Azerbaijan Grand Prix F1 Preview: Championship Standings, Drivers To Watch

Oscar Piastri has revealed McLaren have offered clarity about how he and team-mate Lando Norris will race for the remainder of the Formula One season. 

Piastri and Norris are locked in a two-horse race to become the world champion for the first time, with the pair out on their own in the drivers' championship standings.

However, at the Italian Grand Prix last time out, controversy surrounding McLaren's 'papaya rules' resurfaced following a slow pitstop for Norris.

Norris, who was running in second before his stop, dropped behind Piastri, though the team swiftly instructed the Australian to give the place back, which he did. 

With Norris finishing second behind Red Bull's runaway race victor Max Verstappen, the Briton cut Piastri's lead in the drivers' standings to 31 points heading into this weekend's Azerbaijan Grand Prix. 

"It was a highly talked-about moment. We've clarified a lot of things, and we know how we're going to go racing moving forward. What's happened is done," said Piastri.

"We've had a lot of discussions about how we want to go racing and a lot of that is to stay with us.

"If we give out that info, we become very easy targets to pick off because everyone knows what we're going to do. It is all very aligned, but it stays in-house."

Norris had been McLaren's lead driver for the entire race but the team decided to pit Piastri first, an unconventional move given the possibility of being undercut on track. 

When told that he had to give the place back, Piastri initially questioned the call by saying: "We said a slow pit stop was part of racing, so I don't really get what's changed here."

Following the incident, Piastri said it was the fact McLaren had pitted their cars in that order which proved the contributing factor to the decision, rather than Norris' slow stop. 

"From Monza, there was another factor outside of the slow pit stop, being the order we pitted in. That was a contributing factor to why we swapped," Piastri added.

"That one I'm happy to talk about because it happened.

"We can't plan for every scenario but we are very aligned and I respect the team's decisions and trust they will do their best to make the right one.

"The biggest thing for me from Monza was it was a weekend where I deserved to finish third. I didn't deserve to finish second because of the pace I had.

"I was quick at certain points but not quick enough the whole weekend. That is my main takeaway from that."

Piastri said he "stood by" his remarks made over the radio during the race about slow pit stops being part of racing.

"That is a decision we've made, that a slow pit stop is a part of racing," he said.

""In the car, the context wasn't there about what else had happened in terms of the pit stop sequencing. So it was decided there was another factor for the reasoning in swapping."

But it mattered little as both Norris and Piastri finished inside the top three, and subsequently helped McLaren break their record for podiums in a single year in F1 (27). 

They are just seven away from surpassing the all-time record for any team in the history of the sport (33 for Mercedes in 2016), and could clinch the constructors' title on Sunday.

McLaren will win a 10th Constructors' Championship if they outscore Ferrari by at least nine points, while not being outscored by Mercedes by 12 points or Red Bull by 33 points.

It would represent the earliest team title win in F1 history, with seven races of the season still remaining after Baku. 

"It is a testament to all the hard work by the team," Piastri said. "It is a remarkable position we are in to be even talking about clinching the constructors' championship this early.

"It's just a very proud moment for everyone, myself included, and I'm excited to get back in the car and drive all their hard work."

DRIVERS TO WATCH

McLaren – Oscar Piastri

Piastri's race win in Baku last season, coupled with Norris' fourth-placed finish after starting 15th on the grid, helped McLaren lead the constructors' championship for the first time since 2014, and the pair will be out to clinch the team title again here.

The Australian has already stood on the podium 14 times in 2025 and should he do so again this weekend, he will surpass Alain Prost (14 in 1998) as the driver with the most podium finishes in a single year in McLaren's history. 

Should Piastri cross the line in first, he would equal Ayrton Senna and Mika Hakkinen (both eight in 1998) as the driver with the most wins in a single year for the British team.

But McLaren's dominance has not just been down to Piastri, with him and Norris winning nine times in F1 in their respective careers. If either of them emerge victorious in Baku, they will become the 36th driver to secure at least 10 victories in the competition. 

They would be the sixth to do so with McLaren, after Senna (35), Prost (30), Lewis Hamilton (21), Hakkinen (20) and David Coulthard (12).

Ferrari – Charles Leclerc

Having missed out on a spot in the top three at Ferrari's home race in Monza, Leclerc will be out to avenge that shortcoming at one of his favourite tracks.

Leclerc has taken four pole positions at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, more than any other race in F1. If he does so again this year, he will be the seventh different driver to record at least five at a single grand prix, after Hamilton (10 events), Michael Schumacher (six), Senna (five), Sebastian Vettel, Juan Manuel Fangio (both two) and Jim Clark (one). 

Those four poles in Baku have come in the last four editions of the race, and he could become the fourth driver to start at the front of the grid in five consecutive stagings of a grand prix, after Senna (seven in San Marino), Hamilton (six in Australia) and Schumacher (five in Japan and Spain). 

However, the Monegasque has not finished in the top three in his last three races. Without disqualifications, the last time Leclerc went at least four races without a podium was between September and October 2023 (three fourth places and one fifth).

CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS

Drivers'

1. Oscar Piastri (McLaren) – 324

2. Lando Norris (McLaren) – 293

3. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) – 230

4. George Russell (Mercedes) – 194

5. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) – 163

Constructors'

1. McLaren – 617

2. Ferrari – 280

3. Mercedes – 260

4. Red Bull – 239

5. Williams – 86