Starting from pole position, two weeks after his success in Monza (Italy) on the land of his team, Ferrari, the Monegasque Charles Leclerc could not resist Oscar Piastri (McLaren) on the Baku circuit, where the Azerbaijan Formula 1 Grand Prix (F1) will be held on Sunday 15 September. The 23-year-old Australian, second on the starting grid, reversed his position with his 20-year-old counterpart.my turn, take the initiative and never give up.
At the end of the 51 laps, which were almost entirely uneventful, a delicate manoeuvre by Spaniard Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) defending Mexican Sergio Perez (Red Bull) changed the race for the podium. An accident – not serious for the drivers – which opened the way for the British Georges Russell (Mercedes), third by default in a race in which his team, however, did not have any influence.
Three-time world champion Max Verstappen (Red Bull), who has been struggling with his car since the beginning of the summer, also took advantage of the events to cross the finish line in fifth position and retain his first place in the drivers’ standings with 313 points. Britain’s Lando Norris (4my (in Baku), the McLaren teammate of the day’s winner, remains in second place (254 points). Starting in fifteenth place after a failed qualifying, the Bristol native (northern England) made a spectacular comeback on Sunday.
Thanks to the consistency of Lando Norris and the success of Oscar Piastri – the first in McLaren’s history on the Azerbaijani circuit – the British team achieved a tour de force. For the first time since 1998, it could win the constructors’ championship, now holding a twenty-point lead (476) over its main rival, Red Bull (456), with seven Grands Prix remaining until the end of the season.
“When you look at where we started last year… And now we’re leading the championship, He drew, in the microphone of the organization, the Australian pilot, moved when getting out of his car after what he describes as “the best race of his career”. All credit to the team: we kept improving the car and I improved too. »
Alpine continues to struggle
The words of today’s winner may find particular resonance in other teams that are in a much worse position. Starting with the French team Alpine, which is experiencing great difficulties this season and whose two French drivers, Pierre Gasly (12my) and Esteban Ocon (15my), was once again left out of the Top 10. The situation is no longer surprising and now seems irremediable, especially since the announcement of Esteban Ocon’s departure to Haas next season.
Same story, more or less, for the seven-time world champion, the British Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), who will join Ferrari in 2025. Ninth in Baku after starting from the pits – due to the engine change – the 39th. The one-year-old driver never stopped criticizing his car, even going so far as to ask his mechanics during the race how he could “drive this thing”.
With the championship just weeks away, the suspense remains: something rare since Max Verstappen took over F1 in 2021. Will the Dutchman be dethroned from there? If the hypothesis could have been dismissed out of hand at the beginning of the summer, as autumn approaches, it now seems possible.
