Oscar Piastri produced a drive of quality past his experience to win the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, holding off Charles Leclerc for half a race. Talking of holding, why not grab our 2024 Azerbaijan F1 Grand Prix Result Summary.
This 2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix Result, Laps that Matter summary, Review & Ratings which gives you just enough to catch up with. With just a hint of cynicism, bias, opinion and colour. The perfect bite sized review for those who couldn’t be bothered, or don’t have enough time.
READ MORE:
2024 Azerbaijan GP Preview
Latest 2024 F1 Driver Rankings – from Italian GP
Our 2024 F1 Half Season Summary
F1 Team Mate Wars
2024 Azerbaijan F1 Grand Prix Result Race Summary
Didn’t see the race live? Don’t have time to watch the whole race? Here’s where we capture the laps where stuff happened. We write these live as we go, sort of like a minute by minute for the football, but marginally more interesting.
Setting the scene – Street fighter Charles Leclerc secures another pole position between the walls, fresh from a big victory in Italy in front of his home fans. The Ferraris always looked likely and Carlos Sainz ended up third too. The pre-race talk of McLaren team orders meant bugger all after qualifying as Lando Norris was knocked out in Q1 with a combination of bad timing, bad luck, and an underwhelming first run. His team mate Oscar Piastri ended up second on the grid. Red Bull ended up fourth and sixth with Sergio Perez pulling something out of somewhere to head Max Verstappen. Truth be told, Perez has looked quite sharp all weekend and has won here twice unlike anyone else. In between George Russell qualified fifth and beat his team mate Lewis Hamilton again, who starts from pitlane. Some strong showings from the rookies in Franco Colapinto (8th) and Oliver Bearman (11th) who have two race starts between them before this weekend. Alex Albon could have been higher, but his team left a cooling device on his car as he exited for his final Q3 run. Alex Albon and Lando Norris are on the hard tyre, unlike most of the front runners.
GRID (Starting Order) – LEC PIA SAI PER RUS VER ALO COL ALB BEA
Lap 1 – Charles Leclerc burns away from pole position and keeps Oscar Piastri at bay into the first corner and beyond on a confident first lap. Sergio Perez steals third from Sainz into turn two. Max Verstappen also gains a position at the expense of George Russell. Further back, Lando Norris has gained three spots to be 12th going into the first turn on lap one. Pitlane starter Lewis Hamilton is up to 17th, Lance Stroll pits, not sure who he collided with, but you know it was probably going to be a collision.
ORDER – LEC PIA PER SAI VER RUS ALO COL ALB BEA
Lap 3 – Charles Leclerc’s lead at the front has been reduced as Oscar Piastri is charging towards the Ferrari, and DRS is coming. Talking of fast moving McLarens, Lando Norris gets by Yuki Tsunoda for 11th into turn two. Nico Hulkenberg makes Tsunoda twice as mad a corner later.
Lap 4 – Yuki Tsunoda is either having a giant tsook after being overtaken, or something is more broken than usual on his RB. He’s down to 16th by the end of the lap. And answering a question (of sorts) it was Tsunoda that Stroll hit on lap one. Stroll said Tsunoda closed the door, Tsunoda will say that Stroll was nowhere near.
Lap 6 – Oscar Piastri is now within the magic one second shield of Charles Leclerc, which means he gets the DRS on one of F1’s best places for DRS. But Leclerc sets a fastest lap to point at least one finger in the direction of Piastri. And keeps the gap at > DRS.
Lap 8 – Point/s for Lando Norris as he gets by Oliver Bearman for 10th into the first corner. His hard tyre choice may play out quite nicely as most of the cars ahead will have to pit a lot earlier. A quick Championship check shows Max Verstappen in fifth and making very little impression of Carlos Sainz in 4th. The pace Norris is going, they may be racing for position soon. Although there is a sizeable gap between Alonso in 7th Russell ahead in 6th. Colapinto continues to impress in 8th, in a Williams, in only his second race.
