McLaren’s team principal Andrea Stella, in the build up to the Baku GP confirmed that McLaren had agreed that Piastri and the team would favour Norris in his bid to overhaul Verstappen… The “Papaya Rules” finally turned in favour of Lando, just in time for a yellow flag to keep McLarens newly promoted No1 driver to Q1 and 17th in Qualifying (later promoted to 15th) …. Not the best place to start on the grid when you and the team are hunting for a historic double. How papaya rules work from P3 and P17 was quite the puzzle, as Leclerc took pole position at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix for the fourth year in a row, 0.3 seconds ahead of Piastri. The constructor’s championship Saturday night was on the cusp of a 3-team title race.
Neither title contender joined their fellow drivers on the front 2 rows, with Charles bidding for his second win in a row. Despite his pace over one lap in Baku, he has never won a grand prix around the streets of Azerbaijan and his fate was sealed when McLaren’s No2 driver (Piastri) made his move (possibly lunge) on lap 20 of 53 to ignore his race engineer and take control of the race to become the 5th driver to win multiple races this year. Leclerc finished on the podium for the fourth consecutive race and extended his record of 20 unsuccessful pole to win ratio. Although, ever since Abu Dhabi in 2021, I didn’t think F1 races could end under a (virtual) safety car? With Lewis struggling for pace all race with his new engine, maybe it wasn’t the time to ask his thoughts on this matter.
Almost the perfect day for McLaren who reached the summit of the constructors’ championships for the first time since the Australian GP in 2014, 3836 days ago; their biggest lead in the constructors’ standings since 2012. Driver No81 (Piastri) became F1s 81st double race winner, with a remarkable drive under huge pressure to help equal the teams second-longest podium streak in their history. Lando gained points on Max, whilst incredibly making up positions at the start of the race… They are 257 points better off than this time last year and are now firm favourites to win the constructors championship.
Russell inherited the final spot on the podium thanks to Sainz and Perez’s squabbling in the barriers… Stewards later ruled that neither driver was to blame for the crash for 2nd and 3rd on the penultimate lap of the race. For the 3rd time in history, the podium was made up entirely of F2 champions.
Verstappen has as many non-podium finishes over the last 10 races as he did over the last four sea-sons combined. This is the first time in 55 races (since the 2022 in Miami) that Red Bull do not lead the Constructors’ Championship. Ending 25 seconds off the lead, being passed by a Mercedes for 6th place while his teammate Sergio Perez is fighting for the win at the front, maybe Red Bull need their own Papaya rules to help steal the constructor’s championship? Not his finest race, although it has taken Perez 34 races to out qualify Max….
Williams scored their biggest points haul since the 2021 Belgian GP, thanks to Colapinto who has scored more points in two races than Latifi and Sargeant scored between them in the previous 69 Grands Prix. Franco became the first Argentine to score points in F1 since Reutemann did in the 1982 South African GP. Fellow F1 rookie Oliver Bearman became the first driver in F1 history to score points for 2 different teams in his first 2 F1 races, with both drivers beating their teammates to help their quest for a drive in F1 next season.
The excitement of Baku almost reached its climax on lap 11 when Sauber remarkably won their first DHL Fastest Pit Stop Award of the 2024 season with a pitstop of 2.32 seconds… A race that kept on giving.
Even though Norris clawed back three points on Verstappen, the average points-per-race to catch the Red Bull driver still increased. Were both Piastri and Max the winners on Sunday? Heading into Singapore, a race neither Red Bull driver made it to Q3 in 2023, they maybe relying on the thunder storms forecasted to help turn the tide and stop the rot as Ferrari and McLaren gain influence at the front of the grid. Not long before the excitement restarts this weekend in Singapore.
