

Fernando Alonso – 8

Back on track for Fernando Alonso and Aston who have found pace hard to come by of late.

Fresh off the news of Adrian Newey’s arrival, Alonso put it eighth in quali and looked likely to hold onto that spot before the late incident.

That saw Alonso earn his best results since Canada.

Alexander Albon – 8.5

It’s been a frustrating year so far for Albon but this race showed him back to his best. With a car that is quick, Albon can make it even quicker and his defending skills kept much stronger cars behind him and frustrated.

His reward for an alternative tyre strategy was a P7 finish and his best result of the season.

Franco Colapinto – 8.5

Two races in and Franco Colapinto has already earned more points than Logan Sargeant did in his entire F1 career.

After a crash in practice, Colapinto did not look affected and even suggested to Williams he had the pace to go and attack two-time World Champion Alonso.

After the pits, Williams swapped their drivers but Colapinto kept close and got some deserved points on the board.

Lewis Hamilton – 7

He may have not liked it but the unique driving style of Hamilton throughout the race kept him within the pack.

Starting from the pit lane in a car that is not a rocket ship suggested it would be a tough afternoon for Hamilton but Bono coached him to a tyre-saving strategy that got him into the points.

Oliver Bearman – 8.5

Being dropped in a car and scoring points is hard. Doing it again is even harder.

Oliver Bearman’s super sub appearance in Saudi for Ferrari was helped by the speed of the car but with the Haas a midfield runner, the challenge was always going to be harder.

He started that challenge by out-qualifying his team-mate and yes his points score was due to two other cars crashing out but his performance deserved a little bit of luck.

Nico Hulkenberg – 7

Nico Hulkenberg has had the better of Kevin Magnussen fairly easily this year but he was beaten in both quali and the race by a 19-year-old rookie.

Hulkenberg did not have a bad race but had he got the better of his team-mate, it would have been him not Bearman in the points.

Pierre Gasly – 6.5

Started at the very back but managed to move up the grid up to 12th. Still not the points finish he is after and the Frenchman has finished in the top 10 just once in the last six races.

Daniel Ricciardo – 6

Was largely invisible save for the times he was being overtaken. Started 14th and finished 13th.

Zhou Guanyu – 5.5

No pace again in the car, did at least beat his team-mate.

Esteban Ocon – 5.5

Just about everything that could have gone wrong did go wrong for Esteban Ocon with a number of issues hampering his practice runs. Come the race, he started from the pit lane and was only able to pass Bottas. One to forget about.

Valtteri Bottas – 5

Another uneventful race for Valtteri Bottas who even with four cars retiring was nowhere near the points.

Did not finish

Sergio Perez – 5

A potentially career-saving move was destroyed by a mistake late on.

Up until the penultimate lap, Perez put in the best drive of his season and could have snuck a P2 or even a win but again he has come away from nothing.

There was space for Perez to not hit Sainz and considering he was the driver behind, he should have realised it was better to lose the battle if he could win the war.

Carlos Sainz – 6.5

Carlos Sainz may well have done more to avoid the collision but being ahead and closer to the wall, the fault lies more with Perez than Sainz.

If that had not happened, he may well have got a podium that looked very unlikely earlier in the race.

Lance Stroll – 4

Dove into a space that was not there early on which meant he needed an early stop for some new tyres.

A compromised beginning resulted in a poor end when he had to retire due to a brake issue.

Yuki Tsunoda – 6

Got divebombed by Stroll early on which massively compromised his race. Was forced to retire in lap 15.

Read next: Oscar Piastri wins three-driver thriller with Perez and Sainz in last-gasp crash