McLaren boss reveals Charles Leclerc reference that had him doubting Oscar Piastri overtake

McLaren boss Andrea Stella was certain Oscar Piastri’s daring overtake on Charles Leclerc would end with the Australian running wide.

McLaren’s Oscar Piastri came out on top of a thrilling race-long battle with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, after overtaking the Monegasque driver with a thrilling late dive into Turn 1 on Lap 20.

Oscar Piastri overtakes Charles Leclerc with late braking opportunism

Having been dropped by Charles Leclerc through the first stint of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Piastri reeled in the Ferrari driver in the first laps after the stops and positioned himself for an overtaking opportunity as he got within DRS range of Leclerc.

Starting Lap 20, Piastri had the advantage of the DRS and left his braking into Turn 1 very late to catch Leclerc out and move past him – Leclerc hadn’t even taken a defensive position as the McLaren was a few car lengths behind as he began braking for the 90-degree left-hander.

Piastri’s late dive might have seen him carrying straight on with too much speed, but the Australian got his car slowed down enough and under control to perfectly take the inside line and move past Ferrari – to the astonishment of team boss Andrea Stella.

“When I watched it live and I saw him going [for it], my instinct said, ‘He’s gonna go long’,” Stella told media in Baku.

The reason for this, the Spaniard explained, was down to the fact that Leclerc’s braking point was late enough to the point of seemingly being impossible to be any later – only for Piastri to prove his boss wrong.

“The delay in the braking point was like… if Leclerc braked there, that must be the braking point… and [Oscar] is delaying,” he said.

“So my instinct was, ‘He’s gonna go long’, but that’s why I want to emphasise in my answer just the precision in the execution to then actually be on the inside apex kerb in Turn 1.

“So yeah, I was surprised.

“But Oscar is always surprising us with his talent, with his ability, and I would say today he gave also a demonstration of his mental strength.

“He drove like a driver who has a lot of experience and has been under this kind of pressure before – who can look with one eye at the mirror and the other eye on the braking point.

“Oscar did it again with a great level of precision and pretty controlled, even when he was talking on the radio, he seemed very, very much under control. Phenomenal driver, a brilliant drive today.”

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With Piastri coming out on top of what turned into a three-team battle for victory on the streets of Baku as Leclerc was closely shadowed by Red Bull’s Sergio Perez before a late-race collision took the Mexican out of contention, Stella said he believed the clear air had allowed Piastri to control his tyre life.

“I think, at this event, there wasn’t much difference at all between Ferrari, McLaren, and Red Bull,” Stella said.

“If anything, Red Bull struggled to get the most out of their packaging in qualifying but, in the race, I think we saw that everyone was basically within the same tenth of a second.

“Whoever had the lead and the clean air could control the race because, even if there’s such a long straight, there are also so many corners that you can open up a gap like seven, eight-tenths, and then you can control the race.”

Having been dropped by Leclerc in the first 15 laps before the stops, Stella revealed how his driver had got his tyres in the perfect window to reel in the Ferrari straight after the stops.

“I think Oscar just took advantage that his hard tyres were in a really sweet spot when Leclerc pitted ahead of him, and he just seemed to have an edge to be able to attack him in Turn 1,” he said.

“But, if we look where Oscar is coming from when he attacks Leclerc in Turn 1, that’s from quite afar, and he still negotiated the apex.

“I think it’s one of those cases in which you have to point out the ability of the driver, because he delayed the braking point so much and still negotiated Turn 1 in such a precise way – he doesn’t even have to rely on Leclerc conceding any space.

“So it’s one of those cases in which just the talent, the precision in the execution, from Oscar’s point of view, just made a difference.

“I think from a car point of view and the tyres, I think today was everything very, very close between these three teams.”

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