Piastri 'hung on for dear life' for brilliant win in Baku

It was by any standards a remarkable drive for Oscar Piastri in today's Azerbaijan GP. For a 23-year-old Australian halfway through only his second season in F1, it was jaw-dropping and the stuff of fairy tales.

Any disappointment he might have felt coming into the weekend after new team orders at McLaren put Lando Norris' title hopes ahead of his own success were swept away, with Norris even proving a key assist helping Piastri to win.

Piastri had already pulled off a significant success on Saturday in qualifying when he claimed a front row start alongside Baku pole specialist Charles Leclerc.

When the lights went out on Sunday, Piastri had his hands full fending off Carlos Sainz into the first corner. He was able to slot in behind Leclerc, managing to stay within DRS range for the first 14 laps until the pit stops.

Piastri stopped first but didn't manage to pull off the undercut on Leclerc. It was thanks to Norris holding up Sergio Perez that Piastri was able to pick up his pursuit of Leclerc.

• Read also: Stunning win for Piastri after late crash in Baku

Moreover it had been a slow stop by Ferrari, one that left Piastri sensing blood in the water. On lap 20 he duly pounced down the inside of turn 1 to seize the lead.

“I had to go for it, because I knew that if I didn't get past, I was never going to get past," Piastri said afterward. “Once I dropped out of DRS, I just didn't have the pace.

“After the stop, I saw we were pretty close again and I felt like we had a little bit of extra grip," he said. “I knew if I didn’t get past at the start of the stint, I was never going to get past. So I went for a pretty big lunge."

The overtake seemed to catch Leclerc by surprise, in much the same way that Piastri had caught his team mate Lando Norris off-guard in the previous race at Monza. On that occasion he hadn't been able to stay ahead of Leclerc.

It was a serious battle between them this time with Leclerc making repeated strikes only to be parried by Piastri time and again. Piastri admitted later that it had been one of the most stressful days of his life.

"I hung on for dear life for the next 35 laps,” he said. Only at the end did Leclerc's tyres seem to tail off allowing Piastri to stretch out a comfortable gap even before the accident that triggered Virtual Safety Car.

“The last couple of laps, once he dropped out of DRS, were a little bit more relaxing," Piastri said. "But there’s no such thing as a relaxing lap around here, so it was hard work.

"It definitely goes down as one of the better races of my career," he added, having already tastes the top step of the podium in Hungary and last year in the Qatar sprint race.

Piastri's victory - together with an impressive recovery drive for Norris from P15 to fourth place - has transformed the constructors championship battle with McLaren not just in the lead, but by a whopping 20 points over Red Bull.

“Considering where we started when I joined the team last year, we were literally last and now we are leading the world championship," a jubilant Piastri commented.

“Results like this definitely weren’t possible 12 months ago for myself, so it’s a massive team effort and I’m excited to see what the future holds.”

“It’s full credit to the team for the turnaround we’ve managed to have in my 18 months here. Firstly in terms of improving the car, but also helping me improve as well."

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