2025 Azerbaijan Formula 1 Grand Prix Results & Report
Event: Azerbaijan F1 Grand Prix
Track: Baku City Circuit
Weather: Sunny & dry 20°C
Tarmac: Dry 24°C
Humidity: 60%
Wind: 5.4 km/h East
Pressure: 1022 hPa
Max Verstappen scored his 67th Formula 1 race win today. The Dutchman won the Azerbaijan Grand Prix for the second time, after his previous victory in 2022, and claimed his fourth win of the 2025 season. Starting from pole, Verstappen led all 51 laps and set the fastest lap to complete the sixth Grand Slam of his F1 career. It was the 126th Formula 1 victory for Red Bull Racing and the team's fifth win in Baku.
Verstappen Dominates Baku as Sainz Takes Williams Podium
Max Verstappen delivered a commanding lights-to-flag victory in the 2025 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, converting pole position into his second consecutive win and fourth victory of the season. The Red Bull driver led every lap around the Baku City Circuit and eventually crossed the line 14.609 seconds ahead of George Russell, while Carlos Sainz completed a memorable afternoon with his first podium for Williams.
Behind the dominant winner, the race was shaped by Oscar Piastri's extraordinary first-lap retirement, Mercedes' long-stint strategy, Sainz's fight to preserve a podium and a four-car battle involving Liam Lawson, Yuki Tsunoda, Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton. Unlike Saturday's record-breaking qualifying chaos, Sunday produced only one Safety Car – but it came almost immediately.
Piastri's Race Ends on the Opening Lap
Verstappen started from pole on the Hard tyre, while front-row starter Sainz opted for the Medium. The Dutchman made a clean launch and covered the Williams into Turn 1, with Lawson and Kimi Antonelli retaining third and fourth behind them.
The drama instead came from ninth on the grid. Championship leader Oscar Piastri moved before the start signal, stopped again as anti-stall activated and dropped to the rear of the field before he had even reached Turn 1. His afternoon then went from bad to worse when he locked up at Turn 5 and crashed into the barriers.
The Safety Car was deployed and Piastri became the race's only retirement. The stewards subsequently handed him a five-second penalty for the false start, although the penalty became academic following his retirement. Fernando Alonso, who had reacted to Piastri's movement from the grid, was also given a five-second penalty for a false start.
Verstappen Controls the Restart
The Safety Car came in at the end of Lap 4 and Verstappen immediately began rebuilding his advantage. Norris, who had started seventh, had already slipped behind Isack Hadjar and then lost another position to Charles Leclerc at the restart.
At the front, Sainz initially kept Verstappen within sight while Lawson held third ahead of Antonelli. Russell had lost a place to Tsunoda during the opening exchanges but reclaimed it at Turn 3 on Lap 10.
Verstappen gradually stretched his lead, while Sainz pulled outside Lawson's DRS range and established himself in second. Behind them, Antonelli and Russell began applying pressure to the Racing Bulls driver as the race settled into what increasingly looked like a one-stop contest.
Albon Penalised After Colapinto Collision
Further back, Alex Albon and Franco Colapinto became involved in the race's other significant incident. After their early stops, Albon attempted to pass the Alpine at Turn 5 and made contact, sending Colapinto into a spin.
The stewards judged Albon responsible for the collision and handed the Williams driver a 10-second time penalty. Both drivers continued, with Albon eventually finishing 13th and Colapinto 19th.
Mercedes Uses Strategy to Beat Sainz
The strategic phase began when Mercedes brought Antonelli in at the end of Lap 18, switching him from Mediums to Hards. Ferrari followed with Leclerc at the end of Lap 19, while Lawson stopped on Lap 20.
Williams kept Sainz running until Lap 27 before moving him from Mediums to Hards. That promoted Russell, who had started on the Hard tyre, into second and allowed Mercedes to extend his first stint considerably longer than the Williams.
It proved decisive in the battle for second place. Russell remained out until Lap 39 before switching to Mediums and emerged comfortably ahead of Sainz. The strategy had effectively converted Russell's fifth-place starting position into second without the need to pass the Williams on track.
Verstappen was the final front-runner to stop, coming in on Lap 40 for Medium tyres. Red Bull completed the service cleanly and he returned to the circuit still comfortably in the lead.
Norris Loses Time in Slow McLaren Stop
McLaren had an opportunity to make significant championship gains after Piastri's opening-lap retirement, but Norris struggled to work his way through traffic.
Having started on the Medium tyre, Norris extended his opening stint until Lap 37. McLaren then switched him to Hards, but a problem at the front-right resulted in a 4.1-second stop and cost valuable time. Norris rejoined behind Lawson and Leclerc rather than emerging further up the order.
Tsunoda stopped one lap later and initially rejoined ahead of Lawson, but the Racing Bulls driver immediately fought back and reclaimed the position on the run towards Turn 3.
Norris eventually passed Leclerc at the end of Lap 40 and joined the battle for fifth, but passing proved extremely difficult despite the McLaren's pace.
Russell Secures Second as Sainz Makes Williams History
With Verstappen disappearing up the road, attention turned to the fight behind him. Russell's long first stint had secured second place and the Mercedes driver controlled the closing stages despite having battled illness throughout the Baku weekend.
Sainz came under pressure from Antonelli late in the race but kept the Mercedes behind to take third. It was the Spaniard's first podium as a Williams driver and the team's first Formula 1 podium since George Russell finished second at the rain-shortened 2021 Belgian grand prix.
