Author: admin

Max Verstappen drove a masterclass race at the Circuit of the Americas, scoring maximum points in the main event following on from the sprint at the United States Grand Prix.

Lando Norris was able to gained the upper hand on Charles Leclerc by passing his rival twice at Turn 12. The McLaren driver had to settle for P2 while the Ferrari scored a podium.

At the Circuit of the Americas Verstappen led the field from pole, while Leclerc passed second-place start Norris around the outside of Turn 1, the Ferrari driver getting a better getaway on soft tyres compared to mediums for the rest of the frontrunners.

Lando’s bid to challenge Max was effectively ruined by falling behind Charles as he was then unable to overtake the soft-tyre Ferrari for the majority of the opening stint.

There was a brief virtual safety car on lap 7 for contact between Carlos Sainz and Andrea Kimi Antonelli in Turn 15, triggered by the Williams driver, which saw him knocked out of the race and also dumped Antonelli out of the top ten.

After that incident was cleared up, Norris remained stuck behind Leclerc until he finally got close enough to the back of the Ferrari on lap 21, and passed him on the inside of Turn 12.

That was the sign for Leclerc to pit for mediums, but the damage was already done for Norris as Verstappen’s gap had steadily increased to 11 seconds. To make matters worse, Norris had received a black and white flag for three track limits violations while hunting down Leclerc, which was stressful for the remainder of the 56-lap contest.

The second Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton followed three seconds behind Norris, with the championship leader Oscar Piastri in fifth position. Piastri managed to pick off George Russell at the start but soon started struggling for grip, as he continued what had been a low-key weekend.

Piastri made his only pitstop on lap 31 to protect against potential undercut from Russell, with Hamilton, Norris and then Verstappen also heading to the pits on subsequent laps.

By that time Norris had made up two seconds on Verstappen, but his pitstop then put the Briton behind Leclerc once more, despite this time on the faster tyres.

Keen to make the move on Leclerc much faster than in round one before he lost the edge of his soft tyres, Norris pushed for a move, but soon reported his tyres were past their best.

Norris then took his time, cooled his tyres and relaunched his attack in the closing laps, briefly getting the move made into Turn 1 on lap 51. Leclerc initially restored his position with a switchback, but was then powerless to hold Norris at bay on the main DRS straight, with Norris securing second on the run into Turn 12.

Hamilton dropped back from the Norris-Leclerc fight to finish a distant fourth, just ahead of Piastri in fifth and Russell in sixth.

In an otherwise uneventful race, Yuki Tsunoda survived a fraught fight with Oliver Bearman to claim seventh in the Red Bull, with Bearman’s spin also costing him eighth to Nico Hulkenberg.

Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso held off Liam Lawson and hard-charging teammate Lance Stroll to secure the final point.

It all means Piastri holds a 14-point lead over second-placed Norris in the championship, while Verstappen is third and 40 off top with five rounds remaining. The Mexican Grand Prix is next up and will be fascinating if Max can score more big points.

United States Grand Prix, race results:
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:34:00.161
2 Lando Norris McLaren +7.959s
3 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +15.373s
4 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +28.536s
5 Oscar Piastri McLaren +29.678s
6 George Russell Mercedes +33.456s
7 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull +52.714s
8 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber +57.249s
9 Oliver Bearman Haas +64.722s
10 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +70.001s
11 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls +73.209s
12 Lance Stroll Aston Martin +74.778s
13 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes +75.746
14 Alexander Albon Williams +80.000s
15 Esteban Ocon Haas +83.043s
16 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls +92.807s
17 Franco Colapinto Alpine +1 lap
18 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber +1 lap
19 Pierre Gasly Alpine +1 lap
Carlos Sainz Williams DNF

Max Verstappen will start the United States Grand Prix on pole position after setting the pace in all three segments of qualifying in the flying Red Bull. To quote the four-time world champion, it was “simply lovely” following his sprint race win earlier and now P1 for the main race.

Verstappen’s only Q3 lap of one minute, 32.510 seconds was enough to seal his seventh Grand Prix pole of 2025, while McLaren’s championship leader Oscar Piastri could only qualify sixth.

