Month: September 2025

Reigning world champion Max Verstappen achieved his 67th career victory in Formula 1 with a dominant lights to flag drive at Baku. His old Toro Rosso teammate Carlos Sainz scored a podium result for Williams.

The Red Bull driver took his second consecutive win at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, with the biggest drama was when Oscar Piastri crashing out on the first lap. His McLaren teammate and championship rival Lando Norris only managed seventh to make a small gain in the title fight.

Verstappen ran largely unopposed as a dramatic qualifying session which saw Williams driver Carlos Sainz and Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson provide a comfortable buffer between the world champion and his direct rivals from Mercedes, McLaren and Ferrari.

But Verstappen’s lightning pace through the streets of Baku showed that even in a straight fight it would have taken some doing to challenge the four-time champion. Starting on hard tyres, Verstappen delayed his only pitstop to mediums to lap 41 of 51 and then crossed the line with a 14-second lead on George Russell, who recovered from illness to take second for Mercedes.

A superb Sainz took the third step on the podium, his first for Williams, as he delivered an impressive drive from second on the grid but was powerless to keep Russell at bay.

One month after Lando’s retirement in Zandvoort, the 2025 title battle between the McLaren drivers affected Piastri with another swing as Oscar crashing out on the opening lap

After a shunt in Q3 which left the championship leader ninth on the grid, Piastri caused a false start and shuffled to the back as he struggled to get up to speed. As he attempted to regain his way back through the field, Piastri locked up on the dirty outside line into Turn 6 and slammed into the barriers at the same scene of his qualifying incident.

Meanwhile, Verstappen was able to safeguard his lead from Sainz, Lawson and both Mercedes cars, while Norris – who also suffered a poor qualifying session – had dropped one position to eighth after being passed by Isack Hadjar.

On the lap 5 restart, Russell was shuffled behind Tsunoda following fierce defending from Mercedes team-mate Antonelli, but soon repassed the Red Bull driver. Norris made a poor restart and was passed by Leclerc, with the pair then soon making their way past Hadjar.

The race turned into a battle of opposite strategies as medium starter Sainz was challenged by Russell on hards. Russell received clear air once Sainz pitted on lap 28 and the Mercedes driver built enough of a gap to come out ahead of the Williams to take over second. But Sainz did do enough to hold off the second Mercedes of Antonelli to claim an emotional maiden Williams podium, a reward for what has been a frustrating season so far.

Third-place starter Lawson initially looked to successfully fend off an undercut attempt by Antonelli, but was still picked off by Kimi on the following lap, who then simply drove away from the Racing Bulls car. Lawson then received the company of Charles Leclerc, who was also on the same medium-to-hard strategy.

Meanwhile, having started on mediums and being stuck behind hard-tyre runner Yuki Tsunoda, Norris delayed his only pitstop until the final stages of the race. But his undercut attempt failed due to a slow front-right tyre change, with the McLaren driver critically also dropping behind the Lawson/Leclerc battle.

As those two duels converged into an entertaining four-car melee for fifth, Lawson immediately pounced as Tsunoda’s tyres got up to temperature to pass his former team-mate, followed by Leclerc and Norris. Norris got by a fading Ferrari driver for seventh and then hunted down Lawson and Tsunoda in the final ten laps.

Lawson needed inch-perfect Turn 16 exits onto Baku’s long straight to keep Tsunoda and Norris behind, and by holding firm the Racing Bulls driver was rewarded with his best-ever race result in fifth. Under-pressure Tsunoda also grabbed a much-needed result in sixth, the Red Bull driver surviving a last-lap overtaking attempt from Norris.

Lando’s seventh place, the same position he started from, was a wasted opportunity to capitalise on Piastri’s exit, only closing the gap to his teammate by six points as Oscar now leads by 25 points.

Hamilton also passed Leclerc to attach his wagon to the Lawson DRS train, but was a spectator as he finished eighth ahead of his Scuderia teammate.

Hadjar claimed the final point in P10 after losing ground at the start, as other midfield teams struggled to gain an advantage. Fernando Alonso earned a five-second penalty for following Piastri into a false start, while Alex Albon was handed a ten-second penalty for a clumsy collision on Franco Colapinto which spun the Alpine driver around.

So a fantastic result for Red Bull with back-to-back victories from Max Verstappen. The upgrades to the RB21 at Monza has made the car competitive and to take another P1 at Baku is a positive step. Even Yuki Tsunoda was able to score a top six result for the team.

