Motor racing-Piastri wins in Baku as McLaren take over at the top
Piastri wins Azerbaijan GP from second on the grid
McLaren now 20 points clear of Red Bull
Leclerc started from pole but finished second
Norris fourth with fastest lap, Verstappen fifth
Sainz and Perez collide on penultimate lap
Adds quotes, details, byline
By Tuvan Gumrukcu
BAKU, Sept 15 (Reuters) -Oscar Piastri won the Azerbaijan Grand Prix and sent McLaren top of the constructors' standings in a race that finished with a virtual safety car after a penultimate lap collision between Ferrari's Carlos Sainz and Red Bull's Sergio Perez.
Ferrari's pole-sitter Charles Leclerc, who was overtaken by Piastri on the 20th of 51 laps and then battled nose-to-tail before his tyres faded, came second with George Russell inheriting third for Mercedes after the Sainz-Perez collision.
Red Bull's Formula One leader Max Verstappen finished fifth, just behind his closest title rival Lando Norris, who started 15th for McLaren and ended up fourth with a bonus point for fastest lap.
Triple champion Verstappen's lead over Norris, who reeled in a 15 second gap and passed the Dutch driver on lap 49 thanks to his fresher tyres, was cut from 62 points to 59.
McLaren are now 20 points clear of Red Bull in the standings with seven rounds remaining.
"That was probably the most stressful afternoon in my life," said Piastri, after soaking up relentless pressure from Leclerc to take his second career win.
"It definitely goes down as one of the better races of my career."
The top two had duelled for lap after lap, with the Ferrari driver trying in vain to use the DRS drag reduction to get past Piastri until he faded and fell into the clutches of Perez and Sainz.
Fernando Alonso was sixth for Aston Martin with Williams benefiting from the late crash to see Alex Albon finish seventh with Argentine rookie Franco Colapinto following him home in eighth.
Seven times world champion Lewis Hamilton was ninth for Mercedes, after starting in the pit lane, and British rookie Oliver Bearman collected the final point for Haas as a stand-in for suspended Kevin Magnussen.
Bearman has now scored points for two different teams in his two races after making his race debut with Ferrari as a stand-in for appendicitis-stricken Sainz in March.
Perez tried and failed to pass Leclerc for second place on the penultimate lap and then found himself fourth as Sainz seized the opportunity to go past.
As the Spaniard and Mexican battled for third at turn two, the cars collided and went into the wall.
"What happened there?," exclaimed Sainz, with Perez asking the same thing in more colourful language.
Writing by Alan Baldwin in London, Editing by Hugh Lawson
Related Assets
Latest News
Disclaimer: The XM Group entities provide execution-only service and access to our Online Trading Facility, permitting a person to view and/or use the content available on or via the website, is not intended to change or expand on this, nor does it change or expand on this. Such access and use are always subject to: (i) Terms and Conditions; (ii) Risk Warnings; and (iii) Full Disclaimer. Such content is therefore provided as no more than general information. Particularly, please be aware that the contents of our Online Trading Facility are neither a solicitation, nor an offer to enter any transactions on the financial markets. Trading on any financial market involves a significant level of risk to your capital.
All material published on our Online Trading Facility is intended for educational/informational purposes only, and does not contain – nor should it be considered as containing – financial, investment tax or trading advice and recommendations; or a record of our trading prices; or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instruments; or unsolicited financial promotions to you.
Any third-party content, as well as content prepared by XM, such as: opinions, news, research, analyses, prices and other information or links to third-party sites contained on this website are provided on an “as-is” basis, as general market commentary, and do not constitute investment advice. To the extent that any content is construed as investment research, you must note and accept that the content was not intended to and has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such, it would be considered as marketing communication under the relevant laws and regulations. Please ensure that you have read and understood our Notification on Non-Independent Investment. Research and Risk Warning concerning the foregoing information, which can be accessed here.
