‘Phenomenal’: Oscar Piastri wins Azerbaijan Grand Prix amid wild late drama

Australian Oscar Piastri has claimed his second Formula 1 Grand Prix victory after the Azerbaijan Grand Prix ended in chaotic scenes.

Andrew McMurtry

@AndrewMcMurtry

4 min read

September 16, 2024 - 7:36AM

Oscar Piastri wins the 2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Photo: AFP and Getty Images

Oscar Piastri has won the Azerbaijan Grand Prix but the race ended in wild scenes after Red Bull’s Sergio Perez and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz crashed two laps from the end.

In another huge weekend for McLaren, Piastri claimed his second ever Grand Prix victory, while Lando Norris came from 15th on the grid to finish fourth, after gaining two places thanks to the late-race crash.

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In a week where McLaren said that they would be prioritising Norris in the race for the title, the 23-year-old Aussie wunderkind made a mockery of the statement, going from second on the grid to take huge victory.

After Ferrari’s pole sitter Charles Leclerc built a gap off the line, the Aussie fought back, making his move on the 20th lap, sneaking down the inside of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc on the first corner in a brilliant overtake.

But from there, it was essentially a DRS train for the best part of 30 laps with Leclerc hungrily chasing the young Aussie down, making countless moves with none of them sticking.

Earlier, Norris made a huge move for his teammate, keeping Perez behind him as Piastri pitted, avoiding the undercut and putting the Aussie in position to attack Leclerc.

Three laps from the end, Piastri finally broke Leclerc’s DRS and was powering to the victory — until the Perez-Sainz crash ended the race under a virtual safety flag.

Oscar Piastri has done it again. Photo by Natalia KOLESNIKOVA / AFP

As Sainz had joined the top three, in the 50th lap, Leclerc pushed Perez wide, allowing Sainz to slot into third.

But as Perez attempted to retake the position the two drivers touched with the impact sending both men into the wall and out of the race.

Perez, who is fighting for his career in his Red Bull, raged on his team radio: “What the f**k? Is he crazy or what? Idiot.”

Sainz sounded at a loss of what happened, saying to his team: “What happened there? What happened?”

Asked he was okay, he said: “Yeah, but I don’t get it.”

Stewards ultimately decided no further action was necessary after going over the incident.

What were they thinking. Photo: Fox Sports

While the race may have finished under chaotic scenes, it took nothing away from Piastri’s sensational drive.

Piastri’s win along with Norris climbing into fourth means McLaren have moved to the top of the constructors’ championship leaderboard, moving 20 points ahead of Red Bull.

Norris’ day was made even better when he caught and flew past Max Verstappen on the 49th lap to cut the championship lead down to 59 points.

Crossing the line, an understated Piastri simply said: “Yes.

“That was probably the most stressful afternoon of my life, so well done. That was a big move so thank you very much for the car. What a day that was. Thank you, thank you. Thank you.”

The reaction was swift celebrating the Aussie star.

F1 commentator Matt Gallagher posted: “Oscar Piastri is going to be world champion one day,” adding: “Oscar Piastri. Not even TWO seasons in F1. That was simply phenomenal.”

Oscar’s mother Nicole posted: “Definitely no Pilates for me tomorrow….” — we’re assuming it’ll be a big night.

Oscar celebrates with his mum Nicole. Photo by Andrej ISAKOVIC / AFP

Sky’s Karun Chandhok said: “He is no longer the next best star coming into F1. The star is here.

“Some people felt he didn’t deserve it (the first win). There can be no doubt in anybody’s mind that he deserved that victory today.

“Perfect, perfect drive.”

Speaking after the victory, Piastri said he felt he “had to go for it” when he overtook Leclerc.

“After the stop it felt like we had a bit of extra grip and I had to go for it, I knew if I didn’t get past at the start of the stint I was never going to get past,” Piastri said.

“I went for a pretty big lunge but I managed and then hung on for dear life for the next laps. Once he dropped out of DRS it was a little bit more relaxing but there’s no relaxing lap around here.

“It definitely goes down as one of the better races of my career.

“I think considering where we started when I joined the team last year, we were literally last and now we’re leading the world championship. It’s a credit to the team for the turnaround in the last 18 months ago, and they’ve improved me as well. It’s a massive team effort and I’m excited to see what the future holds.”

A job well done. Photo: Fox Sports

What a win. Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images

Leclerc, who was on pole in Azerbaijan for the fourth time in his career, yet has not won in Baku, paid credit to the McLaren star.

“McLaren and Oscar have done an exceptional job and done better than us,” Leclerc said.

“A huge shame for Carlos on the last laps, hopefully everyone is OK and obviously not a great day for the team.

“I think maybe McLaren had less downforce and in the straights they were very quick. I couldn’t get as close as I wanted and eventually we lost the race when I didn’t defend as well as I could have at the end of the straight. Sometimes you make mistakes and I’ll learn from it.”

Azerbaijan Grand Prix result

1. Oscar Piastri (McLaren)

2. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)

3. George Russell (Mercedes)

4. Lando Norris (McLaren)

5. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)

6. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)

7. Alexander Albon (Williams)