McLaren clinches a thrilling victory at Baku

McLaren clinches a thrilling victory at Baku

 

The Azerbaijan GP is a demonstration of racing on the very edge. There is little room for error on this street circuit, and what this produces in return is exciting racing. As the story unfolds, McLaren relentlessly pursues Red Bull, while the increasingly swift Lando Norris threatens Max Verstappen's championship title.

Qualifying offered ideal conditions for quick lap times, and it was clear early on that the Ferraris had excellent pace, with Charles Leclerc leading the way through Q1. Yet the first big moment, early into the weekend, came in the form of a curb and a McLaren, as Norris failed to produce a competitive hot lap. His last attempt at finding a decent pace was brought to an abrupt end after a wide corner forced a loss of time and an early departure in Q1. 

The Ferraris, though, had the pace to make a strong impression. Leclerc secured pole position, just 0.076 seconds ahead of Piastri. Carlos Sainz followed in third, with the Red Bull of Sergio Perez and the Mercedes of Russell shortly behind, setting the grid for the race to come. 

Race day was beautifully clear, as the cars lined up on the grid, ready for the race. The big news, of course, is the championship contender, Lando Norris starting from 16th. As the lights went out, both Oscar Piastri and Leclerc had a fantastic start, but Perez was immediately under pressure by Sainz into the first corner. Despite losing his podium position, Checo promptly responded in turn two and retook third.

Further back in the pack, Lance Stroll attempted to head up the leaderboard, but contact with Yuki Tsunoda at turn four nearly spelled an early end for the Aston Martin driver. It didn't take long for Lando to reclaim track position, and by lap eight, he was already in 10th.

As the first round of pit stops began around the 14th lap, Lando stayed out, attempting to make the most of his tyres, and was given the task of holding up the leading Red Bull, driven by Perez, on fresh rubber. This gave Piastri a pit opportunity on lap 16, which proved to be beneficial. Piastri exited the pits ahead of Perez, who couldn't capitalise on his fresh tyres to overtake.. 

With new rubber underneath him, Piastri quickly gained on Leclerc in the lead. He demonstrated a textbook divebomb down the inside of the Ferrari and took the lead in the race. However, this aggression would prematurely wear out his tyres, making for a tricky situation later in the race. 

After Verstappen's pitstop, his championship rival was in his crosshairs. But Norris was reluctant to give up the position and fended off the current champion in a brilliant display of racing for sixth place. But on lap 25, a late braking attempt forced Verstappen to use the escape route on turn 15, which gave Lando some breathing room. 

From lap 28 to lap 33, Leclerc made numerous attempts to seize first place from Piastri, but the young Australian resisted and successfully defended against the relentless pressure from behind.

Further back, Russell seemed to have found his rhythm and overtook Verstappen, who was still in pursuit of Norris at the time. Finally, on lap 38, Lando pitted for his new set of tyres, and this time around he chucked on a set of Mediums in an attempt to not only record the fastest lap but also a faster consistency over the field of Hard tyres ahead of him. 

Over the next 10 laps, Leclerc was gradually reeling in Piastri, who seemed to be struggling with his tyres after his early aggression. With his teammate and Perez closing in on him, the Ferrari driver was expected to pass Piastri in the final two laps at his current pace. 

With two laps remaining, Norris closed the gap on Verstappen and, thanks to his fresher tyres, made the pass stick. Lando Norris' racing from 16th to sixth place was nothing short of spectacular, as he continues to carve out from Verstappen's championship lead. His fastest lap added further insult to injury.

The drama peaked on the penultimate lap, when the leading four cars were only seconds apart. As Perez closed in, Leclerc was losing speed due to a lack of grip, but Carlos Sainz was providing backup in Perez's mirrors. 

However, a late lunge into turn one gave Perez second place, but Leclerc snuck his nose down the inside and forced Perez wide; as a result, Sainz had the pace to overtake Perez, which was not well received. Perez returned the favour out of turn two, when an overtaking opportunity presented itself in the form of a late braking manoeuvre that sent Sainz wide, but overconfidence and a lack of space on both Perez and Sainz's sides resulted in a massive collision, which ended the intense battle. 

The battle slowed Leclerc down enough to give Piastri a stress-free virtual safety car to the finish line. George Russell, who appeared perplexed, had climbed from sixth place to the podium, capping off an entertaining street race. Piastri put it best, though, saying, "That was probably the most stressful afternoon of my life."

Good racing is back, and the season is more exciting than ever. Lando still looks competitive on the championship points, but Piastri is closing in. McLaren continues to display impressive driver skill and vehicle speed, while the Ferraris are also finding their pace again. Red Bull must be concerned at this point because they are struggling to keep up and avoid trouble, and the championship appears to be anyone's game as it nears its inevitable conclusion.

Here are the results from this weekend's race on the official F1 website.

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