McLaren’s mechanics faced a big repair job after Norris and Piastri were both eliminated on the opening lap of Saturday’s 19-lap sprint, but both cars were ready in time for main qualifying session at the Circuit of the Americas.

But Norris and especially Piastri never looked particularly comfortable during qualifying and were no match for Verstappen, who won the sprint from pole and will also lead the field for the main event.

Lando Norris narrowly edged Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc on his second flying lap to claim a front-row slot alongside Verstappen, three tenths behind the Red Bull driver, while Mercedes driver George Russell will share the second row with Leclerc, who recovered from a spin out of the final corner on his first attempt.

Lewis Hamilton was fifth ahead of Piastri, followed by Andrea Kimi Antonelli and an impressive Oliver Bearman in the upgraded Haas. Carlos Sainz and Fernando Alonso rounded out the top ten.

Verstappen led the way in Q2, too, with his first effort of one minute, 32.701 seconds, ahead of Leclerc and Norris, as many drivers struggled to improve on their final lap.

Piastri advanced in eighth with only one tenth to spare in a tight battle for the top ten, a sign of things to come in Q3.

Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg could not repeat his sprint qualifying heroics and was eliminated in P11, followed by Liam Lawson, Yuki Tsunoda and Alpine pairing Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto.

Q1 was red flagged after three minutes for a big smash by Isack Hadjar, losing the rear of his Racing Bulls car and spinning into the wall.

After a ten-minute delay to realign the barriers, the session was resumed for 13 minutes with no lap times on the clock.

Leclerc led the first series of runs, while Norris had work to do after oversteering off the track on his first run. Leclerc was eventually demoted by Russell and then Verstappen, while Piastri and Norris were already not looking overly comfortable in their repaired McLarens and advanced in P11 and P12.

In the battle for Q2, Alex Albon saw his eighth-fastest time deleted for track limits, giving Colapinto an opportunity to scrape through in P15.

Gabriel Bortoleto was the first driver to miss out in P:16, followed by Esteban Ocon, Lance Stroll and Albon, as well as Hadjar.

So an excellent day for Max Verstappen. Winning the sprint race earlier and now pole position for the main race. Let’s see if the Red Bull driver can reduce the points gap in the Grand Prix.

United States Grand Prix, qualifying results:
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:32.510
2 Lando Norris McLaren 1:32.801
3 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:32.807
4 George Russell Mercedes 1:32.826
5 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:32.912
6 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:33.084
7 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:33.114
8 Oliver Bearman Haas 1:33.139
9 Carlos Sainz Williams 1:33.150
10 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1:33.160
11 Nico Huldenberg Sauber 1:33.334
12 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls 1:33.360
13 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull 1:33.466
14 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:33.651
15 Franco Colapinto Alpine 1:34.044
16 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber 1:34.125
17 Esteban Ocon Haas 1:34.136
18 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1:34.540
19 Alexander Albon Williams 1:34.690
20 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls No time

Max Verstappen took victory in a chaotic sprint race at the Circuit of the Americas as the McLarens made heavy contact at Turn 1 meaning a non-finish for both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, the main championship contenders.

Scoring eight points with this sprint result is a significant moment for the four-time world champion as Max is on a mission to win this season’s championship from the papayas. As for Lando and Oscar, it was a racing incident and yet no big points were lost as this is only a sprint event.

One race on from their contact in the Singapore Grand Prix, which did not have sporting consequences but Lando Norris was held responsible for, McLaren’s title contenders tangled again on the opening lap of Austin’s 19-lap sprint.

Behind polesitter Verstappen, Norris held off Piastri on the inside of COTA’s steep Turn 1, with Piastri cutting back towards the inside.

At that very moment Sauber’s surprise fourth-place qualifier Nico Hulkenberg moved up the inside of Piastri, with the pair making contact as Hulkenberg was sandwiched between the McLaren and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso.

The contact flicked Piastri into teammate Lando Norris, who was spun around as both McLaren’s suffered terminal damage. Alonso was also tagged by Hulkenberg and retired, while the Sauber driver was forced to pit for a new front wing.

