For the fourth consecutive year, Charles Leclerc missed out on victory at the Azerbaijan GP despite starting from pole position. Oscar Piastri made a bold move on the Monegasque driver, and after the race, Leclerc pinpointed where he lost his edge.
Speaking to Guenther Steiner, a dejected Leclerc admitted that his choice of tires was wrong. “Probably when I went on the hard. On the hard tires, the car didn’t feel as good. We were sliding a lot, and I had no rear grip,” the Ferrari star said.
: “Not a great day for the team”
Charles Leclerc shares his thoughts on Ferrari’s performance at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.#F1 #AzerbaijanGP pic.twitter.com/lKxpSGNKIF
— F1 Naija (@f1_naija) September 15, 2024
Additionally, Leclerc experienced more tire degradation than Piastri, which prevented him from pushing his car as hard as he wanted, allowing the Aussie to maintain his lead when it mattered most.
Piastri, who started from P2, chased Leclerc for nearly 30 laps before making an ambitious move down the inside to take first place away. From there, it was all about holding on to the lead.
Piastri masterclass and a nervy finish for Leclerc
With all of McLaren‘s hopes riding on his shoulders, Piastri showed no signs of pressure. The Melbourne-born made a daring lunge on the inside of Leclerc on Lap 20, coming out of Turn 1 with the race lead. He then deployed a defensive masterclass to make sure Leclerc stayed in his rearview mirror for the remainder of the race.
Full on-board camera footage of the crash between Carlos Sainz and Sergio Perez, from Perez’s point of view!#F1 #Formula1 #AzerbaijanGP pic.twitter.com/qHFW9Dmlh4
— Extreme Cars (@extremecars__) September 15, 2024
Meanwhile, in the final few laps of the race, Leclerc had to shift his focus to defending Red Bull’s Sergio Perez. Having lost out on the lead to Piastri, there was no way Leclerc was going to let Perez snatch P2 away and his defense was on top.
Carlos Sainz then joined the party, snatching P3 away from Perez and was right on Leclerc’s tail. However, they crashed soon, bringing an end to their race. With a Virtual Safety Car deployed thereafter, Piastri comfortably won the Azerbaijan GP, while Leclerc settled for P2.
