Max Verstappen secured a dominant victory at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, leading the race from start to finish. The win from pole position marks his second consecutive victory and the fourth of the season, adding to his slim title hopes. Meanwhile, championship leader Oscar Piastri had a disastrous race, crashing out on the opening lap. This allowed his McLaren teammate Lando Norris to slash Piastri's championship lead to 25 points.
The race was straightforward for Verstappen, who maintained a comfortable lead throughout. After his 67th career win, Verstappen said, "This weekend has been incredible for us... We had clean air all the time, and you could then look after your tyres. And yeah, it was pretty straightforward." His performance was so dominant that he also set the fastest lap, completing a Grand Slam. George Russell of Mercedes finished second, despite feeling unwell all weekend, while Carlos Sainz took third place, marking Williams's first podium of the season.
The biggest story of the day was the first-lap incident involving Piastri. The Australian, who had crashed in qualifying and started ninth, jumped the start and then activated anti-stall, dropping to the back of the field before crashing into the wall at Turn 5. The crash ended his streak of being the only driver to score in every race this season and his run of 34 consecutive races in the points. His McLaren team had hoped to secure the constructors' title in Baku, but the crash means they will have to wait until Singapore on October 5.
Other notable results included the performance of Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli, who finished fourth, and Liam Lawson of Racing Bulls, who claimed a career-high fifth. Norris's chances of gaining more points were hurt by a slow pit stop, his second in a row. He finished seventh, the same position he started, and was unable to make a significant move up the field.
The remainder of the top 10 was filled out by Yuki Tsunoda in sixth, Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc in eighth and ninth, and Isack Hadjar of Racing Bulls in tenth, who secured a double-points finish for his team. The race, which had a chaotic qualifying session, provided a dramatic turn in the drivers' championship race, with Verstappen gaining significant ground on Piastri.
