Andrew Benson
BBC F1 correspondent

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McLaren's Lando Norris reduced team-mate Oscar Piastri's championship lead to 25 points by finishing seventh in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix after the Australian crashed out on the first lap.

Red Bull's Max Verstappen took a dominant victory to underline McLaren's fears that he could become a title contender - even if he is still 69 points behind Piastri with seven races to go.

But Piastri's first big mistake of the season was not as costly as it could have been, because main rival Norris was unable to make any ground from his seventh position on the grid.

Norris became stuck behind other cars and could gain just six points on Piastri.

McLaren tried an offset strategy with a late pit stop in the attempt to give Norris a tyre advantage in the closing laps.

Read the full report here

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Celebrations for Red Bull, Mercedes and Williams tonight, while McLaren will be licking their wounds following a pretty rubbish weekend across the board.

Over at Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton is downcast after the bright spot of topping Friday practice disappeared. How does he feel after that race? "Not good," he tells Sky Sports. "Our ultimate pace was just not on par with the guys up ahead of us."

Plenty to mull over for teams and drivers in the two weeks before the Singapore Grand Prix. Join us again from the 3-5 October under the dazzling floodlights of the Marina Bay Street Circuit. First practice on the Friday starts at 10:30 BST.

See you soon!

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Lots of drivers were quick to send their congratulations to Carlos Sainz, including his former Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc. His latest race buddy Alex Albon was also at the podium presentation to cheer on the Spaniard, who has had a difficult start to life in his new surroundings.

This is also Williams' first time on the podium since George Russell's second place at the rain-delayed Belgian Grand Prix in 2021.

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McLaren boss Andrea Stella reflected on the team's struggles and told Sky Sports when it came to Lando Norris, they just didn't give him a fast enough car to overtake, "so we spent the whole race stuck in traffic," he added.

"The slow pit stop certainly didn’t help, but whether it was decisive for position, we’ll have to review. We also stayed out as long as possible hoping for a safety car, which isn’t unlikely here, even if today it only came at the start."

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Lando Norris, who finished in seventh, speaking to Sky Sports: "I did the best I could yesterday and today, the opportunities are there every weekend. Every race I didn't win was an opportunity missed, so of course today I wanted more.

"I couldn't do anything more today, it was lost yesterday because of going out a bit early, not doing the best lap and we maybe could have gained a couple of positions.

"It wouldn't have changed anything today, it was just impossible to overtake. The pace was alright today when it needed to be, I did a long stint on the medium [tyre]. Things could have been a little bit better, but if there was anything I could have changed, probably not."

On the rest of the field: "Red Bull are clearly doing well, their race pace is strong and they've still won plenty of races this year so it's not a surprise.

"They have improved in some areas and they are a winning team for the last however many years. We knew they could be a threat and we know that some of these tracks are not going to be our best."

Championship leader Oscar Piastri, who suffered a DNF in Baku, told Sky Sports: "It was certainly not my finest moment, just anticipated the start too much and a silly, simple error with that really.

"With the crash I just didn't anticipate the dirty air in the way I should have. I clearly went in to the corner way too hot and that was that.

"The grip level was low but I should know that, so I'm certainly not blaming it on anything other than myself. I didn't make the judgement calls that I needed to at the right time and that is obviously disappointing."

On the weekend overall: "Friday was a tough day, Saturday the potential was very good, I had a lot of sectors that were incredibly strong but I just never got it all together.

"Qualifying was what it was and today was more silly mistakes, so it was certainly a messy weekend. I would be more concerned if I was slow and trying to make up for it that way and having these errors because of that.

"The fact that they are just simple lapses in judgement, it's obviously not a position I want to be, especially the mechanics because it has been a rough weekend for them. If I'm trying to find a silver lining, I suppose I have that."

Oscar Piastri speaking to Sky Sports on the championship gap narrowing: "I guess it is what it is, I'm not too concerned about that. For me, I'm solely focused on myself and what I can do to improve. There's still a long way to go and if you have good or bad weekends, the championship is far from over."

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"The championship is far from over," Oscar Piastri told Sky Sports but his title lead has been cut to 25 points with seven races to go. Lando Norris didn't finish on the podium today but six points is better than nothing.

Overhauling Piastri might be a step too far - 69 points - but Max Verstappen's eye-catching form has inched him closer to second-placed Norris, with the Dutchman in third only 44 points away from the Briton's total.

1. Oscar Piastri (McLaren) - 324 pts

2. Lando Norris (McLaren) - 299

3. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) - 255

4. George Russell (Mercedes) - 212

5. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) - 165

6. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) - 121

7. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) - 78

8. Alex Albon (Williams) - 70

9. Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls) - 39

10. Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber) - 37

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Put the bubbly back in the fridge for now. McLaren's shocker in Azerbaijan means they won't be crowned constructors' champions today, as they needed to outscore second-placed Ferrari by nine points.

