2025 Azerbaijan Grand Prix

2025 Azerbaijan Grand Prix
2025 Azerbaijan Grand Prix
Race 17 of 24 in the 2025 Formula One World Championship
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	Layout of the Baku City Circuit
Race details
Date	21 September 2025
Official name	Formula 1 Qatar Airways Azerbaijan Grand Prix 2025
Location	Baku City Circuit; Baku, Azerbaijan
Course	Street circuit
Course length	6.003 km (3.730 miles)
Distance	51 laps, 306.049 km (190.170 miles)
Weather	Cloudy
Pole position
Driver	Max Verstappen;
Time	1:41.117
Fastest lap
Driver	Max Verstappen
Time	1:43.388 on lap 50
Podium
First	Max Verstappen;
Second	George Russell;
Third	Carlos Sainz Jr.;
	Lap leaders ;

The 2025 Azerbaijan Grand Prix (officially known as the Formula 1 Qatar Airways Azerbaijan Grand Prix 2025) was a Formula One motor race held on 21 September 2025 at the Baku City Circuit in Baku, Azerbaijan. It was the seventeenth round of the 2025 Formula One World Championship.

Max Verstappen (Red Bull) converted his pole position to win. It was his second Baku win and his sixth grand chelem. He was joined on the podium by George Russell (Mercedes) and Carlos Sainz Jr. (Williams). Sainz scored Williams' first podium since the rain-curtailed 2021 Belgian Grand Prix and Williams' first podium from a full race distance since the 2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Championship leader Oscar Piastri crashed out during the first lap, marking his first retirement since the 2023 United States Grand Prix.

Background

The event was held at the Baku City Circuit in Baku for the ninth time in the circuit's history, having previously held one edition of the European Grand Prix in 2016, across the weekend of 19–21 September.^[2] The Grand Prix was the seventeenth round of the 2025 Formula One World Championship and the eighth running of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.^[3]

Championship standings before the race

Going into the weekend, Oscar Piastri led the Drivers' Championship with 324 points, 31 points ahead of teammate Lando Norris in second and 94 ahead of Max Verstappen in third. McLaren, with 617 points, led the Constructors' Championship from Ferrari and Mercedes, who were second and third with 280 and 260 points, respectively.^[4]

Championship permutations

World Constructors' Championship leader McLaren had an opportunity to secure its tenth title at this event, and the second in a row. With eight rounds remaining in the season, a maximum of 389 points could still be scored. McLaren had the opportunity to secure the title if they outscored Ferrari by nine points, and Mercedes failed to outscore McLaren by 12 points, and Red Bull Racing failed to outscore McLaren by 33 points. McLaren had the opportunity to secure the title by achieving either a 1–2 or 1–3 finish, regardless of where anyone else finished.^[5]

Entrants

The drivers and teams were the same as published in the season entry list with two exceptions;^[6] Yuki Tsunoda at Red Bull Racing was in the seat originally held by Liam Lawson before the latter was demoted back to Racing Bulls from the Japanese Grand Prix onward,^[7] and Franco Colapinto replaced Jack Doohan at Alpine from the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix onward until at least the Austrian Grand Prix on a rotating seat basis.^[8] Before the Austrian Grand Prix, it was confirmed that Colapinto would retain his seat with the team, effectively on a race-by-race basis.^[9]

Tyre choices

Tyre supplier Pirelli brought the C4, C5, and C6 tyre compounds—the softest three in their range (designated hard, medium, and soft, respectively)—for teams to use at the event.^[10]

Practice

Three free practice sessions were held for the event. The first practice session was held on 19 September 2025, at 12:30 local time (UTC+4), and was topped by Lando Norris (McLaren) ahead of teammate Oscar Piastri and Charles Leclerc (Ferrari). The session was disrupted by a lengthy red flag due to debris on track. Further issues with the kerbs on turn 16 delayed the session further. The second free practice session was held on the same day, at 16:00 local time, and was topped by Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) ahead of teammate Leclerc and George Russell (Mercedes). The third free practice session was be held on 20 September 2025, at 12:30 local time, and was topped by Norris ahead of Max Verstappen (Red Bull) and Piastri.^[1]^[11]

