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

Oscar Piastri, Charles Leclerc and Sergio Perez put on a three-way thriller for the win in Azerbaijan as the trio refused to give an inch before the McLaren driver emerged victorious.

Although Leclerc had the better of the early running, the pit stops turned the tide in Piastri’s favour as he immediately closed up on the rear of the Ferrari to take the lead. And then he defended like hell to win the race which ended behind the VSC due to a late crash for Perez and Carlos Sainz.

Oscar Piastri holds off Charles Leclerc to win in Baku

Only 18 cars lined up on the grid as Lewis Hamilton and Esteban Ocon had to start from the pitlane after breaking parc ferme regulations. Pole-sitter Charles Leclerc, P1 on the grid for the fourth year running but still chasing his first Azerbaijan win, made a great start to lead Piastri into the tight Turn 1.

Sergio Perez challenged Carlos Sainz for third place, muscling his way past at Turn 2, with Max Verstappen also making up a position as he overtook George Russell. Lando Norris was up from 15th to 13th on the first lap then 11th after Lap 3 with Nico Hulkenberg and Yuki Tsunoda his latest passes.

Tsunoda dropped down the order, perhaps carrying damage from his Turn 1 incident with Lance Stroll that had the Aston Martin driver pitting with a front right puncture.

At the front, Leclerc and Piastri traded fastest laps as Perez ran two seconds behind with Sainz a further two down. Behind them, Russell started to catch up to the back of Verstappen while Norris closed in on Oliver Bearman for a points-paying position. He achieved that feat on Lap 8.

As Leclerc checked out in P1, Russell ran into trouble in the form of a plastic bag as one “just went in the left-hand side airbox”. Verstappen complained about “zero bite” from his RB20, and Franco Colapinto, running P8, was the first of the top ten to pit with Fernando Alonso in to cover him followed by Verstappen, Russell and Perez, the latter relinquishing third place.

McLaren did not respond to Perez’s stop and kept Piastri out. McLaren asked Norris to hold up Perez but “without hurting yourself” to assist Piastri. Perez complained about Norris doing just that, Piastri pitted, Perez passed Norris, and… Piastri came out ahead of Perez but only just.

Leclerc, with a six-second advantage, pitted from the lead and came out ahead of Piastri with Alex Albon between them. Piastri’s deficit to Leclerc was slashed to less than two seconds as they ran 1-2, Perez back up to third ahead of Albon and Norris, who had yet to pit, with Sainz in sixth place ahead of Verstappen, Russell, Alonso and Colapinto.

Key information after the Azerbaijan Grand Prix

👉The updated Drivers’ and Constructors’ standings after the Azerbaijan Grand Prix

👉F1 schedule: When is the next F1 race and where is it being held?

20 laps in, Piastri made the pass down the inside at Turn 1 on Leclerc to take the lead. The Ferrari driver tried to fight back but couldn’t, the tussle allowing Perez to close up on the back of their battle. Further back Britain’s newest driver, Bearman, was defending for all his worth to keep Britain’s oldest driver, Hamilton, behind him.

Leclerc complained his rivals are “pushing like crazy” or “had better grip”, but the other Ferrari wasn’t suffering the same issues as Sainz overtook Norris for fifth with Verstappen right there. But a huge moment at Turn 15 had Verstappen complaining “my brakes are not working”.

Despite running within DRS of Piastri, Leclerc struggled to pass the McLaren lap after lap and all the while Perez lurked. Leclerc finally tried on Lap 29 but Piastri forced him to take the outside line and the Aussie held onto P1. Lap 31 saw a repeat scenario play out, as too did Lap 33.

Further back another driver being frustrated was Hamilton who asked Mercedes: “Can you see how I’m having to drive this thing?” He was stuck in 14th place, not able to pass Bearman in the Haas. Russell, meanwhile, was fighting Verstappen for sixth, the duo moving up one place when Albon pitted. Verstappen was again on the radio complaining about a lack of grip. Russell overtook Verstappen on Lap 34.

At the front, Piastri, Leclerc and Perez were separated by less than two seconds, the trio comfortably ahead of Sainz with Norris P5, but still needing to pit, ahead of Russell and Verstappen. Alonso, Colapinto and Hulkenberg completed the top 10 with 15 laps remaining.

Ferrari tried a bit of gamesmanship to help their driver, telling Leclerc to do the “opposite” to Piastri – pit if he doesn’t, but don’t if he does. McLaren kept their nerves and didn’t react. They did, however, pit Norris – finally – on lap 38, which dropped him to P7 behind Verstappen.

Having told Ferrari that Plan C would be “stupid”, Leclerc launched yet another attack on Piastri on Lap 41 but was again rebuffed. One driver who wasn’t Hamilton as he finally got through on Bearman.

Piastri v Leclerc Part X was on Lap 42, then Lap 45… and all the while behind them Sainz closed the gap to Perez and Norris, on his much fresher medium tyres, was taking more than a second out of Verstappen lap after lap.

With three to go Piastri broke free of DRS from Leclerc, who had Perez all over his rear wing. Leclerc reported “no rear tyres”, his tyres having fallen off the cliff, as he was now forced to defend. One driver who couldn’t defend was Verstappen, easily overtaken by Norris without putting up a fight.

Perez challenged Sainz into Turn 1 but the Ferrari driver held his line with Sainz taking advantage to pass Perez. Sainz then had a sniff at Leclerc that allowed Perez to draw alongside him and *CRASH*. “What the f***” and a whole lot of other swearing with Sainz perplexed as to what happened.

With the VSC out, Piastri took the chequered flag ahead of Leclerc with Russell grabbing the final podium position. Norris was fourth, and with the fastest lap point, ahead of Verstappen and Alonso. Albon and Colapinto scored for Williams with Hamilton and Bearman completing the points.

Result

1 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:47.258
2 Charles Leclerc Ferrari + 10.790
3 George Russell Mercedes + 31.722
4 Lando Norris McLaren + 35.565
5 Max Verstappen Red Bull + 63.995
6 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin + 67.593
7 Alex Albon Williams + 68.287
8 Franco Colapinto Williams + 71.696
9 Lewis Hamilton mercedes + 72.035
10 Oliver Bearman Haas + 74.946
11 Nico Hulkenberg Haas + 76.750
12 Pierre Gasly Alpine + 80.528
13 Daniel Ricciardo VCARB + 117.977
16 Guanyu Zhou Kick Sauber + 111.033
17 Esteban Ocon Alpine + 1 LAP
18 Valtteri Bottas Kick Sauber + 1 LAP

Did not finish

Sergio Perez Red Bull – lap 51 – crash
Carlos Sainz Ferrari – lap 51 – crash
Lance Stroll Aston Martin – Lap 47 – brakes
Yuki Tsunoda VCARB – Lap 16 – crash damage

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