Oscar Piastri claimed his second Formula 1 Grand Prix victory after the McLaren took the lead from polesitter Charles Leclerc on lap 20 in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku.
It seemed impossible that Piastri could stay ahead of the Ferrari all the way to to the finish, but he did. He broke away in the closing laps leaving Leclerc under attack from Sergio Perez and Carlos Sainz, who collided and crashed.
That handed a podium to George Russell while Lando Norris passed Max Verstappen for P4 before the race finished under a VSC. Alex Albon and Pastor Colapinto both claimed points for Williams, and Oliver Bearman was P10 in his Haas debut.
There had been a few changes to the starting grid since yesterday's qualifying session. Sauber's Zhou Guanyu had been expecting to start from the back for a number of reasons but had now been displaced to P17 by Pierre Gasly who had been penalised for fuel irregularities on his Alpine. His team mate Esteban Ocon was making his 150th race start with a pit lane start due to overnight engine changes, where he was joined by Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton for similar reasons.
But there was no change at the front where Charles Leclerc started from pole for the fourth consecutive time in Baku, this time alongside Oscar Piastri, with Carlos Sainz and Sergio Perez on row two followed by George Russell and Max Verstappen. It was dry, warm and sunny with mediums the choice of starter tyre for the top eight. Williams' Alex Albon was the top driver opting for the hard compound from ninth, Lando Norris making the same call from 15th.
When the lights went out Leclerc blasted away to an early lead, Piastri successfully defending from Sainz who then lost out to Perez in turn 2. Verstappen also made up a place with an early pass on Russell. Fernando Alonso held on to seventh ahead of Franco Colapinto, Alex Albon and Oliver Bearman while Norris immediately picked up two places and soon bore down on Nico Hulkenberg and Yuki Tsunoda, on course for an early return to the top ten. Lance Stroll had been forced to pit early for a puncture after clashing with Tsunoda, who was carrying significant sidepod damage to the RB and was eventually forced to retire; Stroll also retired with brake issues.
Five laps in, Leclerc had still not broken out of DRS range from Piastri. The pair were pulling away from Perez, Sainz, Verstappen and Russell with a gap forming back to Alonso and the Williams pair. Bearman was hanging on to P10 thwarting the best Norris could throw at him, until he locked up at turn 15 allowing the McLaren to overwhelm the Haas before turn 1 at the start of turn 8.
Colapinto was the first scheduled stopper for hard tyres on lap 11 and rejoining in P15 behind the recovering Hamilton. Alonso quickly fended off the potential undercut. There were also stops for Verstappen, Russell and Hamilton, and Perez on the next lap. The top three stayed out but Albon was up to fourth and Norris fifth thanks to their hard tyre start. Norris was asked to do what he could to hold Perez up to help Piastri, who was at risk of the undercut. It proved just enough when Piastri came in on lap 16.
Leclerc was in on lap 17 leaving Sainz minding the store for one lap. That gave Perez the opportunity to punch out a fastest lap handing him track position over Sainz. By now Piastri was back ahead of Albon, and Perez fourth ahead of the yet-to-stop Norris, leaving Sainz in sixth from Verstappen, Russell and Alonso.
Leclerc had lost a lot of time in the pits, but even so no one saw Piastri's DRS-assisted banzai pass on the Ferrari coming, taking the lead downside the inside of turn 1 on lap 20 catching Leclerc off-guard. Leclerc attempted to respond, and while they parried for the lead it gave Perez the chance to close up.
Norris' original edition hard tyres were nearing end-of-life: Verstappen tried to pass the McLaren but found his brakes unequal to the task. That news gave renewed encouragement to Russell who had fallen behind. Piastri was still in the lead but hadn't been able to break out of DRS range of Leclerc. On lap 29 the Ferrari had the first of several serious attacks into turn 1 but the Australian refused to yield - this time, or the next two which were even closer.
Albon finally pitted on lap 32 and dropped to P11, depriving Norris of DRS. McLaren held their nerve and kept Norris out hoping to stay ahead of Verstappen hoping it would help Russell catch and pass the Red Bull. On lap 34 that's just what happened with a 'full send' by Russell into turn 1. Norris finally came in on lap 38, coming back out 15s behind Verstappen and soon setting fastest laps on his fresh medium tyres.
After briefly falling away back from Piastri after the back of the Ferrari stepped out at turn 16, Leclerc was soon back on it. Perez was also closing up again with Sainz in hot pursuit. Just when it looked like Piastri was done, he sprang away and out of DRS range leaving Leclerc exposed to attack from Perez and Sainz. Perez got alongside alongside Leclerc on the penultimate lap but got out of shape letting Sainz to draw alongside coming out of turn 2. There was contact sending both cars into the wall triggering a Virtual Safety Car to finish the race.
Piastri had won his second Grand Prix, and Leclerc survived in second with Russell unexpectedly joining them on the podium. Amid the drama, Norris had caught and blasted past Verstappen for fourth. There was a remarkable Williams double points success for Albon and Colapinto between Alonso and Hamilton, and a point for Bearman who was just ahead of Hulkenberg.
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