The 2025 Azerbaijan Grand Prix had all of the thrills and spills
that one might expect from the Baku City Circuit. The high-speed
track has thrown up various moments of drama during its short
history on the F1 schedule, and this year's edition was no
different. Saturday's qualifying session saw six red flags deployed
for various incidents, a new record for F1. While the grand prix on
Sunday was a calmer affair, there were still plenty of talking
points from the star performers and the individuals who were left
disappointed. So, who has made the RacingNews365 list of winners
and losers for the 2025 F1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix? Winner – Max
Verstappen This was vintage Max Verstappen. His display throughout
the weekend was reminiscent of his dominant 2023 campaign and
seemed to serve as a reminder – a message, even – as to why he
still should be considered the strongest driver on the grid. In Q3
on Saturday, as rain began to freckle the circuit, Verstappen
brushed off the concerns of a slippery track surface to improve his
lap time on his final effort. He boasted a near half-second gap to
his closest competitor, and on Sunday, he survived the start on
hard tyres and a safety car restart that followed soon after. From
there, Verstappen distanced himself from the rest of the pack and
took victory after leading every lap, while also logging the
fastest lap to take his sixth career grand slam – matching Lewis
Hamilton's figure. Only Jim Clark has more career grand slams with
eight. It was pure class by Verstappen all weekend and easily
stands as one of the strongest performances from an individual that
we have seen this season. Loser – McLaren The Azerbaijan race
weekend was just the second time this year that McLaren has failed
to get a car onto the podium. And in Baku, it never even had a
sniff. Championship leader Oscar Piastri endured the worst race
weekend of his F1 career, but was let off the hook by a poor
display from team-mate Lando Norris. A crash on Saturday during Q3
cemented Piastri's starting position in ninth place, giving him
work to do to ensure he exited the weekend with an even bigger
margin to title rival Norris. But after launching himself off the
line too early at the race start, Piastri dropped to the back of
the field as he scrambled to recover from his mistake. Things went
from bad to worse when, just a handful of corners later, he found
himself in a barrier and out of the grand prix. It presented a huge
opportunity for Norris to climb the order and eat into the 31-point
deficit that was created following his engine failure at Zandvoort
last month. However, Norris got stuck in a DRS train and could
progress no higher than seventh, ensuring he walked away with only
six points. His efforts were also not helped by yet another slow
pit stop, which may have proved costly in the fight for fifth.
McLaren will likely rock up in Singapore with all guns blazing, but
there will be frustrations in the Piastri and Norris camps that
they could not capitalise on the struggles endured by one another.
Winner – Carlos Sainz Carlos Sainz's maiden season at Williams has
been filled with struggles and mishaps, with Alex Albon scoring a
majority of the team's points so far this year. But Baku was
Sainz's turn for the spotlight, and the Spaniard jumped at the
opportunity to clinch his first piece of silverware at his new
team. A blistering qualifying effort on Saturday in mixed
conditions saw Sainz bring his Williams car onto the front row
alongside Verstappen. His pace throughout the grand prix was
exceptional, and although he could not squash the overcut from
George Russell, Sainz's pace was enough to seal him third place on
the road. It marked his first points since the Canadian Grand Prix
in June and saw him double his 2025 points tally. More than that,
though, it will likely sit as an admirable highlight in a season
that has been filled with pain. Sainz is very much part of Williams
for the long haul, but his success in Baku offered a glimpse at the
maturity he can bring to the table. Loser – Ferrari Ferrari entered
the Baku weekend with hope that it could challenge towards the
front of the grid after showing flashes of pace in Italy earlier
this month. However, the way the weekend developed was far from
what it desired. After showcasing some positive pace on Friday,
Lewis Hamilton again fell victim to an early qualifying exit.
