Azerbaijan GP: Absolute Intensity
An Enthralling Race with Surprising Results
One of the nice(?) things about my body waking me up early is that I had no issues being up on time for the 7 AM Eastern lights out for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. After qualifying we figured the race would be fascinating. We may even have a new constructor leading the championship for the first time in forever. It was all to play for.
And boy did it deliver.
McLaren Master Class
McLaren have looked like the team most in form over the last couple of months, and now the constructor’s championship reflects that. For the first time in over a decade, McLaren are in the lead now 20 points clear of Red Bull. A lot of us figured this was coming, however the way it came about was with more fireworks than anticipated. Oscar Piastri drove a masterclass keeping not only Leclerc but also Checo at bay for the majority of the race. Lando Norris also had an exceptional recovery drive, coming from starting in 15th to overtaking Max and finishing 4th in the final standings.
Wait…how did Lando get 4th? What happened to other front runners? Well…
Checo and Sainz Come Together
I won’t get into the particulars of who was at fault, but in their coming together, Checo Perez, then running 3rd, and Sainz, running 4th, took one another out of the race and completely turned the race on its head in the last couple of laps. Sainz had been catching Checo for a while and Checo was also chasing after Leclerc with great pace. Up until that point it was brilliant and clean racing all around from the leaders. It got a bit muddled when Checo tried to overtake Leclerc, Leclerc held Checo off, and with Checo making that move Sainz came into the picture. Leclerc was away but the other two were still fighting for the final podium position. Until they weren’t.
Neither team could have afforded to lose such precious points, and it really helped bolster the McLaren lead because it allowed Norris to slide into 4th, with George Russel causally sliding his way to 3rd.
It really was a Sunday drive for George. Apart from overtaking Max, he was really running his own race.
Time will tell how costly that crash is for the two teams and drivers but for now it means the constructors championship is McLaren’s seemingly to lose, and we’ll see if Red Bull can hold on to 2nd.
Williams Double Points
Williams was quick all weekend and deserved these points. Even without the crash from a couple of the front runners, they were looking like they would slide into 9th and 10th. Instead, they slid into 7th and 8th, taking over Alpine in the constructor’s championship in the process as well. Albon and Colapinto had exceptional weekends in their own rights. They were also holding up the progress of Lewis Hamilton during all of this, who had a weekend to forget by his own lofty standards. Williams and Alpine will now be scrapping it out for 8th place in the constructors and it seems to be game on now that Albon has a new running mate.
Max’s Forgettable Weekend
It has to be said that of the Red Bull drivers this weekend, Checo was absolutely the better of the two. Until his crash, Checo was basically ahead of Max the entire weekend. The Mexican needed that given all the noise surrounding his future with the team.
Max on the other hand seemed frustrated all weekend. He never seemed comfortable with the car, and he was never a challenger far up the field. If you didn’t know something was awry you were made acutely aware when George passed him with ease, and when Lando passed him towards the end of the race as well. Max still has a comfortable lead in the driver’s championship and so long as nothing completely goes off the rails, he should still win it. It just won’t be smooth sailing into the sunset this time.
Excitement and Drama
Formula 1 has been begging for some excitement for a long time now. And I’d say, we finally have it! With 4 teams more or less able to podium, let alone win a race now it seems, every race is unpredictable. 3 teams are in the race for the constructor’s championship, and the driver’s championship is not over either. Singapore is next weekend, and I can’t wait to see what we have in store there too. Thankfully it’ll be a nice reasonable start time of 8 AM. Which means I’ll have had time to write an article and walk before the race even starts.
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What an insane race honestly. So much happened. I’m so sad for Sainz and Perez. They were doing so well. Then bam! Really wanted to see Perez finally break his streak of finishing behind his teammate
Great piece! Team Sainz here though.