At a glance
Oscar Piastri stopped one lap before Charles Leclerc, passed the pole-sitter on lap 20 and held the lead for the remaining 32 laps. He won the 51-lap 2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix by 10.910 seconds.
- Race length51 lapsBaku City Circuit
- Key passLap 20Turn 1, DRS-assisted
- Winning margin10.910 sPiastri ahead of Leclerc
What changed the lead fight?
Leclerc started from pole and led early. Piastri, who began second, made his sole stop on lap 15; Leclerc stopped on lap 16. The FIA’s pit-stop summary records their visits at 20.181 and 20.671 seconds respectively. That half-second difference is pit-lane stationary time, not the whole strategic gain: approach laps, traffic and the out-lap also shape where a driver rejoins.
Leclerc remained ahead after the stops, but Piastri was close enough to use DRS on the main straight. At the start of lap 20 he passed the Ferrari into Turn 1. The decisive moment was therefore an on-track overtake after the stop sequence, not a simple pit-lane position swap. Piastri then defended the lead through the remaining laps as Leclerc stayed within reach for much of the contest.
The race’s top-ten finish gaps put that battle in perspective. The chart measures each classified finisher’s time behind the winner; it cannot show the lap-by-lap interval or how close the cars were when running nose-to-tail.
The final time gap records the full race and does not represent the cars’ interval during their lap-20 fight.
Gap Seconds
Seconds behind the race winner · First ten classified finishers, 2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix (51 laps)
| Driver | Gap Seconds |
|---|---|
| Oscar Piastri | 0 |
| Charles Leclerc | 10.910 |
| George Russell | 31.328 |
| Lando Norris | 36.143 |
| Max Verstappen | 77.098 |
| Fernando Alonso | 85.468 |
| Alexander Albon | 87.396 |
| Franco Colapinto | 89.541 |
| Lewis Hamilton | 92.401 |
| Oliver Bearman | 93.127 |
Why is the winning margin larger than the battle felt?
Piastri’s final advantage over Leclerc was 10.910 seconds, while George Russell finished 31.328 seconds behind the winner. That spread reflects the complete 51-lap race, including how the lead fight developed after the pass; it is not a measure of the peak gap between the McLaren and Ferrari during their duel. Piastri’s winning time was 1:32:58.007.
The late crash changed the podium order behind them. Sergio Pérez and Carlos Sainz collided on the penultimate lap while disputing position, ending both races. Russell inherited third, 31.328 seconds behind Piastri. Lando Norris finished fourth after starting 15th and passed championship rival Max Verstappen late; Verstappen finished fifth, 77.098 seconds behind the winner. Grid-to-finish movement supplies context, but by itself cannot establish the quality of a strategy or quantify overtaking pace.
| Event or measure | Official figure | Interpretation |
|---|---|---|
| Piastri first pit stop | Lap 15 · 20.181 s | One lap before Leclerc |
| Leclerc first pit stop | Lap 16 · 20.671 s | Still led after the stop sequence |
| Piastri takes the lead | Lap 20 · Turn 1 | DRS-assisted pass on track |
| Piastri over Leclerc at finish | 10.910 s | Same 51 laps completed |
| Russell over fourth-place Norris | 4.815 s | Final margin for third place |
What the result does and does not prove
This was Piastri’s second Grand Prix win, and McLaren’s first Azerbaijan victory. The official classification shows a one-stop race for both Piastri and Leclerc, but a result sheet cannot isolate tyre degradation, the precise effect of DRS or the advantage each car had at every corner. The safe conclusion is that an earlier stop put Piastri into a position to attack, while the lap-20 pass and his subsequent defence converted that opportunity into the win.
Explore the Baku circuit topic, read our overtaking and circuit analysis, or browse Race Debriefs.
Sources and method
The FIA’s 2024 Azerbaijan race classification and pit-stop summary provide the official finish gaps and stop laps/times. The FIA provisional classification lists the elapsed gaps; Formula 1’s race report describes the lap-20 Turn 1 pass. Gap chart values are seconds behind winner Piastri for the first ten finishers. The 10.910-second gap is Leclerc’s classified race time relative to Piastri; pit-stop duration is not equivalent to total strategic time gained. The featured photo shows Piastri in practice at the 2024 British Grand Prix at Silverstone; it is illustrative and not from the Baku event. Checked 2 October 2026.