Clean air saved Oscar Piastri’s race in Baku

Having clinched his second victory at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, McLaren driver Oscar Piastri insisted that the clean air during his second stint was instrumental to his tyre management at Baku.

Oscar Piastri took his second career victory at last Sunday’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix to pick up 25 points on Sunday. The Australian driver looked quick all through the weekend, but he appeared to struggle for grip on his opening stint on Pirelli’s medium tyres.

However, he felt much more comfortable on the white-walled hards during his second stint, and managed to take over the lead from Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. Despite a series of attacks from the Ferrari man, Piastri held on to take his second win after the Budapest triumph.

Reflecting on his race at Baku, the McLaren racer noted: “For me, I think that ranks as probably the best win of my career, I would say. Trying to soak up that pressure for so long in that race that was incredibly tough. In the first stint, when Charles was just pulling away pretty comfortably, I thought we were going to be second at best.

“Even, you know, Checo was keeping me very honest and I could see Carlos was very quick at the end of the medium stint. I saw an opportunity or half an opportunity after the pit stop and knew I had to try and take it.

“I knew that getting to the lead was going to be one thing, but I knew I had my work cut out for me after that to try and stay there because I didn’t feel like we were the quickest in that first stint. It was very hard work. You know, I think having clean air did help quite a bit. But yeah, I think for me has to be one of the best races I’ve done.

Piastri managed to keep up with Leclerc on his opening laps, but he struggled for rear grip towards the end of his first stint which saw lose the connection to the Monegasque, who steadily built up a gap of over six seconds.

The Australian has revealed that dirty air contributed to his issues that he faced at the end of his opening stint, and the clean air then helped him look after the white-banded tyres during his second mammoth stint.

“It’s what won me the race. I felt a bit sorry for my race engineer because I basically tried to do that in the first stint and completely cooked my tyres. So my engineer came on the radio and said, ‘let’s not do that again’, basically. And I completely ignored him the next lap and sent it down the inside.

“I think at that point, you know, I felt like trying to stay back and wait for Charles to deg was never going to happen. I thought we was just going to secure us P2. So, yeah, you know, I had a similar opportunity in the first stint. I felt like on lap two or three, I was, I think, just within DRS, but didn’t fully capitalise on that opportunity.

“And I got to the end of the straight thinking ‘if I had have done a couple of things a bit differently here, I maybe had a chance’. So when I had a similar opportunity after the pit stop, I had to take it. And yeah, I wouldn’t be sat here without that.

Pushed on to comment on his overtaking manoeuvre, Piastri said that he felt he would only have a single opportunity to take over the lead from Leclerc.

“If I didn’t take that opportunity then I was never going to have another one I think. I mean credit to Charles. He was incredibly fair. I think maybe he thought I was going to sail on into the run-off but I was pleasantly surprised that I actually made the corner.

“It was a high-risk, high-commitment move but that’s what I needed to do to try and win the race because, you know, I wasn’t really going to be that keen to finish second. So I had to try.

The last seven races saw Piastri secure two race victories and three second places which means that he has gained the highest number of points in this very period. The Australian stated that he does not think it has any particular importance and impact on the remainder of the season.

“Yes and no. I mean… Someone else has probably scored the most in the last eight races. Someone else has probably scored the most. For me, cherry-picking these kind of races doesn’t mean much for me. I think I have had a good run through the European part of the year and now continuing, but… Yeah, it’s not just down to me.

“We’ve had a car that’s been very quick and consistently quick in a lot of places. And even if we’ve not necessarily been the outright quickest everywhere, we’ve been in with a chance everywhere. And I think today was definitely one of those days where we weren’t necessarily the quickest, but we had a car that could put us in the fight.

“We had a pit stop that could put us in the fight. We had some teamwork that put us in the fight. And it all managed to pay off. So yeah, it’s obviously not just down to me, but I feel like I’ve been driving well.

“You know, it’s been clicking a bit more for me this year in terms of the things I want to work on from last season. And you combine that with a car that’s capable of winning, and results like this are possible,” concluded Piastri.