McLaren's Oscar Piastri has won the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in a race that ended behind a virtual safety car after a late collision between Ferrari's Carlos Sainz and Red Bull's Sergio Perez as they fought for third place.

It was a second career victory for Piastri, the 23-year-old in his second F1 season, who won earlier this year in Hungary.

Ferrari's pole-sitter Charles Leclerc was second with George Russell third for Mercedes.

Red Bull's Formula One championship leader Max Verstappen finished fifth, just behind his closest title rival Lando Norris, who started 15th for McLaren and ended up fourth with a bonus point for fastest lap.

McLaren took the lead from Red Bull - by 20 points - in the constructors' championship.

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.

The 26-year-old 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.

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 battling for third. Perez was looking to stand on the podium for the first time since the Chinese GP in April.

Meanwhile, George Russell in the Mercedes benefited from the incident to gain third place.

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.