Verstappen powers to Baku victory

Max Verstappen (center) - Photo: Red Bull

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen claimed victory at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, leading home Mercedes’ George Russell in second and Williams’ Carlos Sainz in third after a dramatic race in Baku.

“This weekend has been incredible for us. Monza was already great but for us to win here is fantastic,” Verstappen said. “The car was working really well on both compounds. We had clean air all the time, so you could look after your tyres, and it was pretty straightforward. It is never easy around here, very windy today, so the car was moving around a lot. I am incredibly happy with this performance.”

Verstappen started from pole on the hard compound tyre and immediately held the lead off the line. Behind him, McLaren’s Oscar Piastri had a nightmare start, falling to the back of the grid before crashing into the barriers at Turn 5. The Australian’s exit brought out the safety car, the only retirement of the afternoon.

Before the neutralisation, Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton, who lined up 12th, had already gained two positions, climbing to 10th right behind his teammate Charles Leclerc.

Racing resumed on lap five, and at the restart Leclerc moved past McLaren’s Lando Norris into seventh, while Hamilton continued his progress by passing Racing Bulls rookie Isack Hadjar at Turn 1 on lap eight to move into ninth.

Strategy soon came into play as Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli was the first of the front runners to pit on lap 19, swapping his mediums for hards. Hamilton extended his opening stint on the hard compound before switching to mediums on lap 37. The Brit gained ground in the final laps and, with Ferrari instructing Leclerc to move aside, he climbed to eighth to chase after Norris, Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda and Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson, who were locked in a tight fight for fifth.

Hamilton crossed the line in eighth, but the manner of his drive was the real talking point. After his frustrations in qualifying, where he urged Ferrari to put him on the medium tyre only to be ignored, Sunday offered a glimpse of what he had been pushing for. Back at Silverstone he told us he wanted the team to trust his instinct and not mirror his teammate’s strategy.

In Baku he did exactly that. Starting on the hard compound, Hamilton ran a long first stint before switching to the mediums for a late charge, mirroring the winning strategy of Verstappen. Even so, Hamilton admitted after the race that he was still disappointed with the overall weekend, adding that there are things to be discussed internally to see what can be done differently going forward.

Russell secured second place despite not being at full fitness across the weekend.

“Firstly, congrats to Carlos and Williams. An amazing result for us,” the Mercedes driver said after the race. “For us really happy to be back on the podium. It has been a bit of a rough weekend for me personally but the car was great. Kimi in P4 as well, so happy with that. I was pretty glad when I saw the chequered flag, to be honest. Fortunate I felt much better today than I felt on Friday and Saturday. Looking forward to a bit of rest now but just happy with the result. For us as a team trying to beat Ferrari in the constructors', it was a good step towards that.”

Sainz celebrated his first podium with Williams after a perfectly judged drive to third, a result that also earned him Driver of the Day. His emotions spilled over the radio:

“Vamos! Vamos! Best podium in my career. You cannot imagine how this tastes. Thank you so much. This is my first Smooth Operation in Williams!”

The only retirement of the afternoon came from Piastri, who hit the barriers on the opening lap. McLaren team principal Andrea Stella admitted it had been a bruising weekend for the championship leader.

“A difficult weekend overall. Not a great qualifying yesterday and today we could not improve the situation. Actually we made it worse, if anything, with the crash that saw Oscar involved. Some uncharacteristic mistakes for Oscar. Hopefully they were all accumulated in this event and now we will be clear for the rest of the season. He is probably the most solid, consistent driver so far so hopefully a one-off event for him.”

Behind Verstappen, Russell and Sainz, Antonelli produced a strong showing to finish fourth for Mercedes, while Lawson impressed for Racing Bulls in fifth ahead of Tsunoda in sixth for Red Bull. Norris secured seventh for McLaren, just ahead of Hamilton’s Ferrari, with Leclerc close behind in ninth. Rounding out the top ten was Hadjar for Racing Bulls, continuing his steady run of points.

Further down the order, Kick Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto came home 11th just ahead of Oliver Bearman in the Haas, with Alex Albon 13th for Williams. Esteban Ocon followed in the second Haas before the Aston Martin pair of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll, while Nico Hülkenberg ended up 16th in the other Sauber. Alpine endured a tough afternoon as Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto both finished a lap down in 18th and 19th. Piastri’s crash left him the sole retirement, though he still holds a 25-point lead in the championship.

Formula One now moves on to Singapore on October 3–5.

Full driver standings: https://www.formula1.com/en/results/2025/drivers