Inching closer to the finale, Max Verstappen secured a dominant victory, leading the race from start to finish after starting on pole with back-to-back wins in a row. Championship leader Oscar Piastri had a disastrous weekend. After crashing in a chaotic qualifying session and starting 9th, he had another incident on the very first lap of the race, crashing into the wall at Turn 5 and retiring.
While Piastri's retirement was a major blow, his teammate and title rival Lando Norris could only manage a 7th place finish. Despite Piastri's DNF, Norris's limited progress meant the championship gap was only reduced by a small margin. During the race, a slow pit stop of over four seconds due to a problem with the front-right wheel fitting cost Norris crucial track position.
This pit stop error dropped him behind other cars he had been running ahead of, including Yuki Tsunoda. After the slow stop, Norris found himself trapped in a DRS train behind Tsunoda and Liam Lawson. With the long straight and difficult overtaking nature of the Baku circuit, he was unable to find a way past, despite having fresher tires.
Race winners
Taking advantage of situation, George Russell's strong second-place finish at the 2025 Azerbaijan Grand Prix came from a starting position of fifth. Russell extended his first stint on the durable hard tires. He pitted on lap 39 for the medium compound, which proved to be a key strategic move. This late pit stop allowed him to emerge from the pits ahead of his teammate Antonelli and Carlos Sainz of Williams, putting him in second place behind race leader Max Verstappen.
From the start of the race, Sainz drove a clean and steady race, showing impressive pace in his Williams car. He held his second-place position for much of the race, managing his tires and fending off the cars behind him. It was his first with Williams since moving from Ferrari for the 2025 season. He had faced a difficult year with a lot of bad luck and incidents, making this result a huge emotional victory.
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