Lap 10 – Charles Leclerc is now three seconds ahead of Oscar Piastri, who is being reeled in slowly by Sergio Perez. Max Verstappen complains over radio about having zero bite in his car. Perhaps that’s only because Red Bull gives you wings.
ORDER – LEC PIA PER SAI VER RUS ALO COL ALB NOR
Lap 11 – First tyre stop goes to Franco Colapinto. He’s on hard tyres, as a window into what other, faster cars might do. A point would be a decent and deserving reward for the rookie Argentinian driver this weekend.
Lap 13 – Max Verstappen pits. He’ll probably ask for a new car but will have to settle for new tyres. George Russell doesn’t want to miss out either and pits too. Verstappen rejoins in 10th ahead of Gasly. George Russell rejoins the other side of Gasly. A lap later he breezes past Daniel Ricciardo around the same spot that they ran into each other the last time they were team mates at Red Bull. At least one driver of those two wishes he could be back in those good ol’ days. Sergio Perez has pit as well as lap later.
Lap 14 – Oscar Piastri and McLaren decide not to pit and are losing the battle of the undercut. Which then leads McLaren to ask 5th placed Lando Norris to slow up Perez behind him is a reversal of the team orders announced earlier in the weekend. Piastri pits a lap later and the tactics have worked a treat. Perez gets by Norris down the straight but it’s only just not enough to get by Piastri.
Lap 17 – Charles Leclerc pits from the lead. He rejoins second behind his un-pitted team mate. Piastri, who is wearing Sergio Perez on his tail, is also behind Alex Albon, who is hanging out on his hard tyres. You could throw a blanket over the three cars, if you were quick enough to land it.
Lap 18 – Piastri gets in front of Albon, but not early enough down the pit straight to give Perez a chance to follow him through. By the end of Lap 18 Piastri is 2.2 seconds in front of Albon. Make that Perez, as the Red Bull sweeps by Albon going into lap 19.
Lap 19 – Piastri seems to like his new tyres more than Charles Leclerc and the McLaren zooms up to the back of the Ferrari. Piastri gets close enough, and with the help of DRS gets by Charles Leclerc for the lead in the first corner. It was late, late dive under braking. Leclerc tried to fight back over the next few braking zones, but Piastri hold firm, with a bit of a jink left not hurting his chances.
ORDER – PIA LEC PER ALB NOR SAI VER RUS ALO COL
Lap 21 – Leclerc uses his own form of DRS to get close to Piastri into turn one, but Piastri holds on. Leclerc also has to worry about Sergio Perez on his tail too. It’s a triumphant trio in front all within DRS of each other.
Lap 24 – A championship battle between Norris and Verstappen is now raging for 6th place. Norris has yet to pit, Verstappen has. Norris uses plenty of Verstappen tactics to stay in front, and the Red Bull driver makes a small mistake, which he puts down to his brakes are not working, which TV evidence agrees with.
Lap 28 – The battles continue with Piastri holding off Leclerc for now despite the Ferrari constantly staying with DRS range. Perez is staying close as well, but not DRS close. Further back Alex Albon is leading a train of Norris-Verstappen-Russell. George asks his team how much longer they expect the hard tyre drivers in Albon and Norris to hang out for. Ten laps the team says, which won’t thrill him. Problem is, Albon is over ten seconds behind fourth placed Sainz. Albon pits on lap 32.
Lap 29 – Somehow Piastri holds off Leclerc going into turn one. The Ferrari looked a certainty to get past but Piastri moves left and late enough to keep him behind. Close but no cigar the next lap too for Leclerc. And the next lap, which was the closest yet.
ORDER – PIA LEC PER SAI ALB NOR VER RUS ALO COL
Lap 32 – Alex Albon has pitted which gives Lando Norris some fresh air in fifth. He still needs new tyres himself but is certainly not losing out to Max Verstappen behind who does have newer tyres.
Lap 33 – Somehow Oscar Piastri is keeping Leclerc behind him. Somehow they aren’t running into each other, Maybe because they are both great drivers. Sergio Perez has really joined the party now and is right on Leclerc’s tail. How good has 2024 become? A genuine three way battle for the lead. And Max Verstappen’s Red Bull no longer the only car guaranteed of winning.
