The thrilling city race in Azerbaijan offers a close battle for victory. McLaren driver Oscar Piastri comes out on top.
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- McLaren driver Oscar Piastri has won the Formula 1 race in Azerbaijan. The Australian beat Charles Leclerc in a Ferrari on the street circuit in Baku.
- Mercedes driver George Russell came third after a violent crash between last year's winner Sergio Pérez in the Red Bull and Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz shortly before the end.
- Defending champion Max Verstappen had to settle for fifth place in the second Red Bull. His championship rival Lando Norris managed to move up from 15th on the grid to fourth in the race after a botched qualifying in the McLaren and further reduced his deficit in the title race.
Oscar Piastri emerges victorious in a thrilling city race in Baku. The Australian in the McLaren won the Azerbaijan Grand Prix ahead of Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari.
Third place went to George Russell in the Mercedes. The Englishman benefited from a violent collision shortly before the end between last year's winner Sergio Perez in the Red Bull and Carlos Sainz in the other Ferrari, who were battling it out for the final podium place.
World champion and championship leader Max Verstappen had to settle for 5th place in the second Red Bull. His championship rival Lando Norris, after a botched qualifying session in the McLaren, moved up from 15th on the grid to 4th in the race and reduced the gap. As a result, Norris reduced the gap to Verstappen in the championship standings by three points to 59. McLaren also overtook Verstappen's Red Bull team in the team standings.
No victory again for pole man Leclerc
For Leclerc, two weeks after his victory in Monza, the story of recent years repeated itself. The Monegasque had already started from pole position in Baku in 2021, 2022 and 2023, but failed to win.
The fact that it didn't work out this year was due to a strong performance by Oscar Piastri. After the Australian took the lead from Leclerc on lap 22, he fended off several successful attacks from the Ferrari driver. In the end, he triumphed for the second time in a Formula 1 race after his maiden victory in Hungary in July.
Sauber comes away empty-handed again
The Sauber team drivers also failed to score points in the 17th of 24 races this season. Zhou Guanyu and Valtteri Bottas finished 14th and 16th respectively. The next chance for the Chinese and Finnish drivers to get their first tangible result of the year will come next weekend at the Singapore Grand Prix.