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00:0051 laps ahead of us. The last two cars on the grid will be the Sauber of Joe Guanyu and the Alpine of Pierre Gasly.
00:09Lining up now from the pit lane will be Lewis Hamilton in the Mercedes and Esteban Ocon in the Alpine.
00:14As the green flag flies at the back of the front rows, the McLaren of Piastri on pole in Charles Leclerc.
00:19It's all eyes to the lights and foot to the floor as we go racing in Baku.
00:24And it's a good start from Leclerc who holds the lead.
00:27That lock-up from Perez though manages to get it turned in.
00:30We'll go side by side with the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz as they now approach the left-hander of Turn 2.
00:35It's Perez who's going to get the upper hand here and gets the move through on Carlos Sainz.
00:40A good move though from Charles Leclerc to hold on to the lead.
00:43Max Verstappen's gone ahead of George Russell as well.
00:46Russell was pretty generous with him, I thought, into Turn 3.
00:49Piastri has broken away from the third place battle.
00:53Lando Norris seems to have kept a cleave and is running there ahead of Nico Hülkenberg.
00:57Oliver Behren as well, just having a little fight with one of the Williams.
01:01I think it was Albon trying to get down the inside as one of the Aston Martins.
01:04Lance Stroll in the back clouds the curve and gets all that assault.
01:07I think he managed to keep that going, but that would have cost him time.
01:10Stroll outside of the top ten, but Charles Leclerc then doing what he needed to do right from the start.
01:15A good launch, hold on to the lead.
01:17Piastri in second and Perez making gains on Sainz as well.
01:21Perhaps a little bit cautious as the two come from the pit lane as well.
01:24Hamilton and Ocon join up at the back as we ride on board with Max Verstappen up one place.
01:30So as they come through the castle section, dropping towards Turn 15.
01:34A very tricky braking spot here.
01:36Norris is up in the 13th hour, he's made two places up.
01:40The problem is now, Perez is super close behind Norris.
01:43He's going to get DRS and just blast past him.
01:45Piastri is...
01:49Yeah, we see that.
01:51Here we go then though for Sergio Perez.
01:53Piastri comes into the pits, crucial then.
01:55Lando Norris has tried to play his part with the team orders at McLaren,
01:59but Perez should be able to steam on by.
02:02There it is, pitcher in pitcher with Piastri.
02:04Looks like a fairly clean slot.
02:06The DRS set line will come for Sergio Perez who moves to the inside.
02:10Where is Piastri going to come out?
02:12You see him there, feeding through the left-hander as Perez does.
02:15Piastri should come out ahead of Sergio Perez.
02:19But crucially, Piastri is going to be on much colder tyres.
02:23Perez up to speed, up to temperature.
02:26The fight is on.
02:27And the warm-up on the hard tyre is something that they've got to be aware of.
02:31It doesn't immediately come to life on the first lap.
02:34So Piastri is just going to be sensible on this lap.
02:38But great teamwork from McLaren.
02:40I genuinely think if Perez wasn't held up there in the castle section,
02:44I think he would have ended up ahead of Piastri.
02:46So very good teamwork there from Lando Norris.
02:50And you can see there, Perez didn't have to wait long, though, to blast past.
02:54But did that little bit of teamwork just hold him up enough?
02:58On the face of it, it did.
02:59As we get our first retirement.
03:01Well, Yuki Tsunoda was the only retirement last time out in Monza.
03:04And he becomes the first retirement this weekend in Azerbaijan
03:08with that lap one skirmish with Lance Stroll.
03:12But he managed to stay out.
03:13This is that incident.
03:16Stroll said the door was closed.
03:18But it's lap one as well.
03:20And that is a tight place to overtake.
03:22And that was the damage it did to the side pod.
03:25So no wonder Tsunoda just absolutely plummeted down through the field.
03:28Turn right through the king.
03:30Then you go left and then right again.
03:32Oscar's head bobbing around.
03:34It's bumpy through there.
03:35Leclerc goes to the inside.
03:37He feels the need to cover the line here.
03:38Piastri only seven tenths behind.
03:41And he will get DRS.
03:43Here comes the board, Harry.
03:44Bosh!
03:45Hit the button.
03:46This is close.
03:47Closing up to the back of Charles Leclerc for the lead of this race.
03:50Piastri down the inside.
03:52Late on the brakes.
03:53Makes the move stick.
03:54Can Leclerc fight back?
03:56Piastri tries to defend.
03:57But Leclerc holds that inside line.
03:59But he can't go late on the brakes enough.
04:02And Piastri takes the lead of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
04:06But Charles Leclerc is not going to give this one up without a fight.
04:09Back into the next DRS zone.
04:11Side by side trying to find a way through.
04:14But the corner comes too early for Charles Leclerc
04:17who has to slot back behind.
04:19What a move by Piastri down the inside at Turn 1.
04:23Takes the lead in Baku.
04:25He came from a long way back.
04:27Very, very committed.
04:28Great feel.
04:29Great control on the brakes from Oscar Piastri there.
