Oscar Piastri, a driver for the  McLaren Formula 1 team, won the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on Sept. 15, 2024, after a tough race against team Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. “That was probably the most stressful afternoon of our lives,” said Oscar Piastri over the team radio after the race. The top three were Oscar Piastri, Charles Leclerc, and George Russel, a driver for Mercedes F1 team there were four retirements from the race: Yuki Tsunoda (a driver for team RB), Lance Stroll (a driver for team Astin Martin), Carlos Sainz (a driver for team Ferrari), and Sergio Perez (a driver for team Red Bull)

Incident on the Final Lap

On lap 50 of 51, Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and Red Bull’s Sergio Perez crashed into the wall during the battle for second place against Leclerc. Over the radio, Perez expressed his frustration to his team, while Sainz was confused. “What happened there? ” He said. He seemed confused about what had happened to cause the crash.

Surprising Third-place finish

Because of the crash, Mercedes’ George Russell took third place. In the post-race interviews with the top three, Russell was asked by Gunther Steiner, former team Haas principal, if he and his team could pull off a podium in upcoming races. “I mean we’ve got to be realistic still,” said Russell. “We should have finished fifth today. That was the true result. Honestly, with Lando’s [Norris] qualifying yesterday, he would’ve been up there as well. So I don’t want to get carried away with myself with this podium today. We’ve got a lot of work to do. Hopefully, Singapore’s a slightly better weekend.”

The Next race

Speaking of Singapore, the next race will be held under the lights at the Marina Bay Street Circuit. The Singapore Grand Prix is one of six night races of the 2024 Formula One season and one of eight street tracks, including November’s Las Vegas Grand Prix.