In the chaos behind the incident, Alonso’s teammate Lance Stroll also made contact with Alpine driver Franco Colapinto, forcing the pair to pit.

With so much debris and stricken cars across the length of the first sector, this brought out the safety car, which neutralised the first five laps.

With both McLarens neatly out of the way, Verstappen controlled the lap 6 restart from George Russell. Carlos Sainz benefitted from the carnage to move up to third in the Williams ahead of Ferrari pair Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton.

The second Red Bull of Yuki Tsunoda was the biggest mover, spectacularly leaping from P18 on the grid to P7, despite dragging along Hulkenberg’s front wing for several corners.

Verstappen’s pace up front, meanwhile, was not particularly fast as he struggled to shake off Russell. On lap 8 Russell attempted a very late lunge down the inside of Turn 12, forcing Verstappen to take avoiding action while keeping his lead.

Russell’s challenge then faded, although Verstappen still voiced his displeasure with the rear suspension settings on his Red Bull, which will likely be revisited ahead of qualifying on COTA’s bumpy layout.

Hamilton passed teammate Leclerc for fourth on lap 9, the only other position change in the top eight during a routine green flag spell of the 19-lap contest.

On lap 16 Stroll took out Esteban Ocon with a desperately late lunge into Turn 1, taking both drivers out of the race, with the ensuing safety car further freezing positions.

Verstappen cruised across the line ahead of Russell and Sainz, followed by Hamilton and Leclerc. Alex Albon completed a successful morning for Willians in sixth ahead of Tsunoda.

Oliver Bearman crossed the line ahead of Andrea Kimi Antonelli for the final point in eighth, but the Haas driver went off the track to do so in an earlier incident and was handed a ten-second penalty to drop him to the rear of the order.

Verstappen now moves to 55 points off Piastri and 33 points behind Norris, with still six grands prix and two sprints to go.

So a dramatic and chaotic sprint race with both McLarens taking out and getting a double retirement. Max Verstappen will be hoping for a repeat in the main race in a bid to reduce the points gap for the sake of the championship.

United States Grand Prix, sprint race results:
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull 37:58.229
2 George Russell Mercedes +0.395s
3 Carlos Sainz Williams +0.791s
4 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +1.224s
5 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +1.825s
6 Alexander Albon Williams +2.576s
7 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull +2.976s
8 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes +4.147s
9 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls +4.804s
10 Pierre Gasly Alpine +5.126s
11 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber +5.649s
12 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls +6.228s
13 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber +6.624s
14 Franco Colapinto Alpine +8.006s
15 Oliver Bearman Haas +13.576s
Esteban Ocon Haas DNF
Lance Stroll Aston Martin DNF
Oscar Piastri McLaren DNF
Lando Norris McLaren DNF
Fernando Alonso Aston Martin DNF

Max Verstappen will start the sprint race at the Circuit of the Americas in pole position, beating the McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.

The defending world champion just did one flying lap in SQ3 and his lap time of one minute, 32.143 seconds was enough to edge out the papayas. Lando Norris, who was quickest in SQ1 and SQ2, had to settle with second fastest and yet is one grid position ahead of his teammate and title rival Oscar Piastri.

Nico Hulkenberg was the star of the sprint qualifying, the Sauber driver confirming his strong practice pace with a superb fourth place on Saturday’s sprint grid.

Hulkenberg stayed well ahead of fifth-placed Mercedes driver George Russell, with Fernando Alonso an impressive sixth for Aston Martin.

Carlos Sainz claimed seventh for Williams, following a gearbox issue in practice that restricted him to just nine practice laps ahead of sprint qualifying.

Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc could only manage eighth and tenth respectively for Ferrari, being split by Alex Albon.

In the second sprint qualifying phase, which required the use of medium tyres, it was all business at the front with Lando’s one minute, 33.033 seconds lap leading from Verstappen, Piastri and Russell.

Foreshadowing its tricky performance in SQ3, Ferrari had a much more stressful session with both Hamilton and Leclerc on the verge of elimination after the first runs, sitting in ninth and tenth respectively.