Lap 34 – Charles Leclerc continues to pressure Piastri, who doesn’t seem too bothered by it. Although Piastri doesn’t ever seem to be bothered by anything. Including winning.
Lap 38 – Lando Norris pits for new tyres finally and rejoins the race in 7th place. What a drive on the older, hard tyres.
Lap 40 – Lando Norris sets fastest lap, and is 7th behind his Championship rival Verstappen in sixth. The gap is only 12 seconds, which could be doable. The stats on screen say it could happen with two laps to go.
Lap 42 – Piastri v Leclerc still rages, and the Aussie still remain in front somehow.
Lap 45 – Another DRS inspired dive from Leclerc and another successful defence from Piastri. A driver of many more seasons may have cracked by now, but not Oscar Piastri. Who is more ice man than the previous ice man Kimi Raikkonen. Further back but staying with McLarens, Norris is within five seconds of Verstappen with six laps to go.
Lap 46 – Carlos Sainz is inviting himself to the first place battle party as the three cars ahead of him become a fast moving accordion.
Lap 47 – Oscar Piastri offers up an Up Yours to Charles Leclerc as he smashes out the gap to 1.7 seconds. This now means Leclerc is now more under pressure from Perez and Sainz rather than pressuring Piastri for first. It could all go belly up for Leclerc as he struggles on tyres. Either way it’s going to be entertaining.
Lap 48 – Piastri can taste champagne that hasn’t been soured by McLaren strategy circus, and is now 2.5 second in front. Leclerc is now just hanging on in front of Sergio Perez.
Lap 49 – Lando Norris gets past Max Verstappen for 6th, which will chip away at the Championship lead, and he also hold fastest lap, which could be a critical point. George Russell is too far away for stealing 5th.
Lap 50 – Perez dives at Leclerc and gets past briefly but Leclerc gets back in front at they get through the first corner. Leclerc shuts the door, which allows Sainz to sneak past for third. But it all ends in tears a few corners later as Perez hits Carlos Sainz and puts both of them into the wall. At least they can swear at each other in the same language.
VIRTUAL SAFETY CAR DEPLOYED
FINAL LAP – The Virtual Safety Car helps Oscar Piastri cruise around the final lap to soak up his second win. Charles Leclerc probably thankful his last lap was less eventual than the one before. Norris does a fine job from 15th to get fourth and Max Verstappen limits the Championship damage in fifth.
FINAL ORDER (Across the line) – PIA LEC RUS NOR VER ALO ALB COL HAM BEA
Here we go through the field and highlight the very best (Great) of the race, and the plodders, the over-ambitious, the out of luck, and simply hopeless (Grape).
These points get added to our Driver of the Season scores. points for a great nomination, and -5 for the worst or grapest driver in the pack. Then it is +2 /-2 for honourable or dishonourable mentions.
THE GREAT-EST – OSCAR PIASTRI
Qualifies second, makes a super move to get past Charles Leclerc after the first pit stop, and handles the pressure brilliantly from Leclerc and scores a deserved victory. On the weekend where McLaren team orders were meant to first be implemented this weekend. Drives like a pro, and easy to forget this is just his second season.
HONOURABLE MENTIONS
CHALRES LECLERC – Another street track pole position, and another Street Fighting race which ended in a second place and included a mega battle with Oscar Piastri for the lead. Then he held of Sergio Perez right at the end, which was a good thing for him, but not so good for his team mate.
SERGIO PEREZ – A welcome return to form for the Mexican driver. Outqualified his team mate and miles better in the race. His late race crash should drop him into the Grape section, but the upturn in form deserves a pat on the back.
GEORGE RUSSELL – Boxes ticked. Thrashed team mate. Benefit from late race incompetence further ahead to seal another podium.
ALEX ALBON – Sold race for solid points.
FRANCO COLAPINTO – First points in just his second race. Outstanding for most of the weekend. Deserved result.