04:33And tremendous confidence.
04:35Now can he break away in the middle sector of the lap?
04:37Or will Leclerc do the reverse?
04:39Let's have a look at this replay.
04:40Look at how far back.
04:41I don't think Leclerc expected him to come there.
04:43Because he just stayed wide.
04:45Stayed on the racing line.
04:46He made no attempt to defend it.
04:48Piastri was probably two car lengths behind the rear diffuser
04:52of that Ferrari.
04:53And just lunged down the inside.
04:55This was good, fair, and robust defense into 2.
04:59Leclerc bailed out of it.
05:01Very, very good driving.
05:02But I don't think it's over.
05:04Because Leclerc is now going to have the opportunity
05:07to come back at him.
05:08Perez, though, is also going to have DRS.
05:10I think Perez could also fancy himself
05:12as getting into the lead of this race.
05:14It depends how quickly Piastri, and if he can, pull away.
05:17But remember how close Perez was to Piastri
05:19just a couple of laps ago
05:21and got balked by the Williams of Alex Albon,
05:23who is still out on the track.
05:25Has yet to pit.
05:26Currently running in fourth
05:27and keeping Orlando Norris behind him in fifth position.
05:31Back up front we go then.
05:33And the battle for the lead goes on.
05:35Leclerc lost it this time a lap ago.
05:37Can he get it back?
05:39He's got the DRS.
05:40Piastri isn't scared into a move to defend.
05:42And he holds on.
05:43Can Leclerc get good traction out of Turn 2?
05:46Perez sneaking in the background.
05:48Also willing to make a move if one beckons.
05:51But Piastri holds on once again.
05:55Oh, he's hit the cliff.
05:57He's hit the cliff.
05:58And here comes Checo Perez
06:00around the outside.
06:01Piastri's checked out.
06:03Two seconds now.
06:04The gap.
06:05He's got back markers in front of him.
06:06There are three cars in front.
06:08But the pressure is ramped up on Charles Leclerc
06:11who's hit the cliff on the rear tyres.
06:13That was always the risk when you do such a long stint.
06:1631 laps for Charles Leclerc
06:18in the dirty air for most of it
06:20behind the McLaren.
06:22Perez can smell second place here.
06:25But he's got the other Ferrari of Carlos Sainz
06:27behind him as well.
06:29Could Ferrari try and do something here?
06:31If Leclerc is struggling,
06:33will they allow Sainz to try?
06:34Or will they try and back up Perez into Sainz?
06:37They're running out of laps.
06:38They're running out of time.
06:40In the meantime, Oscar Piastri
06:42with a gap of now over two seconds.
06:44Piastri can see the light at the end of the tunnel.
06:48Leclerc trying to hold on desperately
06:51to any life he's got left in these tyres.
06:53It's the exit of Turn 16 that we'll watch.
06:56Leclerc is going to try and back Perez up
06:58into Sainz.
06:59Just as Piastri was doing to him earlier,
07:02Leclerc is going to try and use Sainz
07:04to distract Perez.
07:05But I think on this lap,
07:07the Red Bull could be close enough.
07:09This is going to be a problem for Leclerc.
07:10And he knows it.
07:11Just moves across aggressively
07:14to the right-hand side.
07:15Perez follows him.
07:16But this could be tricky for him at Turn 1.
07:18Norris is within a second of a stap in as well
07:20over the battle for 6th and 7th.
07:22But with three laps to go there,
07:24Piastri seems to be clearing the way
07:26and down into Turn 1.
07:27Can Leclerc hold Perez off,
07:29pushing back into his teammate Sainz?
07:32We've gone from a battle for the lead,
07:34a four-way battle,
07:35to a three-way battle for second place.
07:37Here's Lando Norris on board the McLaren,
07:40trying to get past his championship rival.
07:43Both with weekends they might not want to forget.
07:46Norris through Arne Verstappen
07:48on his championship rival.
07:50What a comeback for Lando Norris.
07:53He'll get the extra point if he can hold on to it
07:55for fastest lap 2.
07:56But Verstappen's day goes from bad to worse
08:00as he sees his title rival sweep round
08:03and up into 6th.
08:06Right.
08:07Perez now all over the back of the Ferrari man.
08:11He's going to have two more opportunities
08:12into Turn 1.
08:14Lando Norris will score nine points
08:16because he's still got the fastest lap of this race
08:19by some margin over anybody else at 45.2.
08:22So that should be pretty comfortable for him.
08:24And now it's just a case of get to the flag.
08:27That is definitely not the case for these three cars here.
08:30Piastri has checked out.
08:323.4 seconds.
08:33Fantastic drive from the young 23-year-old
08:37who soaked up the pressure brilliantly.
08:39Not even a hint of a lock-up.
08:41And he's now gone.
08:42Three and a half seconds and two laps
08:44between him and his second Grand Prix victory.
08:46Charles Leclerc under massive pressure here, Harry.
08:49They've got the back marker,
08:50which could help Leclerc with a bit of a tow, though.
08:54Here we go.
