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

McLaren are set to prioritise Lando Norris over team-mate Oscar Piastri in their bid to win both Formula One championship titles, starting in Baku this weekend. (Streaming | More Motorsport News)

McLaren currently sit second in the constructors' championship, eight points behind Red Bull, with both Norris and Piastri also in the top five of the drivers' standings.

Having tossed and turned about how to attack the final eight races of the season, the British-based team have opted to back Norris ahead of the Australian. 

However, Andrea Stella said the decision to back the Brit in dethroning Max Verstappen would only happen within the team's principles of sportsmanship and fairness.

"The overall concept is we are incredibly determined to win, but we want to win in the right way," Stella said. 

Norris arrives at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix off the back of a third-placed finish in Monza, coming in six seconds behind team-mate Piastri. 

But Norris was able to add 16 points to his drivers' championship tally, closing the gap to Verstappen to 62 points after the Dutchman finished in sixth. 

Piastri finds himself 106 points behind Verstappen, but Stella continued to reiterate McLaren's 'papaya rules'. 

"We [will] bias our support to Lando but we want to do it without too much compromise on our principles," he said.

"Our principles are that the team interest always comes first. Sportsmanship for us is important in the overall way we go racing.

"And then we want to be fair to both drivers."

Until now, McLaren had allowed Norris and Piastri to race each other without interference from the team.

But a series of meetings at McLaren have resulted in a shift in policy after failing to capitalise on a one-two in qualifying at the Italian Grand Prix last time out.

Norris, who started on pole, endured another slow start out of the blocks, allowing Piastri to narrowly squeeze past his team-mate on the opening lap. 

But in doing so, it allowed Ferrari's Charles Leclerc to position himself between the two McLarens, with the Monegasque eventually roaring to victory on Italian soil.

"What we don't want to see any more is a situation like in Monza in which we enter a chicane P1/P2, and we exit P1/P3, because that is a detriment to the team," Stella said.

"The team interests come first and these are the situations that above all we need to fix, because eventually, as a matter of fact, the way we entered the race in Monza left the door open for this situation.

"After Monza, three objectives: we need to make sure that anything that happens on track is not to the detriment of the team.

"Second objective, how do we win both championships, both drivers committed to help? But what we don't want to do is win in a reckless way.

"Those are the three topics and they define the way we go racing in Baku. This will be updated after Baku."

Verstappen triumphed in seven of the first 10 races of the 2024 season, with the Dutchman looking destined to run away with the drivers' championship once again. 

But Red Bull's recent struggles on the track have been alarming, with Verstappen now six grands prix without a victory (his worst streak since the penultimate GP of 2020 when he went 11 in a row).

It has allowed Mercedes, Ferrari and McLaren to catch up in the respective championship standings, with Red Bull left bemused as to why a once-dominant car has seen its performance drop so dramatically. 

But another team's misfortune has certainly been McLaren's gain, with Stella assuring that both Norris and Piastri were onboard with the shift in philosophy. 

"The conversations have been very collaborative," Stella concluded.

"Even when I said to Oscar: 'Would you be available to give up a victory?' He said: 'It's painful, but if it's the right thing to do now, I will do it'.

"Every driver is hard-wired to go for a victory. So I am always very impressed by the level of team spirit and maturity and collaboration that we found in this period."

DRIVERS TO WATCH

Lando Norris - McLaren

With all the talk surrounding Norris ahead of this weekend's race in Baku, the Brit will be keen to make amends and continue his pursuit of Verstappen. 

For the first time in 2024, Norris has finished ahead of the Dutchman in two straight races. Throughout Verstappen's dry spell, the Brit has only closed the gap on him by seven points in the drivers' championship, though. 

While Norris' full focus will be on closing the gap to Verstappen, he has the opportunity to put himself among the elite British racers to have competed in the competition. 

The 24-year-old is one podium away from equalling Stirling Moss and John Surtees to enter the top 10 of British drivers with the most podiums (24).

If he does achieve that feat, David Coulthard (62) and Eddie Irvine (26) will be the only British non-world champions who have achieved more podiums than Norris in the history of F1.

But there is also a lot at stake for McLaren. They are now just eight points behind Red Bull in the constructors' standings, knowing a better finish than their opponents will see them top the rankings for the first time since Brazil in 2005.

And they have reason for optimism too. McLaren have seen one or both of their drivers stand on the podium in each of the last 12 races in the competition. 

Should they do so again in Baku, it will equal the team's second-best run in the history of the competition (13, which it recorded on two other occasions, between the United States and Portugal in 1990, and Germany 2011 and China 2012), only behind a sequence of 19 between Australia 2007 and Malaysia 2008.

Sergio Perez - Red Bull

No one saw Red Bull's recent struggles coming after a dominant start to the season, but they could spring a surprise with a driver who relishes the Baku street circuit. 

Sergio Perez is still waiting to add to his five wins he has managed with the Austrian-based team, but he may be confident of adding to that tally in Azerbaijan. 

This weekend's grand prix will be the circuit's seventh appearance in the F1 calendar, with the Mexican the only driver to prevail twice around the Baku track (2021 and 2023). 

In fact, it is the only grand prix where the Mexican has won more than one race in his career. 

Given his impressive form in Azerbaijan, Perez has also scored the most points (100) in Baku, the only track on which he has reached the 100-point mark. 

Only a Lewis Hamilton victory and fastest lap would see the seven-time world champion overtake Perez this time around (75 points for Hamilton). 

However, the Mexican has now gone 10 consecutive grands prix without finishing in the top five of the standings, the same number of times as in his previous 41 races in the competition.

CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS

Drivers

Max Verstappen (Red Bull) - 303

Lando Norris (McLaren) - 241

Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) - 217

Oscar Piastri (McLaren) - 197

Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) - 184

Constructors

Red Bull - 446

McLaren - 438

Ferrari - 407

Mercedes - 292

Aston Martin - 74