Qualifying

Qualifying was held on 20 September 2025, at 16:00 local time (UTC+4), and determined the starting grid order for the race.^[1]

Qualifying report

Six red flags were observed during qualifying, breaking the previous record of five red flags during a single qualification session set jointly at the 2022 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix and the 2024 São Paulo Grand Prix. Due to the stoppages, the session, scheduled to run over one hour, ran for over two hours.^[12]

During the first session, Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) topped the session before Alexander Albon (Williams) crashed at turn 1, breaking his steering rack, stopping the session and disallowing Oscar Piastri (McLaren) a chance to do a flying lap. The session was suspended for eight minutes; shortly after it resumed, Nico Hülkenberg (Sauber) crashed at turn 4, breaking his front wing and inflicting heavy floor damage to his car. A ten-minute suspension followed; as the session ended, another red flag was thrown due to Pierre Gasly (Alpine) going off the track at turn 4. Shortly afterward, teammate Franco Colapinto hit the wall nearby, while Lando Norris (McLaren) topped the session. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) had a scrappy session, having his times deleted and running poorly across the track, he posted a time that was enough to get him out of the bottom five drivers, who were Colapinto, Hülkenberg, Esteban Ocon (Haas), Gasly and Albon.^[13] Ocon would be disqualified following the session due to a rear wing infringement and started the race from last.^[14]

The start of the second session was delayed to observe track cleaning operations. Running lasted for three minutes before Oliver Bearman (Haas) hit the wall at turn 2, which led to his suspension being broken and a fourth red flag being observed. No further incidents were observed during this session, and the eliminated drivers were Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin), Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari), Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber), Lance Stroll (Aston Martin), and Bearman.^[13]

The third session was suspended after four minutes when Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) found the wall at turn 15. As he had not set a time, he would start tenth. This crash ensured that Leclerc would not start on pole for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix for the first time since 2019, where he also crashed in qualifying. Carlos Sainz Jr. (Williams) was on provisional pole position ahead of Lawson and Isack Hadjar (both Racing Bulls). Immediately after the session resumed, Piastri put his car in the wall at turn 3, facilitating the last red flag of the session; similarly to Leclerc, he was unable to set a time, so he started ninth. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) took pole position ahead of Sainz and Lawson,^[13] Antonelli qualified in fourth, his highest starting position since the Canadian Grand Prix.^[15] Norris was unable to capitalise on his teammate's error, himself making mistakes during his qualifying lap to start seventh.^[13] Sainz recorded Williams' first front row start since Russell qualified second at the 2021 Belgian Grand Prix.^[16]

Qualifying classification

Pos.	No.	Driver	Constructor	Qualifying times			Final grid
Pos.	No.	Driver	Constructor	Q1	Q2	Q3	Final grid
1	1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT	1:41.331	1:41.255	1:41.117	1
2	55	Carlos Sainz Jr.	Williams-Mercedes	1:42.635	1:41.675	1:41.595	2
3	30	Liam Lawson	Racing Bulls-Honda RBPT	1:42.257	1:41.537	1:41.707	3
4	12	Kimi Antonelli	Mercedes	1:42.247	1:41.464	1:41.717	4
5	63	George Russell	Mercedes	1:41.646	1:41.455	1:42.070	5
6	22	Yuki Tsunoda	Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT	1:42.347	1:41.788	1:42.143	6
7	4	Lando Norris	McLaren-Mercedes	1:41.322	1:41.396	1:42.239	7
8	6	Isack Hadjar	Racing Bulls-Honda RBPT	1:41.656	1:41.647	1:42.372	8
9	81	Oscar Piastri	McLaren-Mercedes	1:41.839	1:41.414	No time	9
10	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	1:41.458	1:41.519	No time	10
11	14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin Aramco-Mercedes	1:42.211	1:41.857	N/A	11
12	44	Lewis Hamilton	Ferrari	1:41.821	1:42.183	N/A	12
13	5	Gabriel Bortoleto	Kick Sauber-Ferrari	1:42.511	1:42.277	N/A	13
14	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin Aramco-Mercedes	1:42.101	1:43.061	N/A	14
15	87	Oliver Bearman	Haas-Ferrari	1:42.666	No time	N/A	15
16	43	Franco Colapinto	Alpine-Renault	1:42.779	N/A	N/A	16
17	27	Nico Hülkenberg	Kick Sauber-Ferrari	1:42.916	N/A	N/A	17
18	10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine-Renault	1:43.139	N/A	N/A	18
19	23	Alexander Albon	Williams-Mercedes	1:43.778	N/A	N/A	19
DSQ	31	Esteban Ocon	Haas-Ferrari	1:43.004	N/A	N/A	20¹
107% time: 1:48.414
Source:^[17]^[18]

