The Azerbaijan Grand Prix was an excellent encounter and showed exactly why the last seven races of the season will be about as thrilling as fans could hope for.

While we already knew that McLaren were going to be a serious threat in both championships, Ferrari asserted some dominance over their rivals with an impressive first stint on the mediums.

It’s a shame they lost pace on the hard tyres, otherwise, Charles Leclerc might have taken a second race victory in a row and dramatically closed the gap to Red Bull even further.

A late race shunt between Carlos Sainz and Sergio Perez has cost both teams ground to McLaren in the constructors, increasing the likelihood that they will claim their first championship since 2008 in Abu Dhabi.

Charles Leclerc ‘lost the race’ with weak Oscar Piastri defence
For all Ferrari’s pace wasn’t where they wanted it to be in the second stint, Leclerc did manage to mirror Oscar Piastri’s every move.

In fact, he had the fate of his race in his own hands, only to leave the door open for Piastri before the halfway stage of the race which went on to cost him a shot at victory.

His lack of defence was a ‘mistake’ which he has vowed to learn from when speaking to Guenther Steiner after the race.

“I think maybe McLaren had less downforce and in the straights they were very quick,” he said.

“I couldn’t get as close as I wanted and eventually, we lost the race when I didn’t defend as well as I could have at the end of the straight. Sometimes you make mistakes and I’ll learn from it.”

Leclerc must switch on if he wants to win an unlikely championship
Letting Piastri past without much of a defence was the weakest element of Leclerc’s race – which was otherwise faultless today, as was his Saturday qualifying performance.

He pressured as relentlessly as he could thereafter, but failed to make an impression on his Aussie rival, who appears to be fully up to speed in Formula 1 now.

Those seven points could make a huge difference for Ferrari in both the drivers’ and constructors’ championships at the end of the season.

There’s also the point that he won’t want his rivals to explore any of his weaknesses, and this could have been exposed as one of those with seven grands prix left to go.

The upcoming Singapore Grand Prix is the last before a one-month break, and another Ferrari win like they enjoyed last year, would get them back on track and help them continue to build momentum in the title chase.