08:55Leclerc just getting on to the dusty part of the track.
08:58It's been dusty all weekend long.
09:00Huge speeds, getting up to well over 310 km an hour.
09:05The DRS line will come.
09:07Is the writing on the wall for Charles Leclerc
09:10who will defend for as long as he can?
09:12Perez in the red bull moves to the outside,
09:15forces his way around, but Leclerc's not having any of it.
09:18Forces Perez out wide,
09:20and that makes Sainz through on Perez.
09:23Teamwork makes the dream work for Ferrari,
09:26and Sainz gets up into the podium places.
09:29But now Perez coming back,
09:31and there's contact between Perez and Sainz into the wall.
09:35Disaster for Ferrari and red bull.
09:39It all happens in the blink of an eye,
09:41but that is a massive, massive shift in this race.
09:46In the dying stages, Sainz and Perez out.
09:51Wow, I think Perez feels really aggrieved there.
09:54Norris is up into fourth, Russell into third.
09:57Verstappen, by the way, pitted at that point.
09:59I think they're going to have to call the safety car
10:01and finish this race probably under the safety car.
10:05So we'll get a replay of it, I'm sure,
10:08but I think Perez probably feels, here we go.
10:11This is, first of all, Sergio Perez in the slipstream
10:14behind Charles Leclerc.
10:16He got a very, very good run.
10:18Albert got out of the way, so Leclerc didn't have that slipstream.
10:20Perez got in front, Leclerc came back at him
10:23down the inside, no contact there,
10:25but Perez lost momentum.
10:27Sainz got in front. Now at this point,
10:29here, Sainz had a sniff around the outside of Perez,
10:32ended up on the dirty part of the track on the outside.
10:34Now watch, does he move over on the left?
10:38I feel like he moved slightly left,
10:40and Perez moved slightly right, just looking from the helicopter.
10:43Well, he needed to slow down, maybe on the skypad later,
10:46but it did feel like the two cars were both moving.
10:51What the f*** is he doing there?
10:53What the f***?
10:55Is he crazy or what?
10:57F***ing idiot.
10:59You have to feel slightly
11:01for Sergio Perez in that occasion.
11:03Let's watch it here.
11:05So here's Sainz looking at the wall on the right.
11:08What happened there?
11:10What happened?
11:11Are you OK?
11:13Yeah, but...
11:16I don't get it.
11:21And that is not how he wanted to end the race.
11:23The virtual safety car has been deployed.
11:25The medical car also on their way,
11:27as we see Sainz very carefully getting out of his car.
11:30But this race will end under virtual safety car
11:33as we're on the final.
11:35We're on lap 51 of 51.
11:37Yeah, you feel for both of them.
11:39You feel for Perez, who is having a brilliant race.
11:41What that does is it puts Russell
11:43up into the final podium spot.
11:45Lando Norris, having started down in 15th,
11:47up into fourth.
11:49Then comes Verstappen behind.
11:51Alonso is sixth.
11:52And hello to Williams.
11:53Albon seventh.
11:54Colopinto up into eighth.
11:56Behrmann is now up into the top ten
11:58as we wait for the chequered flag to fly
12:01for Oscar Piastri,
12:03who will seal the win.
12:05But we didn't think it would quite be in this way
12:07after looking at some absolutely epic battling
12:11up and down the field,
12:13but particularly in that battle for the win.
12:15But you have to say for Oscar Piastri,
12:17he was driving absolutely sublimely all race long.
12:21Oscar Piastri wins the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
12:25It's the Aussie on top in Baku
12:28with Charles Leclerc once again having to settle
12:32for not the top spots.
12:35From pole position,
12:36he's yet again not able to convert it to a race
12:40win.
12:41His tyre's dead at the end,
12:43but he holds on to second
12:45with that huge incident between Sainz and Perez
12:48securing Leclerc's second.
12:51And George Russell once again,
12:53it might not be the top spot like in Austria,
12:55but when two cars ahead take each other out,
12:58it's Russell who benefits onto the podium
13:01for the man we didn't really see much of in this race,
13:04in his own race, Russell in third.
13:06And what a comeback for McLaren
13:09and Lando Norris who now,
13:11with Lando Norris finishing in fourth,
13:14take over the lead of the Constructors' Championship.
13:18McLaren now lead the way in the fight with Red Bull.
13:23Yeah, boy!
13:24Lovely.
13:25Lovely job, Oscar.
13:26Great afternoon.
13:27Fantastic.
13:29Yes!
13:31Well done, everybody.
13:32That was probably the most stressful afternoon
13:35of my life, so well done.
13:39Yeah, that was a big move.
13:43So thank you very much for the car.
13:45What a day that was.
13:47Thanks, everyone.
13:48Thank you, thank you.
13:53The Australian National Anthem reigning out
13:56for the winner of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix last year.
14:01The winning Constructor from the United Kingdom,
14:06McLaren, who take the top spots
14:09in the Constructors' Championship.
14:12Mohammed bin Salaim handing over the winning medal to...