Written by Owen Bradley
Oscar Piastri Won the Azerbaijan Grand Prix from Charles Leclerc and George Russell after Carlos Sainz and Sergio Perez crashed out, with George Russell inheriting the podium and Lando Norris recovering from 15th to 4th.
It was a relatively clean first lap, with Sergio Perez managing to overtake Carlos Sainz at the start, with Max Verstappen following suite behind, overtaking George Russell as well in the opening double left-handers.
Yuki Tsunoda and Lance Stroll would make contact at Turn 4, with Stroll picking up a front left puncture, coming into the pits at the end of Lap 1. Tsunoda's damage on his RB would be felt a few laps later, the Japanese driver fell through the field to 16th place after just a few laps
Charles Leclerc would extend his lead just enough to keep Oscar Piastri outside of the DRS (Drag Reduction System) window, as the Australian also managed to keep Sergio Perez behind him.
Lando Norris would recover multiple places at the start, running in 11th place after just five laps and after his 15th place start on the grid. The Brit was on the Hard compound tyre, looking to run deeper into the race than those around on the Medium tyre.
Oliver Bearman would lose a couple of places to Lando Norris and Nico Hulkenberg as the field completed the first 10 laps, with Franco Colapinto opening the pit stop window, with Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton and George Russell all coming into the pits a few laps later.
Red Bull brought their drivers in to try the undercut strategy on Oscar Piastri and Charles Leclerc, however Sergio Perez would be stuck behind the McLaren of Lando Norris for a couple of laps, allowing for Piastri to beat the Mexican out of the pit lane.
Just a lap later, Ferrari would bring Leclerc into the pit lane, with Piastri leading the charging pack behind him - they would almost catch Leclerc, as Alexander Albon appeared in between Piastri and Leclerc.
Piastri had closed the gap to within one second after previously falling well out of the DRS range. Now back in the DRS zone, Piastri would eventually have a huge dive to the inside of Turn 1, almost two entire car lengths behind, somehow managing to get his McLaren stopped at the apex, the Australian completing his move as Sergio Perez found himself within DRS range.
Leclerc would come over the radio to his Ferrari engineers to warn about his fears of tyre grip in comparison to the cars around, as Perez began hounding the Monegasque for second place.
Alex Albon and Lando Norris would both sit just inside the Top 5 for a while, the pair attempting to perform the one stop strategy. Norris would hold Verstappen behind, allowing for the cars ahead of Verstappen to extend their gap over the Dutchman, with Verstappen taking a shortcut at Turn 15.
A few laps later, with Leclerc edging closer and closer to Piastri, as Perez sat slightly further behind the pair attempting to save some tyre grip. On Lap 33, Leclerc would force Piastri into a very defensive line into Turn 1, compromising his exit for Turn 2, with Leclerc almost overtaking the Australian into Turn 3.
Leclerc would fall back into the clutches of Perez at the end of the lap, with the trio of cars running nose to tail. George Russell would make his way past Max Verstappen, as Lando Norris held a steady gap to the pair behind.
Piastri would continue to lead with just 15 laps remaining, with Ferrari making a dummy strategy call to Leclerc in the attempt to force McLaren to bring Oscar Piastri into the pit lane.
Lando Norris would finally come into the pits on Lap 38, coming back out ahead of Fernando Alonso for seventh place. Norris would be tasked with catching back up to Verstappen and Russell, who were around 15 seconds in front.
Leclerc would come over the radio on Lap 40 to let Ferrari know that Piastri was starting to struggle with his tyres, as Sergio Perez sat just a couple of seconds behind. Leclerc would continue to threaten Piastri for the lead of the race at Turn 1, however Piastri's McLaren would continue to lead, having consistently impressive exits out of Turn 1 and Turn 2.
Oliver Bearman and Lewis Hamilton would battle one another as the pair were stuck behind Franco Colapinto, who held a strong 11th place.
Lando Norris would close to Verstappen by almost a full second every lap, picking up the Fastest Lap Point after his pit stop to go onto the Medium tyres.
Carlos Sainz would close right up to the back of Sergio Perez in the closing five laps, making it to withing DRS range of the Red Bull in front, as the battle became a four-way fight for victory.
Lance Stroll would come into the pits to retire with a brake problem, as Oscar Piastri managed to extend his lead to well over 1.7 seconds, as Sergio Perez caught up to Leclerc, the pair duelling as Perez eventually tried a move with just three laps remaining.
Lando Norris would overtake Verstappen with just a few laps remaining, as teammate Oscar Piastri checked out of the race, leading by a number of seconds.
Charles Leclerc would come back at Sergio Perez at the first corner, with Carlos Sainz managing to overtake the Mexican into Turn 2. However, as Leclerc got a great exit coming off Turn 2, Perez and Sainz would collide down the back straight, a huge crash which brought out the Virtual Safety Car and therefore, the chequered flag.
Oscar Piastri would come home to take an extraordinary victory, holding Charles Leclerc behind as George Russell would come home to inherit a brilliant podium finish, with Lando Norris recovering to fourth and Max Verstappen in fifth.
Alex Albon and Franco Colapinto would finish in seventh and eighth, as Lewis Hamilton scored another points finish with ninth. Oliver Bearman brought his Haas home for the final points paying position in 10th, just ahead of teammate Nico Hulkenberg.
McLaren now take the lead of the World Constructors' Championship as Lando Norris closes the championship gap to Max Verstappen. Oscar Piastri scored his second career win, with Oliver Bearman and Franco Colapinto also scoring points.
F1 Azerbaijan GP Results
1st Oscar Piastri, McLaren
2nd Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
3rd George Russell, Mercedes
4th Lando Norris, McLaren
5th Max Verstappen, Red Bull
6th Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin
7th Alexander Albon, Williams
8th Franco Colapinto, Williams
9th Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
10th Oliver Bearman, Haas
11th Nico Hulkenberg, Haas
12th Pierre Gasly, Alpine
13th Daniel Ricciardo, RB
14th Guanyu Zhou, Sauber
15th Esteban Ocon, Alpine
16th Valtteri Bottas, Sauber
DNF Carlos Sainz, Ferrari
DNF Sergio Perez, Red Bull
DNF Lance Stroll, Aston Martin
DNF Yuki Tsunoda, RB
Formula One returns next weekend for the Singapore Grand Prix.
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