Formula One was back in action at the Baku Circuit for the FORMULA 1 QATAR AIRWAYS AZERBAIJAN GRAND PRIX 2025. With a shuffled grid after a chaotic qualifying session that saw a record-breaking six red flags, the stage was set for a battle of epic proportions.
It was a nightmare race for Oscar Piastri, who started the race from P9 after crashing in qualifying. He jumped the start, catching Fernando Alonso off guard as the Spaniard also jumped the start in response to seeing the McLaren ahead move. Piastri stopped again before the lights went out, triggering the anti-stall and leaving the championship leader stationary. When he pulled away, he was at the rear of the field. Things took a turn for the worse later in the lap when he couldn’t get his car turned in the fifth corner. He tried to take the outside line, but there wasn’t enough grip, and he crashed into the barriers. This brought out the safety car.
Max Verstappen maintained the lead when the race restarted on lap five, fending off Carlos Sainz, who had started the race on the quicker medium tyres. Lando Norris was caught sleeping on the restart, allowing Charles Leclerc to line up an overtake on the run down to the first corner. He did a good job timing the overtake perfectly so that he stayed behind until the start/finish line.
Further ahead, the two Mercedes drivers were side-by-side down the main straight on the restart. Kimi Antonelli took the inside line, forcing teammate George Russell to take the outside line. The Brit backed out, fearing Antonelli was going to pin him into the barriers, losing the position to Yuki Tsunoda. Tsunoda had already gone by Russell in the first corner before he retook the position later in the opening lap. Russell would only stay behind Tsunoda for a few laps on this occasion, taking the position back in turn ten with some help from the DRS.
Antonelli was the first of the top cars to exchange his medium tyres for a set of hards, pitting on lap 19. Liam Lawson, sitting in P3, responded to the undercut threat by pitting a couple of laps later. He rejoined narrowly ahead of the Mercedes, but was a sitting duck down the main straight, where Antonelli got by with DRS.
Roughly 20 laps later, the drivers who started the race on the hard tyres began to make their pit stops. Tsunoda pitted on lap 39. He rejoined ahead of Lawson, but the Racing Bulls driver overtook the Red Bull easily in turn three.
With ten laps remaining in the race, Leclerc began to drop down the order. He was overtaken by Norris, who had a slow pit stop a few laps earlier. A few laps later, Lewis Hamilton caught Leclerc, prompting Ferrari to issue team orders. Hamilton was on the quicker medium tyres, and the team were optimistic that he would have the pace to pressure Norris.
Hamilton wasn’t able to get by Norris, who heavily pressured Tsunoda on the final lap but was unable to promote himself further up the order. A P7 finish for Norris reduced his teammate’s championship lead by six points, as Piastri’s 44-race finishing streak came to an end. It was a weekend to forget for the Aussie.
It was Verstappen who converted his pole position to win at the end of 51 laps, leading every single one of them. It’s the Dutchman’s first back-to-back win of the season. Russell managed to finish in P2 ahead of Sainz, who earned his first podium finish with Williams. It was Williams’ first podium in a grand prix since Lance Stroll earned his maiden podium at this circuit in 2017.
Next on the calendar is another street race, this time in Singapore. The race will be held on the evening of October 5.
| 1 | O. Piastri | 324 |  | |
| 2 | L. Norris | 299 | -25 | |
| 3 | M. Verstappen | 255 | -69 | |
| 4 | G Russell | 212 | -112 | |
| 5 | C. Leclerc | 165 | -159 | |
| 1 | McLaren | 623 | | |
| 2 | Mercedes | 290 | -333 |  |
| 3 | Ferrari | 286 | -337 |  |
| 4 | Red Bull | 272 | -351 | |
| 5 | Williams | 101 | -522 | |
