F1 | GP AZERBAIJAN, THE POINT BY GIAN CARLO MINARDI “51 HEARTSTOPPING LAPS. PIASTRI PHENOMENAL. PEREZ-SAINZ? THE MEXICAN WITH THE GREATEST FAULT
These young men know how to entertain us. They gave us 51 heart stopping laps with as many as 4 drivers within little more than two seconds. Piastri, Leclerc and Perez within less than one and a half seconds.
It was a hard-fought grand prix, won by a very good Oscar Piastri, author of a wonderful overtaking move at Leclerc’s expense, but above all skilful in managing the not easy situation on a track as complicated as Baku. This is certainly not a surprise because Piastri is a young man with all the credentials to make people talk about him. Plus, he has a car that is a notch above all the others, that allows him to brake later than the others and with better DRS. This was particularly evident when he overtook the Ferrari driver. He was able to recover 5 tenths of a second, against the mere 2 tenths of Leclerc, the author of a magnificent pole position. This however should make the men in Maranello pause for thought.
It was a shame only about the finish. We could have had a race with no interruptions despite a very high pace.
Until that moment it was an incredible comeback by Carlos Sainz, after a sluggish first part of the race. It was an equally remarkable race by Sergio Perez, who always gives his best on these tracks. Right now, Red Bull’s difficulties seem to be punishing mostly Max Verstappen. It is not easy to analyse the Sainz-Perez collision. Speaking from the television images, it seems to me that the Mexican had a higher percentage of blame since the Spaniard was ahead of him. Plus, he did not have a favourable view of him. He had plenty of space to move, there was enough to the left, to avoid the fatal contact.
Sainz’s retirement cost Ferrari dearly in terms of points, with the gap from the lead growing to 54 points with another seven races still to go.
It was a double celebration for McLaren. In addition to the win, it also took home the leadership of the constructors’ ladder, climbing above Red Bull after 55 races. Lando Norris’s race was also to be applauded. Starting from fifteenth position, he finished fifth ahead of Verstappen, also taking the additional point for the fastest lap-
The double retirement favoured George Russell, who took an unhoped-for podium, as well as the 2 Williams drivers and Oliver Berman, protagonists of an excellent weekend and rewarded with important points. Positive results especially for the two young men (Colapinto and Berman). The Argentine, an excellent shield bearer in regard to Albon. In his second grand prix, Berman once more entered the points zone with two different teams. Certainly not a result to be taken for granted driving a Haas.
We are approaching the final rounds which we predict will be fiery I am looking forward to seeing what will happen in Singapore street circuit.
As for our flag bearers, important results came in, starting with Gabriele Mini’s podium in Formula 2 (on his debut). Followed by Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s third place despite a car damaged in a collision. In Japan, Davies Rigon drove the Ferrari 296 LMGT3 to the win in the FIA WEC World championship, and Raffaele Marcielllo took second place at the wheel of the BMW Hypercar. These results are all a source of great pride, as well as the fruit of the work carried out over all these years by the Federation and ACI Sport.
Gian Carlo Minardi
