Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen took a dominant Azerbaijan Grand Prix victory almost 15 seconds ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell as Carlos Sainz gave Williams its first podium finish in four years with third place. It was a disappointing weekend for McLaren, however, with championship leader Oscar Piastri crashed out on lap one and title contender Lando Norris finished seventh. 

When the lights went out at the start Verstappen got away well from pole to take the lead ahead of Sainz, with Racing Bulls driver Liam Lawson holding his starting position of third. 

However, further back in the top 10 drama was unfolding. Piastri, starting from ninth, moved in his grid slot ahead of the start. His anti-stall engaged and as he tried to get going, the full field swept past, dropping the championship leader driver to last. The Australian set about trying to recover but going into Turn 5 he locked up, hit the wall and exited the race. 

The Safety Car was deployed and after a three-lap neutralisation the action got underway again. Verstappen controlled the restart well and within a handful of corners he had built a 1.4s gap to Sainz. Behind them fourth-placed Kimi Antonelli squeezed team-mate Russell towards the barriers and Red Bull’s Yuki pounced, worming his way past the Briton to steal P5. Russell soon began to fight back and on lap nine he closed right up to the Japanese driver and powered past on the run to Turn 3. 

At the front, Verstappen was in full control and by lap 16 the Dutchman had a solid five-second lead over Sainz who was in turn more than three tenths clear of Lawson who was being pressured by both Mercedes drivers. 

Antonelli, bottled up behind Lawson, was the first of the front runners to make a pit stop, diving in at the end of lap 18 to swap his starting Mediums for Hard tyres. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was next in and he too made the same switch on the following lap, with Lawson pitting on the next lap. 

At half distance, Max was 7.5s clear of Sainz whose four-second advantage over Russell was slowly being eroded. Yuki was four seconds behind the lead Mercedes and two seconds clear of Norris who was going long on his starting Medium tyres. 

Sainz made his switch from Mediums to Hard tyres on lap 28 and he rejoined in sixth place, behind Hard tyre starter Hamilton. That promoted Yuki to a podium position, but our Japanese driver had Norris two seconds behind.

Norris made his stop at the end of lap 38, attempting to undercut Tsunoda, but the McLaren driver had a slow stop and the four-second delay put him behind both Lawson and Leclerc.

Tsunoda made his stop on the next lap and he eventually slotted into P6, behind Lawson and ahead of Leclerc and Norris. 

Verstappen finally made his stop for Mediums on lap 41 and he returned to the lead ahead of Russell who had emerged from his stop ahead of Sainz and Antonelli. The major battle became the one for fifth. 

Lawson rose to the challenge, however, and despite come under heavy pressure from Tsunoda over the final quarter of the race, the New Zealander drove superbly to score his best ever result in F1 with fifth. 

Despite not being able to get past the Racing Bulls car, Tsunoda also held his nerve ahead of the hard-charging Norris and he scored his best result as a Red Bull driver with P6. Behind Norris, Hamilton snuck past Leclerc to take P8 at the flag. The final point went to Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar. 

At the front, Verstappen punched in the fastest lap on the penultimate tour to seal his sixth grand chelem. The result in Baku put him level with Lewis Hamilton and just two behind all-time record holder Jim Clark. 

2025 FIA Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix – Race 
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 51 1:33'26.408 
2 George Russell Mercedes 51 1:33'41.017 14.609
3 Carlos Sainz Williams/Mercedes 51 1:33'45.607 19.199
4 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 51 1:33'48.168 21.760
5 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 51 1:33'59.698 33.290
6 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull/Honda RBPT 51 1:34'00.216 33.808
7 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 51 1:34'00.635 34.227
8 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 51 1:34'02.718 36.310
9 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 51 1:34'03.182 36.774
10 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 51 1:34'05.390 38.982
11 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber/Ferrari 51 1:34'34.014 1'07.606
12 Oliver Bearman Haas/Ferrari 51 1:34'34.670 1'08.262
13 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 51 1:34'39.278 1'12.870
14 Esteban Ocon Haas/Ferrari 51 1:34'43.988 1'17.580
15 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 51 1:34'45.115 1'18.707
16 Nico Hülkenberg Sauber/Ferrari 51 1:34'46.645 1'20.237
17 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 51 1:35'02.800 1'36.392
18 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 50 1:33'30.273 1 lap /3.865
19 Franco Colapinto Alpine/Renault 50 1:33'32.733 1 lap /6.325
     Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 0 - Accident