After last week's Monza race which saw Charles Leclerc take the trophy back to the Ferrari home base, we are back at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix which had been a pleasant race until the end crashed into us with surprises.
Starting the race, Charles Leclerc kept it going as Oscar Piastri followed close behind for that race leader position in the early stages of the 51-lap race but shortly overtook him after the front-runner pit stop with Sergio Perez and eventually Carlos Sains joining them, adding more to the tension.
Piastri held onto his pole position tightly, defending P1 on several occasions and gaining advantage (and breathing space when Lecler’s tyres faded in the closing laps.
At the start of the final lap, a failed pass on Leclerc led to Perez going wheel-to-wheel with Sainz, leading to the pair colliding between turns 2 and 3 and ending their afternoons in the wall.
While the race ended under the Virtual Safety Car, there was no stopping the celebrations for McLaren and Piastri, who reflected on “the most stressful afternoon of my life” to bag a second Grand Prix win and help McLaren move to the top of the constructors’ championship.
SNEAK PEAKS, TIRES AND INCIDENTS
After three practice sessions full of incidents, Lando Norris suffered a shock Q1 exit with his McLaren and missed out on the chance to battle for pole, leaving the opportunity to Leclerc. Penalties occurred moved Norri from P17 to P15 with Pierre Gasly being disqualified after a fuel flow breach.
Lewis Hamilton, Esteban Ocon and Zhou Guanyu dropped back after opting for new power unit elements.
Most of the drivers started on yellow-marked Pirelli medium compound tires with Alex Albon, Daniel Ricciardo, Norris, Zhou, Gasly and Ocon going for the white-marked hards.
HOW IT WENT DOWN
Its light out and away we go, Leclerc makes a clean getaway into Turn 1, slipping away from Piastri. Both Red Bulls followed close as Perez got the jump on Sainz and Max Verstappen cleared George Russell under the second corner
Norris rose to P12 by the end of the opening lap, as Fernando Alonso, Franco Colapinto, Albon and Ollie Bearman all held station in the tail-end of the top 10.
Yuki Tsunoda appeared to be suffering from some kind of issue as the Japanese racer loses his P11 into Turn 2, giving it to Norris whilst also falling behind Nico Hulkenberg, Ricciardo, Gasly and Hamilton.
A potential answer came when start replays showed Stroll attempting a move on Tsunoda into Turn 4, tagging the right-rear of the RB and picking up a puncture. “He closed the door on me,” the Canadian reported over the radio at the time, as he limped back to the pits.
Despite the strong start, Leclerc was not having his way as Piastri manged to sit on P1.
Down the road, Sixth-placed Russell reported that “A plastic bag might’ve went into the left-hand airbox” and fifth-placed Verstappen lamenting that “I have zero bite in the car”, while Hulkenberg made a move on Bearman into Turn 1 for 10th.
TV cameras then cut from one set of battling McLaren and Ferrari cars to another as Sainz overtook Norris for P5 into Turn 1 on Lap 23, before the Spaniard set his sights on fourth-placed Albon and completed a similar move on the Williams one tour later.
After Sainz’s pass, Norris was doing just enough to keep Verstappen at bay, with the latter commenting over the radio that “my brakes are not working” via a moment trying to stop his car at Turn 15.
After Stroll pitted to retire his Aston Martin amid apparent technical trouble and Norris passed championship rival Verstappen into Turn 1 with a couple of laps to run, chaos ensued when Leclerc, Perez and Sainz battled it out.
SAINZ, PEREZ AND THEIR WHEELS
Sainz and Perez’s paths collided, and the two cars were sent violently into the concrete wall, with debris flying all over the track and forcing Race Control to end the encounter under the Virtual Safety Car.
Perez was fuming after the incident, questioning whether his rival is “crazy”, while Sainz shared a bemusing radio message of his own. Both drivers will be visiting the stewards, with the panel confirming a post-race investigation.
Piastri had a chance to breathe as he saw out the final lap under caution and sealed the win over Leclerc, whilst also allowing Russell to benefit from Perez and Sainz banging wheels to claim the final spot on the podium and giving Mercedes a win, leaving Perez and Sainz pondering on what might have been.
PEREZ AND HIS POINT-LESS WEEKEND
Perez could be in trouble for his part in the race-ending collision, which also ended Red Bull's chances of maintaining their slim lead in the constructors' championship standings.
The FIA have confirmed in an official document that Perez has been summoned by the stewards for an "alleged breach of appendix L, chapter IV, article 2 d) of the International Sporting Code."
"Causing a collision, repetition of serious mistakes or the appearance of a lack of control over the car (such as leaving the track) will be reported to the stewards and may entail the imposition of penalties up to and including the disqualification of any driver concerned," the International Sporting Code reads.
Sainz has also been called to see the stewards, where the Ferrari driver may also face punishment.
However, The FIA determined that neither driver will be punished for the crash, calling it a 'racing incident'.
WHATS NEXT?
Next week, we have the Grand Prix set to take place at the Singapore Marina Bay Street Circuit marking the first night race of the 2024 season on the 20-23 September.
