September 17 ------ Oscar Piastri delivered a cool performance on and off the track on Sunday after his measured drive to win a tense and dramatic Azerbaijan Grand Prix lifted McLaren past Red Bull in the race for the constructors’ championship. His win ended Red Bull’s more than two-year domination and confirmed that McLaren is now the team to beat having outscored all their rivals in the last seven races.
In a battle of attrition on the fast and technical 6km Baku street circuit, the 23-year-old Australian drove with control and aplomb to beat Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who started on pole for the fourth consecutive year. “Well,” said the Australian with his trademark understatement on team radio. “That was the most stressful afternoon of my life. Thanks for the car! What a day that was! Thanks everyone.”
Piastri secured the lead on lap 20 when he dived down the inside at Turn One and finished 10.910 seconds clear of Leclerc, who was struggling on worn tires in the closing laps. George Russell, profiting from a late crash involving Red Bull’s Sergio Perez and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, finished third for Mercedes.
Perez had attempted to pass Leclerc before tangling with Sainz in a collision that left both drivers furious after hitting the wall on the penultimate lap. The crash damaged both cars, ending their involvement and triggering a Virtual Safety Car finish to the race. Piastri’s McLaren team-mate and title contender Lando Norris fought from 15th on the grid to finish fourth and beat three-time champion and series leader Max Verstappen of Red Bull, who finished fifth, extending the Dutchman’s run of races without a win to seven.
Piastri’s win lifted McLaren to 476 points ahead of Red Bull on 456 in the teams’ title race, while Norris (who claimed the fastest lap) trimmed Verstappen’s drivers’ lead by three points to 59 points. Verstappen has 313 and Norris 254 with seven races and three sprint races remaining. Red Bull had led the title race for 55 races. “Considering where we started, when I joined the team last year, we were literally last and now we are leading the world championship,” said Piastri.
Source: inquirer.net
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