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The Azerbaijan GP brought a lot of excitement for F1 fans, who knew they could expect the unexpected. F1 once again delivered what we wanted, giving us the chance to enjoy the drivers' maneuvers. Oscar Piastri, the young McLaren driver, was the ultimate winner of this race, and he once again demonstrated his skills. The young Australian driver had a brilliant strategy and knew how to defend against Charles Leclerc. Ferrari seemed to be leading the race with the fastest car, but McLaren shattered their dreams.
At the start of the race, the top two drivers kept their positions, while the two Red Bulls made gains. Perez got ahead of Sainz, and Verstappen passed George Russell. Lando Norris had a strong start on hard tires and was already on the verge of scoring points, sitting in 11th place by lap three. Lance Stroll had the worst luck, as he collided with Yuki Tsunoda and ended up with a punctured tire.
After about ten laps, things settled down, and it looked like Ferrari’s Leclerc might have the race under control. However, after switching to hard tires, Leclerc struggled to match the pace he had on the mediums. Piastri made a brilliant move, overtaking Leclerc with a bold maneuver into Turn 1 to grab the lead. Sergio Perez stayed close behind, creating an exciting three-way battle until the end of the race.
Carlos Sainz had a relatively quiet race in fourth place. Alexander Albon, with his long stint on hard tires, managed to hold up Lando Norris, Max Verstappen, and George Russell long enough to knock them out of contention for top points. Russell took advantage of Verstappen’s off-day and passed him to claim sixth place, just before Norris completed his pit stop.
As it looked like Leclerc and Piastri would dominate the race at the front, Ferrari’s driver struggled with worn-out tires. With only four laps remaining, Leclerc was desperately defending against Perez and Sainz, who had closed in. Fortunately for him, in the second-to-last lap, Sainz and Perez had a minor collision on the straight, which didn’t impact the race seriously.
Charles Leclerc reacts to the race
Leclerc, who seemed poised for a strong result, had to settle for second place, which is still a solid finish for him. After the race, the Monegasque driver admitted he didn’t perform as well as he’d hoped and felt he should have defended better. However, he pointed out that the world of F1 is unpredictable and that he’ll have the chance to learn from this experience.
Ferrari’s driver realized that McLaren had an advantage on the straights and made the most of it. However, Ferrari had the edge in the corners. In the end, it was McLaren that managed to maximize their performance and come out on top.
Leclerc tried to stay calm, overtake other drivers, and regain his rhythm, but it became clear that McLaren, Ferrari’s rival team, had more potential for success. The young Ferrari driver is looking forward to the next race, knowing that his team has the capability to achieve a great result.
"To be honest, we lost the race where I didn't quite defend as well as I should have at the end of the straight. But it is the way it is. Sometimes you do mistakes, and I'll learn from it.
When Oscar overtook me, I was like: 'Okay, now it's just a matter of staying calm, trying to keep those tyres [alive] and overtake him again later on'.
But actually, it was a lot more difficult than that and on the straights I couldn't get as close as I wanted. I think maybe McLaren had a little bit less downforce, so on the straights they were very quick. In the corners we were a bit quicker."- he said, as quoted by Motorsport.
The Red Bull driver ended up colliding with Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari on the penultimate lap, which allowed Leclerc to secure second place despite his tires being heavily worn.
Leclerc stressed that while his car was competitive and felt good, they didn’t run high-fuel simulations in the practice sessions, FP1 and FP2. This meant their chosen setup was harder to handle in the race, especially with the hard tires.
He struggled to keep the rear tires in check and was worried about crashing as he neared the end of the race because he was barely managing to control the car.
McLaren has demonstrated that they are serious contenders for the top positions, ready to challenge Red Bull and their drivers. This season will be tough, but we can expect a lot from them in the future. Regardless, it promises to be an exciting season.
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