By Andy Sharp and Erin McIntyre
Oscar Piastri stormed to victory in dramatic style at the 2024 Baku Grand Prix by finishing 10.91 seconds ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc after Carlos Sainz Jr and Sergio ‘Checo’ Perez collided in fascinating fashion on the final lap.
Oscar’s teammate and title challenger Lando Norris had a nightmare qualifying process with him complaining about the car. But when Oscar was asked about it he simply said: “I was quite happy with the car – so yeah not that surprised to be here,” alluding to the podium.
Piastri started the race in second behind multiple Baku pole sitter Leclerc. Charles Leclerc had a brilliant getaway gaining seven seconds by lap 13. As his tyres degraded, the gap kept getting shorter and shorter. And on lap 20 Oscar performed a heroic divebomb breaking just in time to keep first place!
This race came amid rumours that McLaren made the decision to prioritise Lando as their number 1 driver with Team Principal Andrea Stella telling fans earlier in the week that “we have two number 1 drivers.” Norris and Piastri now have the same amount of race victories as each other this year (and in their Formula 1 careers).
In a post-race interview Lando Norris said: “I did my part today by being a team player” after he allegedly held back Checo gaining positions and degrading his tyres.
It’s intriguing to look forward to the future of McLaren as it looks like Oscar Piastri isn’t going without a fight to be McLaren’s future number one!
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