Verstappen Wins Azerbaijan GP As Piastri Crashes Out

Baku: Max Verstappen pulled off a pole-to-flag victory in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on Sunday after championship leader Oscar Piastri crashed out on the opening lap of the twisting street circuit.

Piastri's McLaren teammate and closest rival Lando Norris was unable to capitalise fully, only finishing seventh and reducing the gap at the top of the standings by six points to 25.

Mercedes' George Russell, who has been struggling with sickness all weekend, produced a fine drive to climb from fifth to second while Carlos Sainz picked up his first podium for Williams.

Four-time world champion Verstappen has been the class act of the weekend. He made a clean getaway, while others bumped and brushed around him, and eased his way to a 67th Grand Prix win.

It was his fourth win of the season and came on the heels of victory in Monza a fortnight ago.

It was a poor weekend for McLaren, who began the race seeking to clinch a second consecutive constructors' championship, needing to outscore Ferrari by nine points.

Piastri completed a nightmare weekend by slamming into the barriers on the opening lap after being stranded on the grid following a false start.

He fell to last and then began his chase, but lost control at Turn Five, locked up at Turn Six and hit the wall. He was unhurt.

That brought to an end a 34-race scoring streak for the 24-year-old Australian.

Norris started in seventh but dropped a place on the opening lap. After climbing into the top six, a messy pitstop lost him a couple of places which could prove costly in the race for the title.

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