15/09/2024
NEWS STORY
Oscar Piastri: "P1! I'm so happy to have won my second Grand Prix. This is the best win of my career.
"I'm proud of what we did today. I tried at the start of the race to get in front, but once I dropped out of DRS, I just didn't have the pace. After the stop, I saw we were pretty close again, and I felt like we had a little bit of extra grip. I had to go for it because I knew that if I didn't get past at the start of the stint, I was never going to get past. So, I went for a pretty big lunge, but managed to pull it up, and then hung on for dear life for the next 35 laps. It was hard work, but I think that definitely goes down as one of my better races.
"We're now leading the World Championship. It's a massive team effort and everyone at McLaren deserves full credit for the turnaround that's happened in my 18 months here. The car has improved, but I think they've helped me improve as well: 12 months ago, I definitely wasn't capable of achieving results like this. I'm excited to see what the future holds."
Lando Norris: "A great result for the team, with a great race from both sides. First of all, congrats to Oscar for another win, he deserves it. I think I had a great race. I got fastest lap and a good number of points from where we were so I'm very happy. We're the team that gained the most points today, so I think we should be very satisfied with that. It's the maximum we could have done today, and we've taken the lead in the Constructors' Championship. A job well done by everyone."
Andrea Stella - Team Principal : "Today we secured an important and impressive victory in Azerbaijan. Oscar's performance throughout the race was exceptional, and to take the lead in the way that he did is proof of what a special driver he is. Lando also completed an impressive comeback after starting out of position through no fault of his own.
"At this event, there was no team with a clear pace advantage and this strong result is down to the excellent execution of the race by the team and our drivers. It is further proof that our package can be competitive and fight for victories at a variety of circuits.
"Today's result also promotes us to first in the Constructors' Championship, an important milestone in our journey. However, the team remain clearly focused on the task ahead, and we use this positive moment to redouble our efforts for the coming races. The progress we've made since the start of 2023, when we were at the back of the grid, is down to the hard work and dedication from our entire team, as well as the support from our shareholders and partners. We quickly turn our attention to Singapore, where the team will be focused on executing another successful race weekend."
Check out our Sunday gallery from Baku here.