Lando Norris drove an extraordinary race to catch and
pass title rival Max Verstappen as his McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri won an
engrossing Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
The race ended under a virtual safety car after a crash
between Red Bull’s Sergio Perez and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, who collided while
disputing third place with two laps to go.
Piastri pulled off an audacious pass on Charles Leclerc, who
had led from pole position, to take the lead shortly after both had made their
only pit stop for fresh tyres and held on for the rest of the race under
immense pressure from the Ferrari.
And Norris fought back after his late pit stop, having
started from 15th place on the hard tyre while the leaders chose mediums, to
pass Verstappen with three laps to go.
He took fourth place, promoted from sixth by the Perez-Sainz
crash, one ahead of Verstappen, who had started nine places ahead of the
McLaren driver.
The result means Norris, who also scored the point for
fastest lap, reduced Verstappen’s championship lead by three points on a day he
would have started expecting to lose ground.
Norris is 59 points behind Verstappen with seven races to go
and a maximum of 206 still available.
And McLaren have taken the lead in the constructors’
championship from Red Bull, taking a 20-point lead.
How did Piastri win?
Leclerc converted his pole position into a lead at the first
corner and appeared to take control of the race during the first stint, pulling
out a six-second lead before Piastri made his pit stop on lap 15.
Leclerc followed him in a lap later and in theory should
have easily had sufficient cushion to hold the lead to the end.
Leclerc said he felt he and Ferrari had not made the right
set-up choices for the hard tyre because he had done no race-simulation running
as a result of problems in Friday practice, and he struggled after his pit stop
as a result.
Piastri closed in on the Ferrari, taking his chance on fresh
tyres and, on lap 20, made a brave, late dive for the inside of Turn One to
take the lead.
“They had a lower downforce package and we had a bit more
downforce but in the straights they were flying and that is probably where we
lost the race," Leclerc said.
"When he overtook me, I was not too worried. I thought
I would stick with him and overtake him again once the tyres were up to
temperature. But that opportunity never arose again. They were too quick on the
straights. It was a small misjudgement but it hurts."
It was a superb move and seemed to catch Leclerc somewhat
off guard. He told Piastri in the green room before the podium that he had
braked at his normal spot and expected the McLaren to sail on past the apex.
Although Piastri was now in the lead, Leclerc was not done
there, and he stuck hard to the McLaren, with Perez close behind, trying to
find an opening.
For many laps the three circulated together, with Ferrari
urging Leclerc on over the radio.
A few times Leclerc was close enough to try a move into Turn
One, but Piastri always covered the inside line and had just enough to hold the
Ferrari at bay with aggressive but clean defence.
Into the closing laps, Leclerc began to struggle with his
rear tyres and he dropped back from Piastri, the race now won for the
Australian.
Leclerc now had to fend off Perez and Sainz, who had a
lonely race for much of the duration but closed on the top three during the
final stages as Piastri measured his pace to hold off Leclerc.
The dramatic climax was triggered when Perez went for a move
on Leclerc at the start of lap 50, with two to go.
Leclerc held him off into Turn One and Sainz was able sneak
by the Red Bull before Turn Two.
Perez got a better run through the corner and began to edge
alongside the Ferrari on the following straight.
The Red Bull had its front wheel inside Sainz’s rear and the
two touched, spinning violently into the wall and taking both out of the race.
The incident promoted George Russell’s Mercedes into third
place - the Briton had a quiet first stint but began to make ground in the
second stint and was able to pass Verstappen and Norris into what was fifth
place before the Sainz-Perez crash.
How did Norris recover?
Norris started the race from his lowly grid slot, the result
of catching a yellow flag at the wrong time in qualifying, with low
expectations, and McLaren’s strategy to start on the hard tyre was partly in
the hopes they may be able to catch a safety car by running long.
Norris was able to help Piastri by holding up Perez briefly
after the Mexican had made his pit stop and just before Piastri was about to
make his, ensuring the Australian was able to return to the track ahead of
Perez.
He effectively made up places in the opening stint and ended
up running behind Alex Albon’s Williams.
That meant that he was protected against Verstappen, who
closed up on him after his pit stop because Norris could use the DRS from Albon
to hold off Verstappen.
And soon Verstappen began to complain about his car over the
radio.
Norris eventually stopped on lap 37 and rejoined just one
place and 15 seconds behind Verstappen with 13 laps to go.
He began to close on the Red Bull at well over a second a
lap and was on Verstappen’s tail and past with four laps to go.
Fernando Alonso took sixth for Aston Martin, having run at
the head of the midfield much of the race, ahead of Albon and the second
Williams of Franco Colapinto, who scored points on only his second start.
Lewis Hamilton, who had a quiet race from the back of the
grid after an engine penalty, took ninth for Mercedes, while the final point
was scored by Briton Oliver Bearman, impressive on his debut for Haas.
Bearman, 19, who will race for Haas next season, was
standing in for Kevin Magnussen, who was banned for a race for exceeding the
number of penalty points.
