Baku. There is something special about these monstrous machines weaving through the castellated streets like dragons. And boy did they make some noise…
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; Piastri is the driver to watch. Amongst the rumours of McLaren favouring Norris to compete for the Championship, Piastri drives an absolutely stellar race and takes the trophy. It’s not an easy win, he takes the lead in Lap 20 and defends the position well - with Leclerc trying for the overtake almost every lap. A win for Piastri and a win for McLaren who now lead the Constructors Championship.
We have an exciting 3 way battle up at the top. Ferrari, McLaren, Red Bull – Leclerc, Piastri, Perez. That’s right, Perez. The 2 at the top are wheel to wheel throughout, but Perez stays right behind them and is clearly capable of podium position. Then he does what he does best and crashes. It’s actually gutting to watch. Perez and Sainz collide in the penultimate lap, retiring both cars. Leclerc retains P2.
It's like déjà vu down at P4. We’ve got a Ferrari, McLaren, and a Red Bull. This time it’s Sainz, Norris, and Verstappen. Sainz has an unfortunate end to a well driven race. Norris makes impressive moves starting down at P15 and finishing up at P4. He also plays the team game and manages to hold up Perez to prevent him undercutting Piastri. Verstappen is still unhappy with the car and is unable to launch into attack, but manages to cling onto P5. Net result is a lot of points for McLaren.
Midfield treats us with some exciting action. Williams and Haas are locked in combat for points, and the rookies, Colapinto and Bearman, are right in the thick of it. Albon decides to spend a while sitting in P3, putting a spanner in the works for the 3-way battle for podium. Eventually he pits and comes in at an impressive P7. Colapinto is right behind him at P8. Williams is flying. Bearman spends a considerable stretch of his race challenging Mr Seven Time World Champion himself, Lewis Hamilton. Hamilton finally gets him and pinches P9, with Bearman nabbing the last point at P10. 2 F1 races. 2 points finishes. Nice. His teammate Hulkenberg comes in at P11.
Russell and Alonso have relatively chaos-free races and finish comfortably in the top 10. Russell capitalises on the Lap 50 crash and darts through to take P3. Alonso sails in at P6. While Russell’s teammate does well to take P9 from his P19 start, Alonso’s teammate does not have much luck. Stroll has a slight tangle with Tsunoda in Lap 1 and suffers a puncture, then develops a brake issue and retires the car.
RB seem to be slipping down the ranks. Tsunoda retires his car, yet again. Ricciardo takes P13, but with four DNFs it’s not much to shout about. Gasly comes in at P12 and Ocon at P15 for Alpine, while Zhou takes P14 and Bottas P16 for Sauber.
Lots of movement. Exciting.