Piastri survives Leclerc's attacks to win dramatic Azerbaijan GP

Oscar Piastri of McLaren fended off attacks by Ferrari's Charles Leclerc to claim the second Formula One victory of his career at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on Sunday.

Leclerc started from pole position and retained his first place in a clean start. But after the first round of pitstops, Piastri overtook the Ferrari driver on lap 20.

Leclerc stayed close to the McLaren, and got close to overtaking Piastri several times throughout the race, but the Australian defended well and held on to the lead.

Piastri had earlier this season claimed his maiden F1 win at the Hungarian GP in July.

Leclerc had to settle for second after a tight battle with the Red Bull of Sergio Perez and team-mate Carlos Sainz in the second last lap.

While Leclerc was lucky to keep hold of second place, Perez was overtaken by Sainz and the two crashed while in a dispute for third. Perez was looking to stand on the podium for the first time since the Chinese GP in April.

Meanwhile, George Russel in the Mercedes benefited from the incident and completed the podium in third.

Three-time defending champion Max Verstappen of Red Bull was fifth after being overtaken by McLaren's title challenger Lando Norris in the final laps. Norris had started the race in 15th after a dreadful qualifying session but recovered to finish in fourth thanks to the collision between Perez and Sainz.