Red Bull sealed a one-two finish, with Max Verstappen leading home his team mate Sergio Perez, becoming the sixth different winner in Azerbaijan. Both drivers completed an identical strategy: starting on the P Zero Yellow medium tyre then completing two stints on the P Zero White hard, taking advantage of the second virtual safety car to make their final pit stops.

Under the virtual safety car, a pit stop takes around half the time it would under green flag conditions.

The top four all used a two-stop strategy, with the Mercedes drivers (in third and fourth) making their first stops under the first virtual safety car period: a few laps before the Red Bull drivers made their initial stops.

"Today we had incredible pace in the car, we could really look after the tyres and we could chip away for the lead. Checo did a good job at the start getting ahead of Charles, I got blocked in and couldn't go anywhere. Once I was on the hard tyres and in the lead and I could just manage it and could control the gap," said Verstappen.

For the first time since Australia 2009, failures linked to reliability meant that Scuderia Ferrari failed to get either of its cars to the finish line. Carlos Sainz's race ended on lap 9 with an hydraulic problem, while Charles Leclerc had to retire after 21 laps with a power unit problem, when leading the race.

"This is undoubtedly a bad day. Compared to last year, we have made great progress in terms of performance, however there is definitely still room for improvement on the reliability front," said Mattia Binotto.

"Together with Charles' issue, this is definitely a difficult day for the entire team and our fans, as we lost valuable points and mileage. For one reason or another, it's been complicated to build a strong momentum so far this season," said Sainz.

Both Mercedes drivers made a clean start, holding position and settling into the opening stint before a VSC on lap 9 presented the opportunity for a cheap stop, which the team pounced on with both drivers.

The subsequent DNFs for both Ferraris moved George Russell up to P3 and Lewis Hamilton up to P6.

The Mercedes pair took advantage of a second VSC which consolidated Russell's P3 and put Hamilton in a position to charge through Tsunoda, then hunt down Gasly for a well-earned cruise to the end in P4.

"We didn't get the podium on pure pace today but we did it because the team have worked very hard to deliver a reliable car, we did a good job to be ahead of the midfield and obviously we picked up on Ferrari's misfortune," said Russell.

"I just got through that race on adrenaline, biting down on my teeth through the pain. I can't express the pain that you experience, especially on the straight here. And at the end, you're just thinking of all the people relying on you for the points," said Hamilton.

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Results   
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Pos	Driver		Team		Time		Gap

1	Verstappen	Red Bull	51	1h 34:05.941
2	Perez		Red Bull	51	+ 0:20.823
3	Russell		Mercedes	51	+ 0:45.995
4	Hamilton	Mercedes	51	+ 1:11.679
5	Gasly		AlphaTauri	51	+ 1:17.299
6	Vettel		Aston Martin	51	+ 1:24.099
7	Alonso		Alpine		51	+ 1:28.596
8	Ricciardo	McLaren		51	+ 1:32.207
9	Norris		McLaren		51	+ 1:32.556
10	Ocon		Alpine		51	+ 1:48.184
11	Bottas		Alfa Romeo	50	+ 1 Lap
12	Albon		Williams	50	+ 1 Lap
13	Tsunoda		AlphaTauri	50	+ 1 Lap
14	Schumacher	Haas		50	+ 1 Lap
15	Latifi		Williams	50	+ 1 Lap
16	Stroll		Aston Martin	46	+ 5 Laps
	Magnussen	Haas		31	Power Unit
	Zhou		Alfa Romeo	23	Power Unit
	Leclerc		Ferrari		21	Power Unit
	Sainz		Ferrari		8	Hydraulics


Fastest Lap: Perez (Red Bull) 146.046 (Lap 36)