OLIVER BEARMAN – Another stand in points drive for Bearman, who has well earned his drive for Haas next season.
THE GRAPE-EST – LANDO NORRIS
Controversial for a fourth place finish and an excellent drive but…..Overlooking his great race on the alternative strategy, given the pace of his team mate, and the lack of pace for Verstappen, this was a race where Norris should have used his newly agreed team orders and won by a street from his team mate and slashed the Championship lead. Based on this weekend, and the other little mistakes that have crept in since Miami, he will find it hard to win the World Championship.
DISHONOURABLE MENTIONS
MAX VERSTAPPEN – Another weekend of under performance, highlighted in being outqualified and out-raced by Sergio Perez. A driver most expected to be already sacked. His only upside is that Lando Norris was cut in Q1. Without that, his Championship lead may have really suffered.
WILLIAMS – For leaving a cooling device on Alex Albon’s car as he head off for his final qualifying run.
YUKI TSUNODA – First DNF of the race and retired after driving around with a Lance Stroll tyre sized hole in the side of his RB after lap one.
LANCE STROLL – Refer above. Might be disappointed that incoming design genius Adrian Newey’s strength is building faster front wings not stronger front wings.
LEWIS HAMILTON – George Russell continues to thrash Hamilton in H2H qualifying, then Hamilton starts from pitlane and makes minimal impact on the race. That Ferrari can’t come quick enough. Pity for him, neither is Adrian Newey to Ferrari either.
SAUBER – Last and obscure again.
CARLOS SAINZ – A quiet-ish weekend ruined by Perez.
Was it a good race, loads of action, a tense ending, a surprise result or DNF, or just a big, fat, snooze-fest?
We rate the big race itself, so we know which races to go back and watch in the off season or one to simply remember the winner for the post season quiz nights.
ON TRACK ACTION – 9 / 10
Overtaking for the lead, and a constant three way battle for the same position is easy to rate highly. Enough overtaking further down the grid to keep the race lively.
ANY SURPRISES? – 3 / 5
If you weren’t so used to Oscar Piastri being so unflappable you would be surprised at how Oscar Piastri kept Leclerc behind him for so long. The lack of pace for Max Verstappen is a dangerous surprise for him and his fans.
SEASON IMPORTANCE – 4 / 5
Red Bull continue their fall, and Max Verstappen has a mediocre Grand Prix. Meanwhile his competitors grow stronger, Lando Norris forgot to take advantage with a Q1 exit, but his race proved he’ll be back for more vs Verstappen’s title lead. The Championships close. Stand by for the remaining races.
ENDING 9 / 10
The battle for the lead was riveting with Piastri holding on. Then the battle became Leclerc-Perez-Sainz with the latter two of those drivers crashing with a lap to go. So much happening it was hard to keep up.
OVERALL RATING 25 / 30
A quality race on a track that always offers something. An Australian win, in a more social timeslot also helps.
2024 F1 Race Rankings
R16 – Italian Grand Prix…21/30
R15 – Dutch Grand Prix…15/30
R14 – Belgian Grand Prix…23/30
R13 – Hungarian Grand Prix…19/30
R12 – British Grand Prix…25/30
R11 – Austrian Grand Prix…27/30
R10 – Spanish Grand Prix…19/30
R09 – Canadian Grand Prix…22/30
R08 – Monaco Grand Prix…17/30
R07 – Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix…23/30
R06 – Miami Grand Prix…23/30
R05 – Chinese Grand Prix…15/30
R04 – Japanese Grand Prix…18/30
R03 – Australian Grand Prix…23/30
R02 – Saudi Arabia Grand Prix…9/30
R01 – Bahrain Grand Prix…13/30
2024 F1 Season Power Rankings
Stay tuned for our Power Rankings from the race soon as it is currently being calculated and will be ready on Monday.
Why not check the latest race ratings – 2024 Italian Grand Prix Ratings
Or our 2024 F1 Half Season Report.
Or check out our 2023 Season Driver Rankings and Stats
