Piastri wins Azerbaijan Grand Prix, McLaren takes constructors' lead
Oscar Piastri claimed his second win of the season Sunday at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Sunday's results moved McLaren ahead of Red Bull by 20 points in the constructors' championship. It's the first time McLaren has led in the standings in over 10 years, last doing so after the 2014 Australian Grand Prix.
"That was probably the most stressful afternoon of my life," Piastri said over the radio after winning, according to The Associated Press.
Piastri passed Charles Leclerc for the lead on Lap 20 and held off the Ferrari driver for the rest of the Grand Prix.
It's the fourth straight race in Baku that Leclerc started on pole but didn't win. He finished second Sunday.
The race ended under virtual safety car after Sergio Perez and Carlos Sainz crashed, promoting George Russell to the final podium position.
PEREZ & SAINZ CRASH WITH 2 LAPS TO GO!
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) September 15, 2024
A brutal end to a spectacular battle at the front of the field sees both drivers not making it to the finish.#F1 #AzerbaijanGP pic.twitter.com/HBYmW6mmG5
Championship contender Lando Norris passed Max Verstappen with three laps left. Norris cut Verstappen's lead to 59 points in the drivers' championship despite starting the race in 15th.
Verstappen received a post-race warning for infringing on the safety car. However, he wasn't convinced that the stewards were correct.
"To be honest, I didn't pass under the virtual safety car. We crossed the line," Verstappen told the Sky Sports broadcast before the warning was issued, per Luke Smith of The Athletic. "The race is finished, and there are a lot of examples in the past and this year as well where we did exactly the same thing. So, for me, I'm a bit surprised."
William's Franco Colapinto earned the first points of his career with a P8 finish in his second race.
Standing in for the suspended Kevin Magnussen at Haas, Ollie Bearman became the first driver in Formula 1 history to earn points with two different teams in their first two starts. Bearman finished 10th in Baku and seventh at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix with Ferrari earlier this year.
Stewards investigated the Sainz-Perez collision but ultimately took no action, deeming it to be a "racing incident" without fault from either side. Also, McLaren was fined 5,000 euros for a pit lane infringement.