In a thrilling turn of events, Oscar Piastri clinched victory at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. The Australian initially started behind pole-sitter Charles Leclerc, but managed to overtake him with a daring maneuver. Piastri revealed that the timing of his move was crucial, even though he had to ignore the instructions of his race engineer, Tom Stallard.
During the twentieth lap, Oscar Piastri seized his opportunity and overtook race leader Charles Leclerc. A spectacular overtaking move at turn 1 secured him the top spot and, shortly after, his second victory in Formula 1. “After the pit stop, I saw a half-chance and I knew I had to take it,” the 23-year-old driver explained afterwards. “It was 50/50 whether I would make the turn at all,” he laughed.
The Timing of the Overtake Won Me the Race
“The timing of that overtake won me the race,” he continued. “I did feel a bit sorry for my race engineer. In my first stint, I had completely burned the tires, so he warned me over the radio that I shouldn’t do that again. I completely ignored him and overtook on the inside in the next round.”
‘Not Without Risk’
“It was my last chance,” explained Oscar Piastri. “All respect to Charles Leclerc, he raced incredibly fair. Maybe he was surprised that I made the turn, which was also a pleasant surprise for me,” joked the McLaren driver. It was a close call, he could have easily wrecked his MCL38. “It was not without risk, but this was the only way to win the race.”
“After that, it was incredibly tough to keep it up for so long,” he added. “The clean air helped me somewhat, but it was still extremely stressful to keep Leclerc behind me. I made a few mistakes afterwards, but they didn’t cost me the race. This is probably one of the best Grands Prix I’ve ever driven.”
