Azerbaijan GP takeaways: Piastri is no No. 2, Norris misses shot at Max

We offer our takeaways following each race weekend this year and continue the 2024 schedule with the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Moments that decided the race 👀

Piastri's no No. 2 driver

For the second straight week, a McLaren driver not named Lando Norris was involved in a fight to the wire for a victory. While Norris may be the team's official No. 1 driver when it comes to the championship, Oscar Piastri sure as hell hasn't looked like a No. 2.

Two weeks after falling just short in Monza to Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, Piastri made sure to avoid a second serving of disappointment in Azerbaijan. In the early portions of the race, Leclerc had checked out up front, but with some savvy strategy from his pit wall, Piastri took the lead with an overtake that highlighted his ability and confidence. It was a lead he didn't surrender.

With the medium tires slowly bleeding time and McLaren worried about the undercut by Sergio Perez, the papaya team called the Australian into the pits on Lap 15 from second place. Ferrari - which had a comfortable lead with Leclerc - opted to be reactive rather than proactive. In hindsight, it was one lap too late: Leclerc's medium tires degraded significantly on Lap 15, but he still had to go around the circuit once more before pitting. That timing, plus Leclerc's colder hard tires, made him a sitting duck. Ferrari fumbled away track position - and in 2024, that might as well be the kiss of death.

Don't let the ingredients of Piastri's race-winning move detract from his performance afterward. He had to defend his lead until the very end, and not just from Leclerc - even Perez was hanging in the background waiting to pounce. In a season where McLaren and Norris have sometimes faltered under pressure, Piastri was unflappable in Azerbaijan.

Missed opportunities for Norris and Verstappen

The drivers' standings display a net gain of three points for Norris over Max Verstappen after Baku. Both competitors can spin that result as a minor win: Norris took a nibble out of Verstappen's lead, while the reigning champion can consider it successful damage control. But both drivers should be full of regrets over failing to exploit each other's shortcomings.

If the championship comes down to Abu Dhabi, a yellow flag that contributed to Norris' Q1 elimination might be the deciding factor. Everything else lined up this weekend for Norris to capitalize on Verstappen's struggles. Norris' teammate won, showing that McLaren had the speed for a victory. For the first time in 33 races, the Dutch driver was outqualified by his own teammate. Before Perez's retirement, Verstappen was set to finish behind him for the first time since the 2023 Azerbaijan GP. It was a rather Verstappen-esque gap in pace, though he was on the wrong end of it for a change.

Norris had a near-flawless race, even holding up Verstappen despite being on an alternate strategy. This played a crucial part in setting up his later overtake on the Red Bull driver. But it could have been so much more. In fairness, Verstappen must feel the same: He started sixth while the British challenger began the race in 15th, and yet Verstappen crossed the checkered flag after Norris.

And similarly to Norris, a single moment Saturday poisoned Verstappen's fate. Red Bull opted for a late setup change on his car in hopes of unlocking more from the RB20. Instead, it only unleashed more gremlins.

The Baku result is ultimately more significant for the hunter than the hunted. Verstappen's lead was trimmed to 59 points, but in order for Norris to win the drivers' title by one point, he needs to outscore his rival by 8.6 points per race weekend. Since the summer break, Norris has gained 6.3 points on Verstappen per grand prix, and that rate won't be enough.

Driver of the Day 🙌

Oscar Piastri: The same weekend that McLaren publicly tabbed Norris as its top challenger for the drivers' title, Piastri put together a championship-caliber drive that rendered Norris a secondary attraction. Piastri must feel vindicated. After having his first career win overshadowed by his teammate's antics in Hungary, Piastri returned the favor at the Baku circuit without the theatrics. McLaren may be backing Norris in 2024, but Piastri's performance suggests the Australian will be in the mix in the not-so-distant future.

What were they thinking? 🤔

Perez was on the verge of his best finish in 12 races when disaster struck. The Red Bull driver was running third for most of the race before Carlos Sainz passed him on the second-last lap. As the two drivers came out of Turn 2, Sainz veered into Perez's path, causing the cars to collide.

Stewards deemed the crash a racing incident, noting that Perez could have done more to avoid the collision and Sainz was close enough to the racing line.

"My feeling today is honestly I did nothing wrong. I didn't do any erratic maneuver, put him against the wall or anything like that," Sainz said. "We were just, like every other lap, drifting a bit, a tiny, tiny little bit towards the left because that's where the racing line is, and we just touched. It is what it is."

They said what? 🗣️

Norris on McLaren taking the lead in the constructors' standings: "If you think back to the first race of the year, we were behind Mercedes and I know that they complained a lot and they've improved, but we were racing Mercedes at the first race and in fact probably a little bit slower (than Mercedes). Now we're still a long way ahead of them. They've done a good job, we've done an amazing job. To catch Red Bull, to be outscoring them, to be outpacing them, and to be the top team in Formula 1 is something we should all be very proud of."

Verstappen on if car development is favoring Perez: "No, no, no. I think the changes we did to the car were positive, but then you still need of course to do the setup on the car. I think we were heading in the right direction, but then the changes that we made before qualifying tipped it over the edge, and we paid the price for that in the race unfortunately.”

Williams' Franco Colapinto on scoring points in second F1 race: "It is very special - a dream come true. It is a long season still and we have many races left together, but it is a great start. Very motivating for the next race."

What's next?

The Singapore Grand Prix gets underway Sunday, Sept. 22 at 8 a.m. ET.

Sainz won at the Marina Bay Street Circuit last season, with Perez claiming victory in 2022. Verstappen has never won in F1 at Singapore.