Dominant Verstappen wins Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Sainz earns first podium finish for Williams since 2021

Baku [Azerbaijan], September 21 (ANI): Red Bull's Max Verstappen exuded dominance and engineered a lights-to-flag victory in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix at Baku City Circuit on Sunday ahead of George Russell and Carlos Sainz.

Verstappen wasn't displaced from the pole position throughout the race, clocking 1:33:26.408 to take the top honours. He led all 51 laps and won by over 14 seconds from Mercedes' Russell and Sainz, securing the first podium finish for Williams since 2021.

"This weekend has been incredible for us. Monza was already great, but for us to win here is fantastic. The car was working really well on both compounds. We had clean air all the time, so you could look after your tyres, and it was pretty straightforward. It's never easy around here; it's very windy today, so the car was moving around a lot. I'm incredibly happy with this performance," Verstappen said after his win, as quoted from Sky Sports.

Verstappen's success in Baku was his second successive win after he clinched the Italian GP earlier this month. He isn't sure about Red Bull's capacity to continue the hot form and said, "It's difficult to say at the moment, but, for sure, the last two weekends have been amazing for us. Singapore is a challenge again with the high downforce."

Meanwhile, Lando Norris cut down the deficit to title rival Oscar Piastri from 31 to 25 points. After uncharacteristically crashing out of qualifying on Saturday, Piastri surprisingly repeated his error on the opening lap in Baku and crashed out on the opening lap.

Piastri's costly mistake has presented Norris with a massive opportunity to change the complexion of the Drivers' Championship. He jumped the lights and then activated anti-stall from P9 before crashing out at Turn 5, having dropped to the back of the field. The Australian hit the barrier in the qualifiers as well.

Kimi Antonelli of Mercedes missed the podium finish by a whisker. He drove well throughout the race but fell short of overtaking Sainz for the third spot to settle for fourth. Antonelli remained clear of Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson, who claimed the fifth spot, a career-best result for him. Yuki Tsunoda captured the sixth spot, while Norris followed in seventh.

Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc endured a difficult outing as both started down the order and finished eighth and ninth, respectively. Isack Hadjar of Racing Bulls completed the top 10. (ANI)

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