Super happy for Carlos Sainz scoring a podium finish for Williams. This was such a rewarding result after a solid qualifying result. What a smooth operator to take P3.

As for the championship fight between the Papayas. Oscar’s mistake was significant and yet Lando was unable to score big points to reduce the gap. McLaren had a chance to win the constructors’ title at Baku but following a disappointing qualifying and a single car finishing in the race, the opportunity to win will move onto Singapore.

Azerbaijan Grand Prix, race results:
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:33:26.408
2 George Russell Mercedes +14.609s
3 Carlos Sainz Williams +19.199s
4 Andrea Kimi Antonelli +21.760s
5 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls +33.290s
6 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull +33.808s
7 Lando Norris McLaren +34.227s
8 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +36.310s
9 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +36.774s
10 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls +38.982s
11 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber +67.606s
12 Oliver Bearman Haas +68.262s
13 Alexander Albon Williams +72.870s
14 Esteban Ocon Haas +77.580s
15 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +78.707s
16 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber +80.237s
17 Lance Stroll Aston Martin +96.392s
18 Pierre Gasly Alpine +1 lap
19 Franco Colapinto Alpine +1 lap
Oscar Piastri McLaren DNF

After six red flags due to many incidents around the Baku street circuit, it was inevitable that Max Verstappen came out on top with pole position for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

The reigning world champion scored a dramatic pole position in a messy qualifying in Baku, ahead of Carlos Sainz and Liam Lawson.

Sainz looked set for pole after being one of the only drivers to get a dry lap in during Q3 session affected by crashes and rain, but in the final seconds of qualifying Verstappen denied the Williams driver with a shock pole.

After six red flags had already caused long delays, drops of rain further derailed Q3 as Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc saw his chance for a fifth consecutive Baku pole ended in the Turn 15 barrier, which had already affected many throughout the session.

Leclerc’s crash was a big moment, as the ensuing red flag meant only Sainz, Lawson and Hadjar were able to finish their laps. And with the rain then intensifying it looked as though their grid positions were locked in.

But the light shower soon halted and the delay to repair the Turn 15 barriers meant there was still a window for the heavy hitters to strike.

As qualifying got underway once more championship leader Oscar Piastri looked the fastest car on track in sector one, but the McLaren driver misjudged his braking into Turn 3 and slammed into the outside wall.

That caused another red flag with three minutes, 41 seconds left on the clock, leaving just enough time for one more run, while Sainz was still on for pole in case of another interruption.

With more rain drops affecting grip levels, the likes of Lando Norris and George Russell missed out, but Red Bull’s Verstappen found enough to beat Sainz’s time to deny the Williams driver and taking his first-ever Baku pole for Red Bull.

Lawson was a brilliant third after improving his lap time, followed by Mercedes duo Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Russell, and Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda.

Norris was unable to take advantage on title rival Piastri’s crash and only qualified seventh followed by Hadjar and Piastri, while Leclerc was P10.

Even before the rain came, the treacherous gust of winds had already wreaked havoc. Q2 was red-flagged before cars had started a flying lap, with Haas driver Oliver Bearman breaking his suspension after a tap with the Turn 2 exit wall.

As the session resumed Leclerc provided further proof of the lack of grip by going off in Turn 1, accidentally also neutering Hamilton’s first flyer behind him, while on his next lap the Monegasque went straight on a Turn 3, putting himself under huge pressure.

On his final effort Leclerc did advance, moving up to fifth, while Hamilton was one of the victims of his teammate’s late flying lap, being dumped out in P12 alongside Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso.

In the second Red Bull under-pressure Tsunoda did managed to get through in P10, while Gabriel Bortoleto, Lance Stroll and Bearman followed the two world champions out.

Meanwhile, Verstappen advanced as the pacesetter in Q2, with his medium-tyre lap 0.141 seconds quicker than soft-tyred Norris and Piastri.

The first qualifying session was quickly red flagged for Alex Albon, who wrecked the front-left corner of his Williams against the inside wall at Turn 1.

After a brief delay all remaining cars got a banker lap in, with Hamilton going top for Ferrari, before a second red flag came out for an off by Nico Hulkenberg at Turn 4, breaking his Sauber’s front wing.

With six minutes remaining Antonelli was in danger of being eliminated after seeing his lap time deleted for crossing track limits. But the Mercedes driver delivered a clean lap to advance, as did fellow rookie Bortoleto.

