Piastri beats Charles Leclerc to win Azerbaijan GP

BAKU: Lando Norris drove an extraordinary race to catch and pass title rival Max Verstappen as his McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri won an engrossing Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

The race ended under a virtual safety car after a crash between Red Bull’s Sergio Perez and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, who collided while disputing third place with two laps to go.

Piastri pulled off an audacious pass on Charles Leclerc, who had led from pole position, to take the lead shortly after both had made their only pit stop for fresh tyres and held on for the rest of the race under immense pressure from the Ferrari.

And Norris fought back after his late pit stop, having started on the hard tyre while the leaders chose mediums, to pass Verstappen with three laps to go.

He took fourth place, promoted from sixth by the Perez-Sainz crash, one ahead of Verstappen.

The result means Norris, who also scored the point for fastest lap, reduced Verstappen’s championship lead by three points on a day he would have started expecting to lose ground.

Norris is 59 points behind Verstappen with seven races to go and a maximum of 206 still available.

And McLaren have taken the lead in the constructors’ championship from Red Bull, taking a 20-point lead.