Piastri signed an amazing victory and a future champion against Leclerc in Azerbaijan

They say that he has the makings of a champion, that he has everything to write many glorious pages in the future of F1. And they weren’t wrong. Oscar Piastriat 23 years old, in his second season in F1, he found himself at the right time and the right place, the best car on the grid, and after enormous personal growth since the start of the course, he was already shining. Oscar Piastri gave a recital this Sunday and won the Azerbaijan F1 GP against Charles Leclerc who was left with honey on his lips, once again, without success on a track where he signed 4 consecutive pole positions.

F1 AZERBAIJAN GP FINAL RESULTS

This Sunday is Piastri’s second win in F1 after what was achieved in the last Hungarian GP. But now to teach and show himself to the world as a star.

Last accident between Sainz and Pérez for the podium

Leclerc had to defend second place late in the race Sainz and Pérez. And with two laps to go, when ‘Checo’ tried to pass CharlesSainz wants to take advantage of this. But things ended badly. Sainz and Pérez’s tires touched the straight and both leaned against the wall. That put Russell on the podium (3rd) and gave positions to Norris, who was 4th after starting 15th. Lando therefore reduced the damage against Verstappen, who was 5th ahead of Alonso who held his position very well against the Williams to finish 6th.

Leclerc seems to escape, but Oscar arrives

The battle was epic, exciting, intense and relentless after the start of the race in which Charles Leclerc seemed to escape to victory without opposition at a devilish pace at the wheel of his Ferrari. Piastri tried to undercut Charles, stopping early, but the Monegasque had a cushion of 6 seconds which seemed to be enough. However, as soon as ‘Il Principino’ put the rubber down, everything started to go wrong. It seemed to melt and Oscar Piastri went to it, the first time he smelled blood.

An incredible advance

On lap 20, Oscar sent a message to everyone, showing the self-confidence, courage, talent and ambition of a champion. Several times this season his teammate Norris has been criticized for showing too much reluctance in overtaking with the best car on the grid. And in Baku, Piastri showed what to do with that orange car. The first time he was inside the Leclerc, Oscar launched himself from so far away, from his home in Australia with a massive blow from the inside.. The impact with the wall threatened, but he avoided it with great solvency and completed the overtake. Everything has changed. Piastri takes the lead against a Leclerc who has to react.

Oscar withstood Leclerc’s relentless attack

That overtaking was really key, as Piastri took advantage of the fact that Charles had no rhythm in the first turns with the hard rubber, knowing that in some turns he would get it as soon as he put them on correct temperature. And so it was. There, Leclerc began to pull away with a better rhythm than Piastri who had to defend himself tooth and nail for more than 20 laps against a faster Charles.

And a new recital by Piastri began, where he ended up defining himself as a future champion of all letters. Leclerc tried everything a thousand and one times. He started DRS on lap 29 and slipped in turn 1, but Piastri didn’t fade. The Australian did not hesitate to bring out the manual of every defender and make it clear that even under pressure, he knows how to apply the theory: he took the inside, with a worse braking line, defended the first place and avoided the wall to turn inside at turn 2. Spectacular.

But the best thing was to see how Piastri repeated his plan over and over without Charles Leclerc being able to surprise him. This happened on laps 33, 42 and 45. Both Ferraris were defensive and helpless as the laps went by and could do nothing to demolish the castle Piastri had built in the lead. Oscar, with a worse rhythm, became an obstacle for Charles and he even had to make an amazing save by riding the piano with a counterwheel that cost him the victory. He has to fight, endure, believe, wait for Leclerc’s mistake. And it has come. Charles clung to the wall and lost steam. From fighting for the win, he saw how Pérez and Sainz stuck to him. And meanwhile, Piastri escaped to his second victory.

The best version of Piastri, is it too late?

Oscar had already won in Hungary, but it was a victory marred by bad strategy from McLaren: Norris had to give Oscar first position back on the track for him to win. A few months later, a strange breakthrough came. Of the future champion. And now, with Norris 4th and Verstappen in 5th position, Oscar is getting closer and closer to Max. Although perhaps the massive version of Piastri came too late. He has the best car, he seems to have eaten the toast of Norris and came in better form at the end of this World Championship. But with 7 appointments left to complete the course he is now 91 points behind a Verstappen who continues to suffer despite the installation of a new floor.

Norris takes only 3 points from Verstappen

After his mistake in qualifying, which forced him to start from the back, he finally Lando Norris He had to start 15th due to some penalties from other drivers. He had to use a different strategy to catch up, taking advantage of his car’s excellent pace. He chose to extend his first stop, starting with hard and ending with medium. Without stopping, Max Verstappen He caught up with him after changing a tire. There, the Englishman was able to hold off his title rival with older tires. I had to stop and attack with the younger medium tire. And so he did. He returned to the track 15 seconds behind Max but with a tire 24 laps younger and passed Max. Verstappen. Norris thereby minimized the damage. But what really minimized them was Verstappen. Because, as Piastri shows, Landau He had to have the car this weekend to win and take a lot of points from the Dutchman to tighten the World Championship. However, because of his mistake on Saturday and after his good comeback, I’m only deducting 2 points and another (3 in total) for fastest lap.

So, with 7 races left, Norris is 59 points behind. Max. He needs to improve and learn from what the young man did Piastre to keep trying.

Alonso, excellent sixth position

Sixth position is an almost unthinkable result for Aston Martin in Azerbaijan. But Fernando Alonso achieved it, against all odds.

The Asturian had a brilliant classification on Saturday which allowed him to start 7th after Hamilton’s penalty for an engine change. And from that square he had to defend himself against some very fast Williams who chose a different strategy in attacking Fernando. Albon tried to extend his first round too much and Colapinto tried an ‘undercut’. But Fernando defended his position with the Argentine and managed to finish ahead of the Thai with a worse car.

The accident between Sainz and Pérez gave the Asturian two more places to be 6th. He resisted and took advantage of the opportunities offered by Baku to leave with a massive and unexpected loot