Max Verstappen wins Azerbaijan Grand Prix after Oscar Piastri crashes out on first lap

By Jamie Barton, CNN

(CNN) — Max Verstappen won his second consecutive race on Sunday, claiming a comfortable victory in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

The four-time Formula One champion began in pole position after a chaotic qualifying session on Saturday and was never troubled after making a good start in Baku.

“This weekend has been incredible for us … last (race), it was already great, but for us to win here again is just fantastic,” Verstappen, who won previously in the Azerbaijani capital in 2022, said in his post-race interview.

“It was very straightforward. Of course, it’s not easy around here – very windy today, so the car is always moving around a lot. But yeah, of course, incredibly happy with this performance.”

The Red Bull driver has endured a difficult season by his own high standards, with victory last time out in Monza his first since mid-May, but is now enjoying his best form of the year.

The same cannot be said for drivers’ championship leader Oscar Piastri, who watched the majority of the race from a plastic chair trackside after he crashed less than halfway through the first lap.

The Australian started in ninth after he crashed during qualifying, and looked out of sorts straight away on Sunday, jumping the start before quickly stopping, ending up dead last, and then impacting the wall on turn five.

Those uncharacteristic mistakes gave his McLaren teammate Lando Norris the perfect chance to close the gap to Piastri at the top of the drivers’ championship, but the English driver was unable to take full advantage.

Norris came very close to striking the wall himself during qualifying and began Sunday in seventh. He was unable to mount a challenge and what small hopes he might have had of making the podium were undone by a slow pit stop on lap 38. He finished exactly where he started, in seventh.

A disappointing display from both of its drivers meant McLaren missed out on the opportunity to clinch the constructors’ championship title.

It was a successful afternoon for Mercedes, with George Russell overcoming illness to finish second and 19-year-old Andrea Kimi Antonelli finishing fourth.

Meanwhile, Carlos Sainz rounded out the podium to give Williams its first top three finish since 2021. The Spaniard called it the best moment of his career.

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