Mercedes' George Russell held off a late challenge from Red Bull's Max Verstappen to win an Azerbaijan Grand Prix enlivened late on by two safety car periods.
Russell dominated the first part of the race while Verstappen was climbing up from eighth place on the grid before becoming stuck behind McLaren's Oscar Piastri.
But two safety cars in quick succession put the Red Bull on Russell's tail for an 11-lap chase to the flag.
Russell could never break free of Verstappen but the four-time world champion was not quite able to get close enough to try an overtaking move.
After an issue with energy deployment, Russell was scared Verstappen would pass him on the run to the line, but held on to win by just under 0.2 seconds.
Russell's victory meant he cut the championship lead of team-mate Kimi Antonelli - who recovered from 16th on the grid to finish fifth - to 66 points.
"It's amazing to be back on the top step of the podium. I do want to say a big thanks to my team because they've continued to believe in me through a tough moment, helped me come through it," the Briton said.
"I'm really proud to have had this weekend."
Behind the top two, Red Bull's Isack Hadjar drove a strong race to the final podium position on his return after missing three races with a broken wrist.
The key stories of an initially soporific and then dramatic and tense grand prix were:
Russell's accomplished drive to his first win since the Austrian Grand Prix in June
Verstappen's superb fightback from a difficult qualifying
Mid-race chaos with a first safety car triggering a second almost immediately, as so often happens
McLaren's race unravelling after a promising start
Russell appeared on course for a comfortable win as the race unfolded with few incidents of note in the opening stages.
Piastri moved up from third on the grid to second by passing Ferrari's Charles Leclerc at the start but the Australian lacked the pace to chase Russell, who edged away into a comfortable lead.
Behind, Piastri soon found himself holding off Hadjar, who won an early battle with McLaren's Lando Norris and then passed Leclerc to challenge the McLaren.
Meanwhile, Verstappen was making his way up from eighth place after a qualifying session in which a cascade of problems had prevented him qualifying second to Russell.
By lap seven, he was past Hadjar into third place after the Frenchman did not fight him.
The three cars circulated together in a stalemate, with no-one able to pass and the teams all waiting for the expected accident that would lead to a safety car and a cheap pit stop.
That happened on lap 30, when Williams' Alex Albon crashed at Turn Five.
On the restart, six laps later, Verstappen passed Piastri into Turn One to move into second place.
But the race was almost immediately put back under caution after a pile-up at the first corner caused by Alpine's Franco Colapinto, who cannoned into team-mate Pierre Gasly, who in turn clattered into Norris.
Behind them, the two Racing Bulls also came together, Arvid Lindblad tipping Liam Lawson into a spin, leading to a sarcastic response from the New Zealander on the radio.
That put Verstappen on to Russell's tail for another restart but the Briton handled the situation coolly, accelerating early and catching the Dutchman somewhat unawares.
He was unable to shake Verstappen, who was always about 0.5secs behind but never quite close enough to try a move into Turn One, the only significant overtaking place.
There was one last chance for Verstappen on the final lap.
Valtteri Bottas crashed his Cadillac at Turn 15, and after backing off for the yellow flags, Russell lost his turbo which in turn cost him electrical boost.
Verstappen closed in and there was just 0.196secs between them as they crossed the line, the closest green-flag finish since the 2002 United States Grand Prix.
Russell has now finished on the podium in three of the four races since the summer break.
Asked what has changed for him since then, he said: "I think it's just having more experience with this new driving style I've adopted and every race since the break I feel like I've gone from strength to strength. I feel more like myself again."
Antonelli only just missed out on passing Leclerc for fourth, crossing the line 0.3secs adrift of the Ferrari.
Leclerc's team-mate Lewis Hamilton was sixth after a quiet race, while Lindblad made amends for hitting Lawson with a strong final 10 laps to move up to seventh place.
McLaren were left licking their wounds after a strong first part of the race in which Piastri was looking on course for a potential podium.
The first issue came when Norris locked up into Turn One, which dropped him from seventh place behind Gasly and Antonelli.
Then at the first restart, Norris was trying to pass Gasly around the outside of Turn One when Colapinto locked up on the inside and slid into Gasly, who was knocked into Norris.
Norris told BBC Radio 5 Live the Argentine should be hit with a race ban for his driving.
Piastri at that point was still in podium contention, but his race unravelled soon after.
He lost second to Verstappen at the first restart and then at the end of the first racing lap after the second, he made the same mistake as Norris had earlier, a lock-up at Turn One sending him into the escape road.
Because the field was still so tightly bunched, the error dropped him to 14th place, where he finished.
1. George Russell (Mercedes)
2. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
3. Isack Hadjar (Red Bull)
4. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
5. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes)
6. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari)
7. Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls)
8. Esteban Ocon (Haas)
9. Oliver Bearman (Haas)
10. Carlos Sainz (Williams)
What's next?
Formula 1 returns to Malaysia for the first time since 2017 next weekend, from 2-4 October, with Sepang playing host to what will be known as the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia. The Bahrain event was originally scheduled to take place in April but was postponed because of the war in the Middle East.