The result was particularly significant after Sainz had qualified second in Saturday's extraordinary six-red-flag session. This time there was no qualifying lottery to explain the result: Williams and Sainz converted the front-row start into a podium over a full 51-lap race.
Lawson Wins Four-Car Battle for Fifth
One of the most intense battles of the closing stages developed behind Antonelli. Lawson led a closely packed group containing Tsunoda, Norris and, eventually, Hamilton.
Despite repeated pressure and the huge slipstream available along Baku's 2.2-kilometre flat-out section, Lawson held his ground to finish fifth. It was the best Grand Prix result of his Formula 1 career at that point.
Tsunoda crossed the line only 0.518s behind Lawson in sixth, with Norris another 0.419s back in seventh. The Red Bull driver successfully defended from Norris into Turn 1 on the final lap, preventing McLaren from extracting any more points from Piastri's retirement.
Ferrari Ends Difficult Weekend Eighth and Ninth
Ferrari's difficult Baku weekend ended with Lewis Hamilton eighth and Charles Leclerc ninth.
The pair had started on opposite strategies, with Leclerc on Mediums and Hamilton on Hards. Leclerc stopped earlier but became trapped behind Lawson, while Hamilton extended his opening stint until the end of Lap 36 before switching to Mediums.
With fresher tyres, Ferrari asked Leclerc to allow Hamilton through so the seven-time World Champion could attempt to close on Norris. When Hamilton was unable to make the pass, Ferrari instructed the drivers to reverse the positions on the final lap.
Hamilton slowed to return eighth place to his team-mate but misjudged the position of the finish line and crossed it 0.464s ahead of Leclerc. The result therefore remained Hamilton eighth and Leclerc ninth, with Hadjar completing the points positions in tenth.
Verstappen Completes a Baku Grand Slam
There was no such drama at the front. Verstappen continued increasing his advantage and set the fastest lap of the race – a 1:43.388 – on Lap 50 before taking the chequered flag 14.609 seconds ahead of Russell.
Having started from pole, led every one of the 51 laps, won the race and set fastest lap, Verstappen completed the sixth Grand Slam of his Formula 1 career. The achievement moved him level with Lewis Hamilton on six, behind only Jim Clark's record of eight.
It was Verstappen's 67th career victory, his second Azerbaijan Grand Prix win after 2022 and his second consecutive victory following his success at Monza two weeks earlier. Red Bull also recorded its 126th Formula 1 victory and fifth win on the streets of Baku.
Championship Lead Cut as McLaren Misses Opportunity
Piastri had arrived in Baku with a 31-point advantage over Norris, but his first retirement of the season gave his team-mate a major opportunity to close the gap. Norris' seventh place earned only six points, reducing Piastri's championship lead to 25 points with seven Grands Prix remaining.
Verstappen also continued to reduce his deficit. His victory moved him to within 69 points of Piastri, although both McLaren drivers remained ahead of him in the standings.
McLaren also missed the opportunity to secure the Constructors' Championship in Azerbaijan. After dominating much of the 2025 season, Baku produced the team's weakest race result of the campaign to that point: Norris seventh and Piastri out on Lap 1.
Final Result
Behind Verstappen, Russell and Sainz, Antonelli finished fourth ahead of Lawson, Tsunoda and Norris. Hamilton and Leclerc took eighth and ninth for Ferrari, while Hadjar collected the final point in tenth.
Gabriel Bortoleto finished 11th ahead of Oliver Bearman, Albon, Esteban Ocon and Alonso. Nico Hülkenberg took 16th ahead of Lance Stroll, while Pierre Gasly and Colapinto completed the classified finishers one lap down. Piastri was the race's only retirement.
Classification 2025 Azerbaijan GP
Race penalties:
- Oscar Piastri, McLaren #81 – 5-second time penalty for a false start.
- Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin #14 – 5-second time penalty for a false start, served during his pit stop.
- Alexander Albon, Williams #23 – 10-second time penalty for causing a collision with Franco Colapinto.
Fastest lap: 1:43.388 by Max Verstappen, Red Bull RB21 #1, on Lap 50.
Quickest sector times:
- Sector 1: 36.446s – Max Verstappen, Red Bull RB21 #1.
- Sector 2: 41.638s – Max Verstappen, Red Bull RB21 #1.
- Sector 3: 24.655s – Lando Norris, McLaren MCL39 #4.
| 2025 Azerbaijan F1 GP Results |
| FP1 2025 Azerbaijan F1 GP |
| FP2 2025 Azerbaijan F1 GP |
| FP3 2025 Azerbaijan F1 GP |
| Quali 2025 Azerbaijan F1 GP |
| Start grid 2025 Azerbaijan F1 GP |
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5 F1 Fan comments on “2025 Azerbaijan Formula 1 Grand Prix Results & Report”
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Great drive of Verstappen!
I told you so the odds for Piastri to get a DNF were bigger 😉
Cant beat the odds, Max was the class of the field,loved watching stella squirm a bit lol
I was mainly referring to unreliability-induced DNFs.
In the record books a dnf is a dnf however the coin is spun
What an error by Piastri & he’s lucky that Norris didn’t gain more than six points on him.
What a defensive drive by Lawson.
Albon was rather clumsy against Colapinto instead of waiting for a better opportunity.
Nice overcut by Russell & Norris would’ve achieved the same feat without the delay, so McLaren let him down in the pit lane again.
Hamilton simply began decelerating too close to the timing line, which was evident on the world feed footage as their group happened to be the focus for race-finishing timing line crossings.