1 week ago
9
Lando Norris drove an bonzer contention to drawback and walk rubric rival Max Verstappen arsenic his McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri won an engrossing Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
The contention ended nether a virtual information car aft a clang betwixt Red Bull’s Sergio Perez and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, who collided portion disputing 3rd spot with 2 laps to go.
Piastri pulled disconnected an audacious walk connected Leclerc, who had led from rod position, to instrumentality the pb soon aft some had made their lone pit halt for caller tyres and held connected for the remainder of the contention nether immense unit from the Ferrari.
And Norris fought backmost aft his precocious pit stop, having started connected the hard tyre portion the leaders chose mediums, to walk Verstappen with 3 laps to go.
The effect means Norris, who besides scored the constituent for fastest lap, reduced Verstappen’s title pb by 3 points connected a time helium would person started expecting to suffer ground.
Norris is 59 points down Verstappen with 7 races to spell and a maximum of 206 inactive available.
And McLaren person taken the pb successful the constructors’ title from Red Bull, taking a 20-point lead.
Leclerc converted his rod presumption into a pb astatine the archetypal country and appeared to instrumentality power of the contention during the archetypal stint, pulling retired a six-second pb earlier Piastri made his pit halt connected thigh 15.
Leclerc followed him successful a thigh aboriginal and successful mentation should person easy had capable cushion to clasp the pb to the end.
But Piastri closed successful connected the Ferrari, taking his accidental connected caller tyres, and connected thigh 20 made a brave, precocious dive for the wrong of Turn One to instrumentality the lead.
It was a superb move, and seemed to drawback Leclerc somewhat off-guard.
The Ferrari operator was not done there, though, and helium stuck hard to the McLaren, with Perez adjacent behind, trying to find an opening.
For galore laps the 3 circulated together, with Ferrari urging Leclerc connected implicit the radio.
A fewer times Leclerc was adjacent capable to effort a determination into Turn One, but Piastri ever covered the wrong enactment and had conscionable capable to clasp the Ferrari astatine bay.
Into the closing laps, Leclerc began to conflict with his rear tyres and helium dropped backmost from Piastri, the contention present won for the Australian.
Leclerc present had to fend disconnected Perez and Sainz, who had a lonely contention for overmuch of the duration but closed successful during the last stages arsenic Piastri measured his gait to clasp disconnected Leclerc.
The melodramatic climax was triggered erstwhile Perez went for a determination connected Leclerc astatine the commencement of thigh 50, with 2 to go.
Leclerc held him disconnected into Turn One, and Sainz was capable sneak by the Red Bull.
They went astir Turn Two broadside by side, with Perez connected the wrong and headed down the consecutive towards Turn Three.
Perez had his beforehand instrumentality wrong Sainz’s rear, and the 2 touched, spinning violently into the partition and taking some retired of the race.
The incidental promoted George Russell’s Mercedes into 3rd spot - the Briton had a quiescent archetypal stint but began to marque crushed successful the 2nd stint and was capable to walk Verstappen and Norris into what was 5th spot earlier the Sainz-Perez crash.
Norris started the contention with debased expectations, and McLaren’s strategy to commencement connected the hard tyre was partially hoping they whitethorn beryllium capable to drawback a information car by moving long.
He efficaciously made up places successful the opening stint and ended up moving down Alex Albon’s Williams.
That meant that helium was protected against Verstappen, who closed up connected him aft his pit stop, due to the fact that Norris could usage the DRS from Albon to clasp disconnected Verstappen.
And soon Verstappen began to kick astir his car implicit the radio.
Norris yet stopped connected thigh 37 and rejoined conscionable 1 spot and 15 seconds down Verstappen with 13 laps to go.
He began to adjacent connected the Red Bull astatine good implicit a 2nd a thigh and was connected Verstappen’s process and past with 4 laps to go.
Fernando Alonso took sixth for Aston Martin, having tally astatine the caput of the midfield overmuch of the race, up of Albon and the 2nd Williams of Franco Colapinto, who scored points connected lone his 2nd start.
Lewis Hamilton, who had a quiescent contention from the backmost of the grid aft an motor penalty, took ninth for Mercedes, portion the last constituent was scored by Briton Oliver Bearman, awesome connected his debut for Haas.
Bearman, who volition contention for Haas adjacent season, was lasting successful for Kevin Magnussen, who was banned for a contention for exceeding the fig of punishment points.
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