Despite progressing to Q3, Leclerc could only consolidate 10th
place on the starting grid after crashing in the early minutes of
the session. The Monégasque driver, who is normally an expert
around the Baku track with four consecutive pole positions, fell
short on this occasion. In the race, Hamilton made up a handful of
positions while Leclerc largely stayed put, leaving the team to
walk away from the weekend with six points and continuing the
disappointing display that has been on show all year. In a further
blow, its low score saw it drop to third in the constructors'
championship. Winner – Mercedes It could have been a very different
story at Mercedes this weekend, with George Russell almost
sidelined with a respiratory illness. The Briton will be patting
himself on the back for not ruling himself out of the drive, as a
clinical display on Sunday saw him bag second place and his seventh
podium of the year. It was a highly mature drive from the
27-year-old, and almost what we have come to expect from him in his
new position as team leader. His effort helped lift Mercedes into
second place in the constructors' championship, but it was only one
part of the equation. Having voiced hope that he could leave the
woes of the European leg of the season behind him and have an
improved final third of the campaign, Kimi Antonelli's goal to end
the year on a high began impressively. For only the second time
this year, he out-qualified Russell. On race day, it was by no
means a perfect display – but one that was a significant
improvement on what has become the norm for him of late as he
crossed the line in fourth place. It offers Antonelli a confidence
boost and an opportunity to apply what he has learned to the
upcoming rounds, as he attempts to convince many that he was not
hired too early by Mercedes. Loser – Alex Albon Albon joined in on
the celebrations underneath the podium on Sunday as the Williams
team cheered on Sainz, who picked up the squad's first top-three
result in four years. But underneath the applause and the beaming
smile, there must be a crushing sensation weighing on him. Taking a
look at the story of the season to date, it would have been a fair
bet to expect to see Albon on the podium before Sainz. The Thai
driver has been sensational this year with multiple point-scoring
results, leaving him eighth in the drivers' championship and well
out of reach from those behind. Albon's Baku weekend unravelled
during Q1 on Saturday when he hit the inside of Turn 1 in a very
uncharacteristic error. In the race, he progressed up to 13th place
but picked up two penalty points and a time penalty for a clumsy
shunt with Franco Colapinto. It was an unusually poor weekend for
Albon, one that he will quickly seek to erase from the memory – but
that will be easier said than done as the Williams team celebrates
Sainz's podium. His stock still remains high, but there may be some
bitterness from him that Sainz has achieved a podium in his first
season with Williams, while he is still waiting for his first at
Grove in his fourth campaign with the squad.
that one might expect from the Baku City Circuit. The high-speed
track has thrown up various moments of drama during its short
history on the F1 schedule, and this year's edition was no
different. Saturday's qualifying session saw six red flags deployed
for various incidents, a new record for F1. While the grand prix on
Sunday was a calmer affair, there were still plenty of talking
points from the star performers and the individuals who were left
disappointed. So, who has made the RacingNews365 list of winners
and losers for the 2025 F1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix? Winner – Max
Verstappen This was vintage Max Verstappen. His display throughout
the weekend was reminiscent of his dominant 2023 campaign and
seemed to serve as a reminder – a message, even – as to why he
still should be considered the strongest driver on the grid. In Q3
on Saturday, as rain began to freckle the circuit, Verstappen
brushed off the concerns of a slippery track surface to improve his
lap time on his final effort. He boasted a near half-second gap to
his closest competitor, and on Sunday, he survived the start on
hard tyres and a safety car restart that followed soon after. From
there, Verstappen distanced himself from the rest of the pack and
took victory after leading every lap, while also logging the
fastest lap to take his sixth career grand slam – matching Lewis
Hamilton's figure. Only Jim Clark has more career grand slams with
eight. It was pure class by Verstappen all weekend and easily
stands as one of the strongest performances from an individual that
we have seen this season. Loser – McLaren The Azerbaijan race
weekend was just the second time this year that McLaren has failed
to get a car onto the podium. And in Baku, it never even had a
sniff. Championship leader Oscar Piastri endured the worst race
weekend of his F1 career, but was let off the hook by a poor
display from team-mate Lando Norris. A crash on Saturday during Q3
cemented Piastri's starting position in ninth place, giving him
work to do to ensure he exited the weekend with an even bigger
margin to title rival Norris. But after launching himself off the
line too early at the race start, Piastri dropped to the back of
the field as he scrambled to recover from his mistake. Things went
from bad to worse when, just a handful of corners later, he found
himself in a barrier and out of the grand prix. It presented a huge
opportunity for Norris to climb the order and eat into the 31-point
deficit that was created following his engine failure at Zandvoort
last month. However, Norris got stuck in a DRS train and could
progress no higher than seventh, ensuring he walked away with only
six points. His efforts were also not helped by yet another slow
pit stop, which may have proved costly in the fight for fifth.