Leclerc fell into the drop zone until a late improvement saw him move up to eighth, placing the pressure on Hamilton, but the seven-time world champion just managed to get through on his final attempt.

Hamilton grabbed P10 at the expense of Andrea Kimi Antonelli, whose lock-up cost him much more time than the tiny 0.006 secinds margin that saw the Mercedes driver knocked out.

Isack Hadjar followed fellow rookie Antonelli out in P12, ahead of Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll. Liam Lawson was also out in P15 after not getting a lap in, blaming traffic on his final attempt as he drifted off the track in Turn 19.

The first round of sprint qualifying, also on medium tyres, devolved into a chaotic situation at the end of the segment as drivers scrambled for space and time to start their final flyer.

Red Bull’s under-pressure Yuki Tsunoda was the main victim, dropping out in P18 after fighting Racing Bulls colleague Lawson on the out-lap and unable to get a second lap in before the clocks hit zero.

Oliver Bearman was the first driver to miss the cut-off in P16, followed by Franco Colapinto who did get a final lap in but was not quick enough, while his Alpine teammate Gasly did manage to escape the drop zone.

Esteban Ocon also dropped out in P19, which is extra frustrating for Haas as it installed a significant floor update on both of its cars for sprint qualifying, but unfortunately not able to reap the rewards.

A frustrated Gabriel Bortoleto will start last after not even getting a lap in. The Sauber driver’s first lap was scrapped for crossing track limits at the exit of Turn 19, while he also did not make it over the finish line in time at the end.

Nice to see the top three championship contenders starting in the top three grid slots for the sprint race. Going to be interesting if Nico Hulkenberg can score a solid result for Sauber. Roll on the sprint.

United States Grand Prix, sprint qualifying results:
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:32.143
2 Lando Norris McLaren 1:32.214
3 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:32.523
4 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber 1:32.645
5 George Russell Mercedes 1:32.888
6 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1:32.910
7 Carlos Sainz Williams 1:32.911
8 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:33.035
9 Alexander Albon Williams 1:33.099
10 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:33.104
11 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:34.018
12 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls 1:34.241
13 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:34.258
14 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1:34.394
15 Liam Lawson No time
16 Oliver Bearman Haas 1:35.159
17 Franco Colapinto Alpine 1:35.246
18 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull 1:35.259
19 Esteban Ocon Haas 1:36.003
20 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber No time

George Russell achieved his second victory of the 2025 Formula 1 season with a solid lights to flag drive at Marina Bay for Mercedes, as McLaren secured the constructors’ championship with a P3 and P4 finish.

Russell built an early lead over fellow front-row starter Max Verstappen to present a significant advantage to fend off a potential undercut, and then preserved that through the Singapore Grand Prix’s second phase through heavy traffic to successfully convert pole position to race victory.

Meanwhile, McLaren had to deal with a moment at the start – where Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri made brief contact at Turn 3 – on the way to securing third and fourth. This proved to be a more than the necessary points needed to secure the constructors’ title. The Woking-based outfit had needed 13 points to seal the deal.

Verstappen’s start on soft tyres could not necessarily the disadvantage of starting on the dirty side of the grid, and had to settle P2 behind Russell into the opening corner – but then came under early attention from a fast-starting Norris.

Norris checked up at Turn 3 in an effort to avoid brief contact with Verstappen, and ended up clipping Piastri’s side through the corner exit as he barged his way though the order to move up to third.

Russell, knowing that he could lean more on his medium tyres in the opening stages of the race, began to open his lead over Verstappen and added about a half-second buffer over the four-time champion per lap.

Verstappen – struggling with downshifts – took those softs to the end of lap 19, by which point he was almost ten seconds behind Russell. Red Bull’s use of the undercut and Verstappen’s quick laps on the hard tyre ensured that, when Russell stopped for his own switch to the hards, the lead was now under four seconds.

For a time, it looked as though Verstappen was going to put pressure on the Mercedes driver; the lead was reduced to around 2.7 seconds, but Verstappen then locked up at Turn 14 and lost time. Norris, who had fallen to over four seconds behind Verstappen, was now back in the Red Bull’s mirrors.

