Piastri loses 3kg but gains plaudits as Perez pips Verstappen to claim Azerbaijan Grand Prix

Oscar Piastri had to live off four pieces of toast all weekend, shed three kilograms in weight with a stomach bug and was utterly luckless on the track over several gruelling, empty-handed days in Baku.

But Australia’s Formula 1 rookie was still left being hailed for his battling effort by his McLaren team after he somehow managed to still end up smiling after finishing 11th, just outside the points, in Sunday’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Oscar Piastri battled a stomach bug over the weekend.Credit: Getty Images

Sergio Pérez took advantage of a fortunately timed safety car to beat his teammate Max Verstappen to the win, adding it to the sprint he won the day before, as Red Bull maintained their winning start to 2023.

The debilitating bug had, by all accounts, left the 22-year-old struggling so badly his manager Mark Webber reported Piastri had lost three kilos.

Yet the young driver earned high praise from his British team as he fought on in a cramped cockpit to try to get among the top-10 – and the points – on the Baku street circuit, only to be sabotaged several times by ill fortune.

“Fighting spirit shown all weekend, despite being ill. Proud of your effort, @OscarPiastri (and the Doc)!” McLaren declared on their official Twitter site.

That came after race engineer Tom Stallard told Piastri over the car radio on Saturday his 10th place finish in the sprint was “pretty bloody impressive ... given everything else that’s been going on this weekend”.

Talking to reporters after Sunday’s race, Piastri said: “Through the race, the illness didn’t impact me too much but I’m a lot lighter than I was at the start of the weekend.

“Today’s probably been the best I’ve felt all weekend but that isn’t saying much. It’s been very difficult, physically. Especially [the sprint on Saturday] was pretty rough.

“I’ve had about four pieces of toast for the whole weekend, so I need to get some food back in me before [the next grand prix in] Miami.”

Piastri was unlucky from the start on Sunday.

He was hit by Alex Albon’s Williams as the field jockeyed for position on the tight second turn, and quickly dropped from 10th to 13th.

He then had a slow pit stop, which was to prove pretty ill-timed coming just a couple of laps before the safety car was deployed after Nyck de Vries hit a wall in his AlphaTauri.

Piastri ended up regaining a couple of places but was again far from eclipsed by teammate Lando Norris, despite the English driver getting among the points in ninth place.

Mexican Sergio Perez after winning the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on Sunday.Credit: Getty Images

Verstappen started second behind Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc but swept past him on the long start-finish straight at the end of lap three, the first lap on which drivers were allowed to use the DRS overtake assist system on the rear wing.

It was a copy of the pass Perez made on Leclerc on his way to winning the sprint race on Saturday. After Verstappen took the lead on Sunday, Perez needed only two more laps for his own similar pass on Leclerc to seize second, as Red Bull underlined its status as F1’s dominant team.

Perez benefited when an accident by Nyck de Vries brought out the safety car after his AlphaTauri slid off the track with a broken suspension, just after Verstappen had pitted from the lead. The safety car meant Perez and Leclerc lost less time on their stops and came out ahead of Verstappen.

After that, the two Red Bull drivers pulled away from the pack and cruised to a straightforward win. Red Bull has won all four grand prix races this season and the sprint in Baku on Saturday. Leclerc was third to continue his recovery after a poor start to the year.

“Well done guys, we dominated this weekend,” Perez told his team over the radio. “We are in the fight, guys.”

AAP, AP

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