If you ever needed a reminder that Formula 1 is a sport where the gods of fortune and folly dance cheek-to-cheek, the 2025 Azerbaijan Grand Prix delivered it with the subtlety of a sledgehammer. Baku, that unpredictable street circuit stitched together from the bones of old empires and the ambitions of new money, once again proved that in F1, the only thing more fragile than a carbon fibre front wing is a championship lead.
- The King Returns: Verstappen’s Ruthless Redemption
- McLaren’s Meltdown: Piastri’s Pain and Norris’s Numbness
- Williams’ Blue Miracle: Sainz Ends the Drought
- Mercedes: Russell’s Grit and Antonelli’s Arrival
- Ferrari: The Art of Losing Second Place
- The Unsung and the Unseen: Lawson, Tsunoda, and the Rest
- When the Crown Slips: The Weight of a DNF
- Waste a Bit More Time
Let’s take a walk through the ruins and revels of Baku 2025, where legends stumbled, underdogs soared, and the championship narrative was torn up and rewritten before the ink had dried.
The King Returns: Verstappen’s Ruthless Redemption
Max Verstappen’s relationship with Baku has always been a tempestuous affair. Before this weekend, he’d only won here once (2022), and in 2021 he was robbed of certain victory by a tyre blowout that sent him into the wall and the championship into chaos. But this year, the Dutchman was untouchable—a performance so dominant it barely made the live feed interesting.
Verstappen took pole in a rain-soaked, red-flag-riddled qualifying, then led every lap, set the fastest lap, and never looked remotely threatened—even when starting on the hard tyres. It was a grand chelem, and a statement: the mid-season Red Bull slump is over, and the reigning champion is back in the hunt.
He also didn’t put a foot wrong in the race, never looking vulnerable even when starting on hard tyres gave him a disadvantage off the line and at the restart after the early safety car. He barely featured on the live feed simply because he was so far ahead of everyone else.
Edd Straw, The Race
For those who doubted Verstappen’s hunger or Red Bull’s upgrades, consider this your invitation to eat humble pie. The championship may still be Piastri’s to lose, but Verstappen’s shadow now looms large over the closing races.
Watch a full recap and emotional breakdown of the race on YouTube.
McLaren’s Meltdown: Piastri’s Pain and Norris’s Numbness
If Verstappen’s weekend was a masterclass in control, McLaren’s was a lesson in how quickly the wheels can come off—literally and figuratively.
Oscar Piastri, the championship leader and the sport’s new ice-cold darling, suffered the kind of weekend that scars. He jumped the start, triggered anti-stall, and was left dead last before he’d even made it to Turn 1. Moments later, he buried his McLaren in the wall at Turn 5, ending a 34-race finishing streak and handing his rivals a lifeline.
Two errors in as many minutes following his error in qualifying signals that the Australian driver is feeling the pressure of this championship, with his 31-point gap nowhere near enough to assure him that victory is in sight.
PlanetF1
Lando Norris, meanwhile, had the perfect opportunity to close the gap to his teammate. Instead, he finished seventh—unable to pass Yuki Tsunoda, hampered by a slow pit stop, and left ruing what might have been. For a driver tipped as the next big thing, it was a performance that felt all too familiar: flashes of speed, but no killer instinct when it mattered.
This should have been a double-digit points swing in the title race, but it emphatically wasn’t.
Valentin Khorounzhiy, The Race
If you’re looking for a historical parallel, cast your mind back to 2017 Singapore, when Vettel’s first-lap crash handed Hamilton the title momentum. Or 2016 Malaysia, when Hamilton’s engine let go and Rosberg seized the crown. Baku 2025 may be remembered as the day McLaren’s nerves began to fray.
Williams’ Blue Miracle: Sainz Ends the Drought
If you’d told me a year ago that Williams would be celebrating a podium in 2025, I’d have checked your temperature. Yet here we are: Carlos Sainz, the man Ferrari let go, delivered a flawless drive to third place, securing Williams’ first podium since the infamous Spa 2021 “race” (if you can call two laps behind the safety car a race), and their first real podium since—wait for it—Baku 2017.
It’s what I’ve been looking for since the beginning of the season, just to nail a perfect weekend.
