Piastri retires in Baku and Verstappen takes advantage to win the Azerbaijan Grand Prix

Max Verstappen secured his fourth victory of the 2025 season by winning the Azerbaijan Grand Prix with absolute authority, leading all 51 laps on the Baku street circuit. The victory marked the sixth grand slam of his career, tying him with Lewis Hamilton in this statistic. Verstappen capitalized on Oscar Piastri's retirement on the first lap to close the gap in the championship, while Lando Norris could only manage seventh place, recovering six points over his McLaren teammate.

Piastri suffered one of the costliest retirements of his career when he crashed at turn 5 after experiencing problems at the start. The championship leader activated the anti-stall system following a false start, dropping to last place before losing control of his McLaren while trying to recover positions on the outside of the track.

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Sainz Celebrates First Podium with Williams

George Russell completed a solid weekend for Mercedes by finishing second, overcoming the health issues that plagued him throughout the event. Russell executed a perfect strategy that allowed him to overtake Carlos Sainz during the pit stop window.

Sainz achieved his first podium with Williams after starting from the second position. Sainz maintained the pace throughout the race on medium tires, but couldn't hold off Russell's advance when Mercedes found clean air on track.

Kimi Antonelli finished fourth for Mercedes, completing a productive day for the Brackley-based team in Baku.

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Norris Wastes Opportunity in Baku

Norris's seventh place was a missed opportunity for McLaren, having started from the same grid position. Norris faced difficulties overtaking on a track where dirty air severely limited his attacking capabilities.

The gap in the drivers' championship was reduced from 31 to 25 points, with Piastri maintaining the lead despite scoring zero in Baku. Norris needed to capitalize on his teammate's mistake, but the aerodynamic setup of his car did not allow him to generate enough overtaking opportunities.

Liam Lawson achieved his best result in Formula 1 by finishing fifth with Racing Bulls, resisting attacks from Yuki Tsunoda and Norris in the final laps. Lawson executed millimeter-perfect defenses at turn 16, using the DRS to maintain his advantage on the main straight.

Final Classification of the 2025 Azerbaijan Grand Prix

Ferrari had a difficult weekend with Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc finishing eighth and ninth respectively. Both drivers started from delayed grid positions and failed to generate the necessary pace to climb positions on a track that favors efficient aerodynamics.

Verstappen expressed his satisfaction with the victory: "I think this weekend has been incredible for us. Of course, last weekend was already great, but winning here again is fantastic. In the race, the car worked very well on both compounds. We had clean air the whole time and we could take care of the tires, it was quite straightforward."

Formula 1 now moves to the Singapore Grand Prix, scheduled for the weekend of October 3-5 at the Marina Bay street circuit.