Azerbaijan GP: Max Verstappen eases to win as title leader Oscar Piastri crashes out on first lap

Max Verstappen coasted to a second successive grand prix win after claiming victory in Azerbaijan on Sunday which saw title-race leader Oscar Piastri crash out on the opening lap.

The reigning champion, who started from pole at the Baku City Circuit, dominated the race with a masterclass performance, finishing 14 seconds ahead of Mercedes driver George Russell while Carlos Sainz secured his first podium for Williams in third.

Verstappen made it back-to-back wins for the first time since the Spanish Grand Prix of June 2024 after his victory in Italy last time out.

"This weekend has ben incredible for us, last weekend was already great, but for us to win here again is just fantastic," said the Dutchman.

"In the race the car was working really well on both of the compounds, we had clean air all the time and you could then look after your tyres.

"It was pretty straightforward, it's not easy around here and it's very windy today so the car is always moving around a lot. I'm very happy with this performance.

"The last two race weekends have been amazing for us. Singapore is a completely different challenge again with the higher downforce, so we will see what we can do there."

Mercedes' driver Russell admitted he was happy to see the end of the race after struggling with illness all weekend.

"It's been a bit of a rough weekend for me personally but the car was great, so happy with that," said the Briton.

"I was pretty glad when I saw the chequered flag. Fortunately, I felt much better than I did on Friday and Saturday. Looking forward to a bit of rest now and happy with the results, and for us as a team, trying to beat Ferrari in the constructors' [championship], it was a good step towards that."

Sainz, meanwhile, was ecstatic after sealing Williams' first podium finish of the season. "I honestly can't describe how happy I am and how good this feels. It's even better than my first ever podium that I had," said the Spaniard, who was a four-times race winner with Ferrari.

"We've been fighting hard all year and finally today we just proved that we have the speed and we've had it all year.

"Everything comes together and we can do some amazing things together and today we nailed the race, not one mistake, and we managed to beat a lot of cars that yesterday I wasn't expecting to beat."

It was a disastrous day for McLaren after Piastri's early exit was followed by a lowly seventh-place for Lando Norris who at least cut the Australian's lead down by six points to 25.

McLaren had hoped to secure their 10th Formula One constructors' title, and second in a row, on Sunday with a record seven races still to go.

Verstappen's lights-to-flag victory means the Dutchman has closed to within 69 points of Piastri, who started ninth on the grid after also crashing his McLaren into the barriers during qualifying.

Piastri slipped to the back of the pack after initially moving before the lights went out - for which he was penalised by the stewards - before anti-stall kicked in on his car. The 24-year-old then locked up badly on the way into Turn 5, careering nose-first into the wall.

After climbing into the top six, a messy pitstop lost Norris a couple of places which could prove costly in the race for the title in what was a weekend to forget for McLaren.

Italian rookie Kimi Antonelli was fourth for Mercedes,redeeming himself after a poor home race weekend at Monza, with New Zealander Liam Lawson enjoying a career-high fifth for Racing Bulls.

Yuki Tsunoda was sixth for Red Bull with Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc following Norris home in eighth and ninth.