Oscar Piastri has conceded he endured some “close calls” with the wall as he strived to maintain the lead over Charles Leclerc in the Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Piastri seized the lead with a late-braking move on Leclerc’s pole-sitting Ferrari on Lap 20 and then repelled immense pressure to take his second-ever F1 win in Baku.
The Australian was made to cover the inside line into Turn 1 on several occasions as Leclerc menaced, but he was unable to get close enough to execute an overtake.
Piastri has detailed that Leclerc’s strength in the tight and twisting middle sector made it imperative that he opened up the gap to avoid being exposed on the straight.
But although his approach paid dividends, Piastri has admitted there were moments where he held his breath as the margin between his car and the barrier tightened.
“I think for me to be honest the key was actually hanging on in Sector 2,” Piastri, who helped McLaren to secure the lead in the Constructors’ Championship, explained.
“I felt like as long as I could keep the lead into Turn 1 then I felt like I could keep Charles [behind].
“Turn 2, I think, is a very, very slippery corner for some reason this weekend.
“And if you could get good enough drive out of there… the straight [to Turn 3] is not quite long enough to have DRS really make an impact to catch back up.
“For me, just taking a lot of risk through the castle section is what I was trying to do because I needed to try and make the gap from Turn 7 through the rest of the lap.
“I had a couple of close calls through the castle and Turn 15 as well. I think the guys probably need to put another rear corner on my car after the race!
“But yeah, that was where I was really trying to be fast and obviously get a good exit out of the last corner.
“On that note, I think we both need to get a photo of us drifting through the last corner. I was speaking to Mark [Webber], and he said it’s like 1950s F1.
“So yeah, that was a cool moment to watch back. It didn’t feel very fun at the time for both of us, I’m sure.
“But yeah, just trying to maximize the pace through the end of Sector 2 really was where I was trying to make it work.”
Piastri drove ‘flat out’ to keep Leclerc behind
Piastri managed to break Leclerc’s spirit in the closing laps as the Monegasque began to struggle with his rear tyres and dropped into the clutches of the cars behind.
However, Piastri has denied that he could preserve his rubber once he got into cleaner air, citing how Leclerc’s presence meant that he was unable to control his pace.
“I think they [McLaren] recognised that I was doing everything I could to try and keep Charles behind,” he added.
“For me, I was driving flat out to do that. I didn’t have the gap or the space to be able to save my tyres.
“Of course, I was trying to not destroy them. But yeah, when you’re trying to break DRS, you have to push flat out. So that’s what I did. And yeah, in the end, it worked.”