Alpine’s Franco Colapinto did not follow their example after a bizarre Turn 4 incident. After teammate Pierre Gasly had gone off ahead of him, Franco then clattered into the outside wall at the same corner. Both Alpines were stuck in the drop zone as a result, with Esteban Ocon also eliminated alongside Hulkenberg and Albon.

So a crazy qualifiyng session that nearly took two hours to resolved due to the many red flags and yet it was Max Verstappen who finished in pole position. Kudos to Carlos Sainz achieving an excellent front row slot for Williams with Liam Lawson getting an impressive P3 for Racing Bulls.

As for the McLarens, Lando Norris was unable to take advantage from Oscar Piastri’s mistake in Q3 and is only P7, just two positions ahead of his teammate. With the mixed up grid, the Baku race is going to exciting.

Azerbaijan Grand Prix, qualifying positions:
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:41.117
2 Carlos Sainz Williams 1:41.595
3 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls 1:41.707
4 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:41.717
5 George Russell Mercedes 1:42.070
6 Yuki Tsuonda Red Bull 1:42.143
7 Lando Norris McLaren 1:42.239
8 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls 1:42.372
9 Oscar Piastri McLaren No time
10 Charles Leclerc Ferrari No time
11 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1:41.857
12 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:42.183
13 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber 1:42.277
14 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1:43.061
15 Oliver Bearman Haas No time
16 Franco Colapinto Alpine 1:42.779
17 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber 1:42.916
18 Esteban Ocon Haas 1:43.004
19 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:43.139
20 Alexander Albon Williams 1:43.778

It was a masterclass from Max Verstappen as the Red Bull driver took a commanding win over Lando Norris to be victorious at the Italian Grand Prix, Monza.

Lando Norris, who had given up his place in the McLaren pitstop queue to teammate Oscar Piastri after the two went long into the race on medium tyres, suffered a slow stop – prompting McLaren to restore the previous order when Piastri went past into second.

For a time, Norris had led the race after fighting with polesitter Verstappen off the line. Verstappen had been asked to give up the lead to Norris as the McLaren driver felt he was pushed towards grass into Turn 1, but ultimately held the inside line. As Verstappen preserved the lead by skipping across the first chicane, he did ceded control to Norris at the start of the next lap.

However, Verstappen remained within DRS range of Norris, and got a run at the start of lap four to return the favour into the opening corner. From there, Norris dropped back to the one-second buffer as Verstappen began to put together a series of quick laps to build a break over the field.

The defending champion continued to stretch the gap over Norris over the subsequent 30 laps, around a six-second lead and maintaining that gap as Norris tried to find a way back into the mix.

Verstappen made his single stop at the end of lap 37 to trade his aged mediums for a set of hards, while McLaren attempted to go longer in an effort to gain on a safety car and take softs late on.

However, this plan did not appear to be forthcoming. Norris offered teammate Piastri the chance to stop first for softs on lap 45, which proved to be a bad call as Lando then endured a slow stop (front left) on lap 46.

McLaren then elected to reverse the positions, noting last year’s Budapest race in its message to Piastri – who offered some resistance but he did obliged in letting Norris pass.

The decision to go long helped Verstappen extend his net lead, as he was given full control to extend his advantage on the hard tyres – ending with a 19.2 seconds gap over Norris.

With Norris ahead of Piastri, the McLaren drivers finished behind Verstappen on the podium after their switch of position, ahead of Charles Leclerc, who had successfully converted his fourth-placed grid position.

Leclerc had got past Piastri at the start of the race, although had been dispatched again by the championship leader on that opening lap as he went back past at the first Lesmo. Charles got back past on the following lap, forcing Piastri to take a more patient approach – and he duly repassed Leclerc on the sixth lap.

George Russell was fifth over Lewis Hamilton, who recovered to sixth after dealing with a five-place grid penalty for a yellow-flag infringement last week at Zandvoort.

Alex Albon went long and claimed seventh, as Gabriel Bortoleto moved up to eighth with Andrea Kimi Antonelli given a five-second penalty for driving erratically. Isack Hadjar completed the top ten over Carlos Sainz, who suffered a Turn 4 contact with Ollie Bearman – both drivers quickly got going again.

So congratulations to Max Verstappen in winning at Monza. After setting a new track record in qualifying, the four-time world champion drove a commanding race to finish in P1.

