Piastri edges Baku battle as Norris closes on Verstappen

Engrossing and impossibly tense, Formula One might consider itself flattered if the final third of this season delivers with the same compelling drama as the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

- Giles Richards

An old-school race of nose-to-tail duelling at the front, won by McLaren's Oscar Piastri from Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, the streets of Baku hosted an immense struggle.

Moreover it was a race that might be considered by McLaren as a pivotal moment when, against the odds, Piastri's teammate Lando Norris also kept his title hopes alive with a comeback drive from 15th to fourth.

Piastri's win, the Australian's second in only his second season in F1, was enthralling from the moment he took the lead from Leclerc on lap 20 and then defended it for 30 laps as the Monegasque driver ducked, dived and hurled himself at Piastri's gearbox at every opportunity.

For almost the entire fight they were separated by just half a second, a contest decided not by DRS but by the men behind the wheel. Piastri was the deserved winner after the dramatic denouement of a high-speed crash between Red Bull's Sergio Pérez and Ferrari's Carlos Sainz. Vying for third on the penultimate lap, both cars crunched heavily into the wall but the drivers were unhurt.