Notes

^1 – Esteban Ocon qualified 18th, but was disqualified for a technical infringement on his car. He was allowed to race at the stewards' discretion.^[18]

Race

The race was held on 21 September 2025, at 15:00 local time (UTC+4), and was run for 51 laps.^[1]

Race report

Championship leader Oscar Piastri (McLaren) topped off his mistake-laden weekend by jumping the start, triggering the car's anti-stall and dropping him to last as a result. He eventually crashed at the sixth turn on the first lap, marking his first retirement since the 2023 United States Grand Prix, triggering the safety car that came in on lap 4. Fernando Alonso, who started in 11th, behind Piastri, incorrectly reacted to Piastri's jump start, and was penalised for jumping the start.^[19] Mercedes' George Russell, who was feeling unwell throughout the weekend,^[20] started with hard tyres, had a bad restart following the safety car ending at lap 4, and got passed by both Tsunoda and Antonelli but managed to overtake the former. On lap 17, while attempting to overtake Franco Colapinto at turn 7, Williams' Alexander Albon hit the rear left of Colapinto, causing the latter to spin and triggering a brief safety car, but Colapinto managed to recover, and Albon was given a ten-second time penalty as a result. With Antonelli pitting earlier, Russell took advantage of the hard tyres, closing the gap to Williams' Carlos Sainz Jr., and successfully overcut Sainz on lap 40 with a well-timed pit stop.^[19]

Polesitter Max Verstappen (Red Bull) converted pole position to win his fourth race of the season, and marked consecutive race wins for the first time in the season. Russell finished in second, his seventh podium of the season.^[19] Sainz, who finished in third, scored his team's first podium since the rain-curtailed 2021 Belgian Grand Prix.^[21] Verstappen, who led the whole race, scored his sixth grand chelem of his Formula One career.^[22] Antonelli finished fourth, Liam Lawson finished in fifth place, scoring his best finish in his career, and his teammate Isack Hadjar managed to get tenth place, with Racing Bulls successfully gaining points five races in a row. Norris finished seventh, and Lewis Hamilton finished in eighth.^[19]

Race classification

Pos.	No.	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT	51	1:33:26.408	1	25
2	63	George Russell	Mercedes	51	+14.609	5	18
3	55	Carlos Sainz Jr.	Williams-Mercedes	51	+19.199	2	15
4	12	Kimi Antonelli	Mercedes	51	+21.760	4	12
5	30	Liam Lawson	Racing Bulls-Honda RBPT	51	+33.290	3	10
6	22	Yuki Tsunoda	Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT	51	+33.808	6	8
7	4	Lando Norris	McLaren-Mercedes	51	+34.227	7	6
8	44	Lewis Hamilton	Ferrari	51	+36.310	12	4
9	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	51	+36.774	10	2
10	6	Isack Hadjar	Racing Bulls-Honda RBPT	51	+38.982	8	1
11	5	Gabriel Bortoleto	Kick Sauber-Ferrari	51	+1:07.606	13
12	87	Oliver Bearman	Haas-Ferrari	51	+1.08.262	15
13	23	Alexander Albon	Williams-Mercedes	51	+1:12.870¹	19
14	31	Esteban Ocon	Haas-Ferrari	51	+1:17.580	20
15	14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin Aramco-Mercedes	51	+1:18.707	11
16	27	Nico Hülkenberg	Kick Sauber-Ferrari	51	+1:20.237	17
17	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin Aramco-Mercedes	51	+1:36.392	14
18	10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine-Renault	50	+1 lap	18
19	43	Franco Colapinto	Alpine-Renault	50	+1 lap	16
Ret	81	Oscar Piastri	McLaren-Mercedes	0	Accident	9
Source:^[18]^[23]^[24]