Piastri wins chaotic Baku GP, puts McLaren on top

Oscar Piastri won the Azerbaijan Grand Prix and sent McLaren top of the constructors’ standings in a race that finished with a virtual safety car after a penultimate lap collision between Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and Red Bull’s Sergio Perez.

Ferrari’s pole-sitter Charles Leclerc, who was overtaken by Piastri on the 20th of 51 laps and then battled nose-to-tail before his tyres faded, came second with George Russell inheriting third for Mercedes after the Sainz-Perez collision.

Red Bull’s F1 leader Max Verstappen finished fifth, just behind his closest title rival Lando Norris, who started 15th for McLaren and ended up fourth with a bonus point for fastest lap.


“That was probably the most stressful afternoon in my life,” said Piastri, after soaking up relentless pressure from Leclerc to take his second career win.

Indian driver Kush Maini survived a horrifying crash after he stalled at the start of the feature race in F2, a support race to F1. Maini had nowhere to go at the start as his car’s engine stopped working suddenly.

That left fellow drivers Josep Maria Marti and Oliver Goethe unsighted, leading to a massive collision. The rear of Maini’s car was totally destroyed and fortunately, he came out of it unscathed.