Carlos Sainz, FIA Press Conference
Sainz’s performance was more than just a personal triumph; it was a vindication for a team that has spent the better part of a decade in the wilderness. For context, Williams’ last podium before this was Lance Stroll’s third place in Baku 2017. Since then, they’ve been the punchline to every F1 joke about decline and missed glory.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time/Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1:38:22.123 |
| 2 | George Russell | Mercedes | +14.8s |
| 3 | Carlos Sainz | Williams | +21.3s |
| 4 | Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | +27.9s |
| 5 | Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls | +32.4s |
| 6 | Yuki Tsunoda | Red Bull | +34.1s |
| 7 | Lando Norris | McLaren | +36.7s |
| 8 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | +41.2s |
| 9 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | +43.5s |
| 10 | Isack Hadjar | Racing Bulls | +47.8s |
| … | … | … | … |
| DNF | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | Crash |
Full results and more details here.
Mercedes: Russell’s Grit and Antonelli’s Arrival
Mercedes, that perennial powerhouse, found themselves in the unfamiliar role of underdog this season. Yet in Baku, they reminded everyone why you never write off the Silver Arrows.
George Russell, battling a respiratory infection that kept him off the track on Thursday, delivered a gritty drive to second place. His rookie teammate, Andrea Kimi Antonelli, qualified brilliantly and pulled off a daring move on Russell after the safety car restart before strategy shuffled him back to fourth. For a driver just two years removed from Formula Regional European, it was a statement of intent.
Wolff’s ‘underwhelming’ comment after Monza, though a fair reflection, was perhaps not entirely in line with something Mercedes would do well to remember – that this is a driver two years out of Formula Regional European. As long as there are peaks in this rookie season, that should be enough. And there’s another peak.
The Race
Historically, Mercedes have rarely fielded true rookies—since their modern return in 2010, all their “rookies” have been seasoned F1 drivers. Antonelli’s top-5 finish in his debut season is a rare feat, and a sign that the future may yet be silver.
Ferrari: The Art of Losing Second Place
If there’s a team that has mastered the art of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, it’s Ferrari. The Scuderia arrived in Baku with hopes of consolidating second in the constructors’ championship. Instead, they left with eighth and ninth, a botched strategy, and a sense of déjà vu.
There are two theories to explain Ferrari’s weekend and neither of them are good… It adds up to losing a second place in the constructors’ that had felt nailed on. Ferrari is still probably favourite to ultimately get that – but would you be shocked if it gets beaten by Mercedes and/or Red Bull?
Valentin Khorounzhiy, The Race
Since the dawn of the hybrid era, Ferrari have made a habit of losing second place—2016 to Red Bull, 2019 to Mercedes by just six points, and now 2025 is shaping up to be another chapter in that tragicomedy. For a team with such history, the inability to execute when it matters most is becoming a defining trait.
The Unsung and the Unseen: Lawson, Tsunoda, and the Rest
While the headlines belong to the giants, Baku was also a showcase for the sport’s supporting cast. Liam Lawson, in the Racing Bulls, delivered a defensive masterclass to finish fifth, holding off faster cars without the aid of DRS. Yuki Tsunoda, now in the senior Red Bull team, took sixth—his best result since the promotion, though still outshone by Lawson.
Alex Albon, on the other hand, endured a weekend to forget: a crash in qualifying, a penalty for spinning Franco Colapinto, and a scruffy drive to 13th. Aston Martin’s mini-resurgence fizzled out, with Alonso’s jump start penalty and Stroll’s anonymity leaving them closer to Sauber than the front.
And then there’s Alpine, who trundled home last and second last, a team adrift and in desperate need of a lifeline.
When the Crown Slips: The Weight of a DNF
Piastri’s crash was more than just a blip—it was a reminder of how quickly a championship can unravel. History is littered with title contenders undone by a single mistake: Hamilton’s engine failure in Malaysia 2016, Vettel’s crash in Germany 2018, Leclerc’s spin in France 2022. Each time, the narrative shifted, the pressure mounted, and the eventual champion was the one who weathered the storm.
Piastri’s 31-point lead is now a question mark, not a guarantee. The Australian will need all the wisdom of his mentor, Mark Webber, to steady the ship. As PlanetF1 put it, his hindsight is my foresight. The next few races will reveal whether Baku was a stumble or the start of a slide.
Waste a Bit More Time
If you’re still hungry for more Baku drama, chaos, and analysis, here’s where to go next:
- Winners and losers from F1’s 2025 Azerbaijan Grand Prix – The Race
- Winners and losers from the 2025 Azerbaijan Grand Prix – PlanetF1
- Oscar Piastri let off the hook despite disaster: Baku winners and losers – Crash.net
- Watch the full emotional recap on YouTube
- Full results and more details here
