Oscar Piastri ’s F1 title charge survived a first-lap crash at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix without major damage as rival Lando Norris could finish only seventh.

A second crash of the weekend for Piastri ended his 34-race streak of finishing a Grand Prix within five corners and threw the door wide open for McLaren team-mate Norris to make major inroads into his championship lead.

But Norris started sluggishly and overtaking was at a premium during the 51 laps on Baku’s windy streets, meaning he could only take six points out of Piastri’s title lead, which stands at 25 with seven rounds remaining.

Pole-sitter Max Verstappen breezed to a commanding lights-to-flag victory, blasting away from the line and winning by 14 seconds to claim successive victories and close within 69 points o

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