Italian Grand Prix, race results:
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:13:24.325
2 Lando Norris McLaren +19.207s
3 Oscar Piastri McLaren +21.351s
4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +25.624s
5 George Russell Mercedes +32.881s
6 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +37.449s
7 Alexander Albon Williams +50.537s
8 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber +58.484s
9 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes +59.762s
10 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls +63.891s
11 Carlos Sainz Williams +64.469s
12 Oliver Bearman Haas +79.288s
13 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull +80.701s
14 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls +82.351s
15 Esteban Ocon Haas +1 lap
16 Pierre Gasly Alpine +1 lap
17 Franco Colapinto Alpine +1 lap
18 Lance Stroll Aston Martin +1 lap
Fernando Alonso Aston Martin DNF
Nico Hulkenberg Sauber DNS

Max Verstappen has achieved his 45th career pole position in Formula 1 by taking P1 at Monza, beating both McLarens.

The Red Bull driver sets a new lap time around the Temple of Speed with one minute, 19.792 seconds. Initially Lando Norris was quickest but Verstappen found the extra pace to go ahead in the final moment in Q3.

Verstappen bounced onto the scene in Q2 and set the fastest time in the middle stage, demonstrating strong pace in the high-speed first and third sectors following Red Bull’s decision to trim the RB21 out.

Norris struggled through the middle segment of qualifying with the McLaren driver had to abort an earlier effort and was instructed to set a banker lap before two cool laps, ahead of a final push.

That final effort ensured that Norris, who had dropped into the bottom five of Q2 through Hamilton’s escape from the elimination zone, could breathe a sigh of relief.

Norris did not set a particularly fast first effort in Q3, and was almost half a second off Verstappen’s opening time of one minute, 18.923 seconds. He was able to recover, however, and briefly went at the top with his follow-up one minute, 18.869 seconds.

Verstappen then reasserted his authority with a lap time of one minute, 18.792 seconds, showcasing a significant turnaround in Red Bull’s fortunes at Monza after last year’s tricky weekend.

Dutch Grand Prix winner Oscar Piastri was third fastest, just over a tenth behind his teammate, and will start alongside Charles Leclerc in Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix.

Leclerc set a time of one minute, 19.007 seconds in his opening Q3 effort, but was unable to spark celebrations from the home fans – tifosi – in his second run.

Lewis Hamilton was fifth fastest over George Russell, whose request to run with mediums in Q3 was denied. And yet Hamilton will drop down to P10 following a five-place grid penalty for not slowing down in yellow conditions at Zandvoort.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli qualified seventh. Gabriel Bortoleto, Fernando Alonso, and Yuki Tsunoda completed the top ten – the latter used to help Verstappen on his opening run of Q3.

Oliver Bearman dropped out in Q2 at the last minute at the expense of Norris. Bearman was just 0.3 seconds off Verstappen’s Q2 best, while Nico Hulkenberg also fell off and is outqualified once more by teammate Bortoleto.

The practice promise from Williams was not delivered as neither Carlos Sainz and Alexander Albon could do enough to improve in the final runs and could only manage P13 and P14, while Esteban Ocon’s session also ran aground in Q2.

Dutch Grand Prix podium finisher Isack Hadjar was unable to achieve his Zandvoort best qualifying performance and was knocked out in Q1 by Albon, in an extraordinarily tight, competitive session. The Racing Bulls driver was only 0.5 seconds away from George Russell’s first-stage qualifying time.

Albon beat Hadjar out of the top 15 by 0.08 seconds, but he was able to get P15 himself as he escaped the drop. Hadjar is set to take a penalty for a change in power unit components for Sunday’s race, and his lowly result will have made the decision easier.

Lance Stroll improved on his final run but was unable to get out of the bottom five, a fate which affected Alpine pair Franco Colapinto and Pierre Gasly. Liam Lawson was slowest, having aborted his final run.

So congratulations to Max Verstappen in taking pole position at Monza beating the Papayas. It will be interesting if Red Bull has the race pace to challenge McLaren for the race win.

Italian Grand Prix, qualifying positions:
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:18.792
2 Lando Norris McLaren 1:18.869
3 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:18.982
4 Chalres Leclerc Ferrari 1:19.007
5 George Russell Mercedes 1:19.157
6 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:19.200
7 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber 1:19.390
8 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1:19.424
9 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull 1:19.519
10 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:19.124*
11 Oliver Bearman Haas 1:19.446
12 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber 1:19.498
13 Carlos Sainz Williams 1:19.528
14 Alexander Albon Williams 1:19.583
15 Esteban Ocon Haas 1:19.707
16 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls 1:19.917
17 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1:19.948
18 Franco Colapinto Alpine 1:19.992
19 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:20.103
20 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls 1:20.279
*Five-place grid penalty