McLaren will likely rock up in Singapore with all guns blazing, but
there will be frustrations in the Piastri and Norris camps that
they could not capitalise on the struggles endured by one another.
Winner – Carlos Sainz Carlos Sainz's maiden season at Williams has
been filled with struggles and mishaps, with Alex Albon scoring a
majority of the team's points so far this year. But Baku was
Sainz's turn for the spotlight, and the Spaniard jumped at the
opportunity to clinch his first piece of silverware at his new
team. A blistering qualifying effort on Saturday in mixed
conditions saw Sainz bring his Williams car onto the front row
alongside Verstappen. His pace throughout the grand prix was
exceptional, and although he could not squash the overcut from
George Russell, Sainz's pace was enough to seal him third place on
the road. It marked his first points since the Canadian Grand Prix
in June and saw him double his 2025 points tally. More than that,
though, it will likely sit as an admirable highlight in a season
that has been filled with pain. Sainz is very much part of Williams
for the long haul, but his success in Baku offered a glimpse at the
maturity he can bring to the table. Loser – Ferrari Ferrari entered
the Baku weekend with hope that it could challenge towards the
front of the grid after showing flashes of pace in Italy earlier
this month. However, the way the weekend developed was far from
what it desired. After showcasing some positive pace on Friday,
Lewis Hamilton again fell victim to an early qualifying exit.
Despite progressing to Q3, Leclerc could only consolidate 10th
place on the starting grid after crashing in the early minutes of
the session. The Monégasque driver, who is normally an expert
around the Baku track with four consecutive pole positions, fell
short on this occasion. In the race, Hamilton made up a handful of
positions while Leclerc largely stayed put, leaving the team to
walk away from the weekend with six points and continuing the
disappointing display that has been on show all year. In a further
blow, its low score saw it drop to third in the constructors'
championship. Winner – Mercedes It could have been a very different
story at Mercedes this weekend, with George Russell almost
sidelined with a respiratory illness. The Briton will be patting
himself on the back for not ruling himself out of the drive, as a
clinical display on Sunday saw him bag second place and his seventh
podium of the year. It was a highly mature drive from the
27-year-old, and almost what we have come to expect from him in his
new position as team leader. His effort helped lift Mercedes into
second place in the constructors' championship, but it was only one
part of the equation. Having voiced hope that he could leave the
woes of the European leg of the season behind him and have an
improved final third of the campaign, Kimi Antonelli's goal to end
the year on a high began impressively. For only the second time
this year, he out-qualified Russell. On race day, it was by no
means a perfect display – but one that was a significant
improvement on what has become the norm for him of late as he
crossed the line in fourth place. It offers Antonelli a confidence
boost and an opportunity to apply what he has learned to the
upcoming rounds, as he attempts to convince many that he was not
hired too early by Mercedes. Loser – Alex Albon Albon joined in on
the celebrations underneath the podium on Sunday as the Williams
team cheered on Sainz, who picked up the squad's first top-three
result in four years. But underneath the applause and the beaming
smile, there must be a crushing sensation weighing on him. Taking a
look at the story of the season to date, it would have been a fair
bet to expect to see Albon on the podium before Sainz. The Thai
driver has been sensational this year with multiple point-scoring
results, leaving him eighth in the drivers' championship and well
out of reach from those behind. Albon's Baku weekend unravelled
during Q1 on Saturday when he hit the inside of Turn 1 in a very
uncharacteristic error. In the race, he progressed up to 13th place
but picked up two penalty points and a time penalty for a clumsy
shunt with Franco Colapinto. It was an unusually poor weekend for
Albon, one that he will quickly seek to erase from the memory – but
that will be easier said than done as the Williams team celebrates
Sainz's podium. His stock still remains high, but there may be some
bitterness from him that Sainz has achieved a podium in his first
season with Williams, while he is still waiting for his first at
Grove in his fourth campaign with the squad.
The post Vintage Max Verstappen and mediocre McLaren – Azerbaijan GP Winners and Losers appeared first on RacingNews365.