After a topsy-turvy weekend, the Scuderia have dropped to third, Mercedes have moved up to second and McLaren will have to wait until Singapore to have another go at clinching the title.

1. McLaren - 623 pts

2. Mercedes - 290

3. Ferrari - 286

4. Red Bull - 272

5. Williams - 101

6. Racing Bulls - 72

7. Aston Martin - 62

8. Sauber - 55

9. Haas - 44

10. Alpine - 20

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Carlos Sainz finished third in the Williams, he said: "I honestly can't describe how happy I am and how good this feels. It's even better than my first ever podium that I had.

"We've been fighting hard all year and finally today we just proved that we have the speed and we've had it all year.

"Everything comes together and we can do some amazing things together and today we nailed the race, not one mistake, and we managed to beat a lot of cars that yesterday I wasn't expecting to beat."

On the performance of the car: "I'm extremely proud of everyone at Williams for pushing through a very difficult year.

"I think we've proven to everyone the massive step compared to last year and we are on the rise and in the right direction.

"Unfortunately with me we've had a lot of back luck, lots of incidents and very difficult to convert all that pace into results.

"I now understand why it all happened because the first podium needed to come like this and it's just life. Life just sometimes brings you those bad moments to give you a very nice one."

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Mercedes' George Russell, who finishes second in Baku: "Congrats to Carlos and Williams - amazing result for them. For us. we're happy to be back on the podium. It's been a bit of a rough weekend for me personally but the car was great, so happy with that.

On how he felt in the car: "I was pretty glad when I saw the chequered flag. Fortunately, I felt much better than I did on Friday and Saturday. Looking forward to a bit of rest now and happy with the results, and for us as a team, trying to beat Ferrari in the constructors' [championship], it was a good step towards that."

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Red Bull's Max Verstappen wins from pole in Baku, he said: "This weekend has ben incredible for us, last weekend was already great, but for us to win here again is just fantastic.

"In the race the car was working really well on both of the compounds, we had clean air all the time and you could then look after your tyres.

"It was pretty straightforward, it's not easy around here and it's very windy today so the car is always moving around a lot. I'm very happy with this performance."

On the race: "You always have to be a little more careful with tyre management and stuff, you want to make the one-stop work so I think everyone was a bit more cautious with that anyway.

"The medium and hard compounds that we were running today, they weren't really used that much up until today and that all helped. I was happy that there were not too many safety cars."

On the cars competitiveness: "It's difficult to say at the moment but the last two race weekends have been amazing for us. Singapore is a completely different challenge again with the higher downforce, so we will see what we can do there."

11. Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber)

12. Oliver Bearman (Haas)

13. Alex Albon (Williams)

14. Esteban Ocon (Haas)

15. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)

16. Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber)

17. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)

18. Pierre Gasly (Alpine)

19. Franco Colapinto (Alpine)

DNF. Oscar Piastri (McLaren)

1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)

2. George Russell (Mercedes)

3. Carlos Sainz (Williams)

4. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes)

5. Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls)

6. Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull)

7. Lando Norris (McLaren)

8. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari)

9. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)

10. Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls)

Verstappen wins in Bakupublished at 13:59 BST 21 September

13:59 BST 21 September

Max Verstappen is given his winner's trophy but the loudest cheer goes to Carlos Sainz. The crowd are happy to see the Williams man take his first podium with the team here in Baku. George Russell is soldiering on, taking the champange full in the face. "Not bad considering I felt like **** all weekend," he told his Mercedes pit wall after he crossed the line.

Champagne momentpublished at 13:55 BST 21 September

13:55 BST 21 September

The top three have reached the cooldown room and are watching the highlights of today's race. The trio "oooooh" as Oscar Piastri's shunt flashes up on screen.

As Carlos Sainz places his race helmet next to the other two, Max Verstappen notices his unicorn sticker, designed by mega fan Thea. Will the Spaniard keep it for the rest of the season to bring him more luck?

It's podium time and the Dutch national anthem is played out for the second grand prix in a row. This is Verstappen's 67th career victory.

Carlos Sainz dives into the Williams crew. How loud can you cry "Vamos"? Very! The Spaniard is delighted with his maiden podium with his new team.

Poor George Russell. Second in Baku but the only the only place he'll be celebrating will be in bed. He referenced his feeling unwell on the radio after he crossed the line.

It's also been a great day for Yuki Tsunoda, who picks up points by finishing sixth in Azerbaijan and moves onto 20 points in the standings, level with Alpine's Pierre Gasly.

Abbi Pulling
F1 Academy champion on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

You expect nothing less from Max Verstappen there, it was a masterclass from him.

Max Verstappen begins his final lap and the Dutchman has no pressure around him. He's on four a fourth win of the season and he'll be joined on the podium by George Rusesell and Williams' Carlos Sainz.

Liam Lawson is almost home and dry. Lando Norris is hustling Yuki Tsunoda with some late moves but the Red Bull man has a tight grip on soxth place.