On pole position for the fourth time in a row in Baku, Charles Leclerc was looking to finally convert his pole to victory at the Azerbaijan GP. However, Oscar Piastri spoilt the Monegasque driver’s party with a masterful drive to take his second Grand Prix victory.
In each of the four races in Baku since 2021, Leclerc has shown his prowess around the tricky street circuit, better than any other driver on one lap. However, he did not have the race pace in his cars to win in 2021 and 2023.
Meanwhile, the #16 driver’s engine blew up while leading the Azerbaijan GP in 2022, which hinted towards a Baku curse developing for him. The curse has persisted as Piastri denied Leclerc a maiden Baku victory, having started alongside him on the front row.
Now, winning from pole isn’t easy in Baku. Out of the last eight races, only two pole sitters have won the Grand Prix around the street circuit on the Caspian Sea shores. Still, Leclerc is not bothering much about this trend and praised Piastri’s amazing overtaking and brilliant racecraft.
LAP 33/51
Leclerc continues to try – and this time he gets a chance at the cutback!
But Piastri swings his McLaren across and cuts him off – gloves off in this street fight! #F1 #AzerbaijanGP pic.twitter.com/616mKoTOGX
— Formula 1 (@F1) September 15, 2024
The Aussie driver was on Leclerc‘s gearbox from the opening lap and did a good job of managing his first stint. After both drivers pitted for hard tires in what was going to be a one-stop race, it was a fight to the chequered flag with less than two seconds between the leading duo.
Piastri made a bold move on Lap 20 of the race by going down the inside at turn 1 and from there on, it was a top-class showing of defense from the Australian. After the race, Leclerc commended Piastri, saying,
“I really thought in one corner or two I would put it in the wall, it was very close. McLaren and Oscar did an exceptional job and were better for us.”
The Monegasque stated that he did not defend well enough when he lost the lead to the McLaren driver and said he “will learn from it”. However, Leclerc persisted well to keep attacking Piastri on every lap to provide an enthralling battle for the lead.
Even the #81 driver enjoyed this race that earned him his second career win within the space of two months. Piastri said,
“I went for a pretty big lunge, then clung on for 35 laps. Goes down as one of my better races of my career.”
