Lando Norris takes sly dig at Red Bull following Oscar Piastri’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix win

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For the first time in a decade, McLaren sit on top of the Constructors’ Championship standings.

Oscar Piastri produced the best drive of his burgeoning Formula 1 career to claim his second victory of the season.

He was joined in the top four by his teammate Lando Norris despite starting 15^th after a disappointing qualifying performance.

Heading into the race, McLaren knew they had to overturn an eight-point deficit to take the lead in the championship from Red Bull.

Sergio Perez finally looked close to being back to his best at a track that he’s performed so well at.

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about Red Bull Racing from engine to Ford links

His teammate Max Verstappen was out-qualified for the first time since Miami last year and couldn’t even get up to speed during the race.

Speaking after the race to Sky Sports F1, Norris explained how he and the team had felt going into the last Grand Prix at Monza about their closest rivals.

Although chasing down Red Bull has always been the aim for McLaren, Ferrari have proven to a serious threat since the summer break.

Charles Leclerc was caught out by Piastri to lose the lead of Sunday’s race but drove out of his skin to win at Monza.

Carlos Sainz should have joined him on the podium in Baku were it not for a late collision with Sergio Perez that ended both of their races.

Lando Norris takes subtle dig at Red Bull by confirming Ferrari are McLaren’s closest rivals

Asked about McLaren taking the lead in the championship, Norris said: “Coming into these three races we’ve got now, so Monza, here and Singapore, we knew our main contenders would be Ferrari.

“They’ve been our strongest competition lately, between Carlos and Charles, they’ve been two guys who have been performing well and putting us under pressure.

“Especially Charles’s pole positions and his race win last weekend, that’s given them a great boost.

“But they’re performing well and they seem like our closest competition at the minute, so from a Constructors’ point of view, we’re more worried about Ferrari than we are about Red Bull.

READ MORE: McLaren driver Lando Norris’ life outside F1 from height and parents to celebration

“We know Ferrari are going to be good next weekend but like Oscar showed today and like I showed today, the car works well everywhere.

“We’re good enough in high speed, we’re good enough in medium speed, we feel like we struggle more so in the slow speed like here in Baku, but clearly we still had the quickest car today and that’s a nice surprise for us and a good confidence boost.”

Helmut Marko shares worrying issue Max Verstappen was facing in Baku

Red Bull split their setups between Perez and Verstappen once again this weekend as they look to find a way to make their cars more driveable.

Perez was able to stay in contact with the McLaren and Ferrari cars ahead of him until the final laps and should have secured his first podium finish since the Sprint Race in Miami.

It gives Red Bull something to build on but they now have to find a way to overturn a 20-point lead that McLaren have earned through their 1^st and 4^th-place finishes in Baku.

They’ll also be looking over their shoulder as Leclerc’s podium meant Ferrari have also continued to close the gap in the Constructors’ Championship.

Helmut Marko shared that Verstappen was suddenly facing issues throughout the race as his Red Bull continues to be very temperamental.

Singapore was a difficult race for Red Bull last season even when they had a significant advantage over the rest of the field.

It may be another case of damage limitation for Verstappen and Perez before the next three-week break.