5 Things We Learned From The Azerbaijan Grand Prix

Oscar Piastri produced a powerhouse performance with the help of his teammate and a gutsy overtake on Charles Leclerc to win the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

The Australian scooped his second GP victory and beat favourite Leclerc, who started on pole. Further back was a rapid Sergio Perez, and he was closing in on the front two but had Carlos Sainz to contend with. The Latin drivers crashed on the penultimate lap, allowing George Russell to scoop the final place on the rostrum.

We look at five things we learned from the Azerbaijan GP in Baku:

5 – Williams’ much-needed points haul. Alex Albon and Franco Colapinto finished in P7 and P8 respectively, earning the Grove team their best result since mid-2021 with 14 points. The team benefited from the crash between Sainz and Perez at the death, but both drivers showed great resilience by defending their positions. Colapinto became the first Argentine driver in 42 years to score points in F1. The 21-year-old said: “To score my first points in Formula 1 is a fantastic feeling.” Williams moved off the bottom of the constructors’ table to eighth position.

4 – Red Bull loses top spot in constructors’ championship. For the first time since 2014, McLaren leads the constructors’ standings after scoring 38 points in Baku on Sunday with victory and P4. Red Bull walked away with 10 points after Perez’s DNF and Max Verstappen’s P5 finish. The season has been turned on its head after Red Bull’s dramatic loss of form after they won seven of the opening 10 races.

3 – Max Verstappen labels RB20 ”uncontrollable” after finishing P5. The triple world champion’s struggles continued in Baku where he qualified P6. His closest title rival, Lando Norris, managed to finish P4 and reduce Verstappen’s championship led to 59 points. The Dutch driver complained the RB20 was ”jumping” in low-speed corners. It resulted in Verstappen sliding and overheating the Pirelli rubber. He got caught behind Albon and Lando Norris in the race and then lost pace once he was in George Russell’s dirty air.

2 – Sainz and Perez crash, who’s to blame? Perez was on course for his best finish since April when his race ended after clashing with Sainz. The Red Bull driver moved past Leclerc to grab P2 momentarily before both Ferraris overtook him and he was demoted to P4. As Sainz and Perez exited Turn 2 they were wheel-to-wheel before Sainz moved left and the pair made contact. The stewards called it a racing incident and no punishments were handed out.

1 – Oscar Piastri’s world-class big-match temperament. Piastri’s move on lap 19 outbreaking the Monegasque driver caught Leclerc unawares. The Ferrar driver admitted they lost the race when ”I didn’t defend as well as I should have”. The Australian’s moment came early in the second stint and was aided by teammate Lando Norris curtailing Sergio Perez’s effort of undercutting Piastri. Norris went along with his hard tyres and pitted on lap 38 of 51. His teammate then drove a sterling second stint to keep Leclerc at bay and his risky maneuver paid dividends.

The team’s head to Singapore for the second part of the doubleheader with one of the season’s most grueling races under the lights.

Sean Parker

Sean Parker is a motorsport journalist and sports content creator at The South African. He has worked for the country's premier motoring publications, and is a Formula 1 contributor to Bet.co.za, the Bet Central podcast, and Vision View Sports radio.