Russell’s lead started to drop slightly to Verstappen after the 40-lap mark, as the leading trio began to catch up to a very long train of traffic. Yet, he was able to get through the backmarkers a little more easily than Verstappen, who was finding his rear braking difficult to manage. This opened the door for Norris to get within DRS range of the reigning champion, and followed him through the tailbacks.

With his priority now on defending from Norris, Verstappen had effectively been dropped by Russell, who was free to claim his second win of the season.

The Papayas finished third and fourth – Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri – which was enough to win the constructors’ championship. It will be interesting which McLaren driver will come out on top in the remaining six races.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli enjoyed a strong drive to claim fifth, while Charles Leclerc claimed sixth ahead of Ferrari teammate Lewis Hamilton in seventh. However, the seven-time world champion was noted for exceeding track limits after the chequered flag fell, an incident that will be investigated post-race.

Fernando Alonso just missed out on overtaking Hamilton at the finish, the Aston Martin driver crossing the line just 0.416 seconds behind in eighth. Ollie Bearman clinched two points for Haas in P9, with Carlos Sainz bouncing back after a double disqualification for Williams after qualifying to round out the top ten.

Post-race, Hamilton was given a five-second time penalty for “leaving the track without justifiable reason multiple times” while managing a brake issue on his Ferrari in the closing stages of the Singapore Grand Prix night race. This drops the seven-time world champion down to eighth position.

It was not the most thrilling race at Marina Bay but congratulations to George Russell in winning the Singapore Grand Prix. Hopefully this result will lead to a new contract with Mercedes. Come on Toto Wolff, sign the new deal.

As for McLaren, now that the constructors’ title has been secured, we can go for real racing and battle for the drivers’ championship. Best of luck to Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri in the remaining six races.

Singapore Grand Prix, race results:
1 George Russell Mercedes 1:40:22.367
2 Max Verstappen Red Bull +5.430s
3 Lando Norris McLaren +6.066s
4 Oscar Piastri McLaren +8.146s
5 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes +33.681s
6 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +45.996s
7 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +80.667s
8 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +85.251s
9 Oliver Bearman Haas +93.527s
10 Carlos Sainz Williams +1 lap
11 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls +1 lap
12 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull +1 lap
13 Lance Stroll Aston Martin +1 lap
14 Alexander Albon Williams +1 lap
15 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls +1 lap
16 Franco Colapinto Alpine +1 lap
17 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber +1 lap
18 Esteban Ocon Haas +1 lap
19 Pierre Galsy Alpine +1 lap
20 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber +1 lap

George Russell set a new track record at the Marina Bay street circuit to take pole position for the Singapore Grand Prix. The Mercedes driver’s Q3 performance was solid and he will start ahead of Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri.

After going quickest in Q2, Russell was able to build up his confidence and speed in the top ten shootout in Q3 by setting the pace with his first flying lap. His one minute, 29.165 seconds was set despite tapping the wall as George pushed his car to the limits under the lights.

Russell found seven more thousandths on his final Q3 lap to record one minute, 29.158 seconds and, despite their best efforts from his rivals, the Mercedes driver will start from the front of the grid for the second time this season after the Canadian Grand Prix.

Max Verstappen claimed a front row slot position despite being impacted by Lando Norris, who was on a cooldown lap back to the pits.

Championship leader Oscar Piastri took third on the grid ahead of Kimi Antonelli, while Norris could only manage fifth after his second effort only offered a minor improvement in time.

Lewis Hamilton outqualified Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc for sixth, while Isack Hadjar took eighth on the grid for his first Singapore Grand Prix. Ollie Bearman and Fernando Alonso completed the top ten.

Nico Hulkenberg dropped out of Q2 at the last moment as Leclerc rescued a top-ten start after a difficult opening lap. Leclerc touched the wall at Turn 14 and was sat in P13 ahead of the final runs.

This became P14 when Antonelli pushed himself out of Q2’s bottom five, having had his first lap deleted for a track limits violation at Turn 2.

Hulkenberg had contributed to Alex Albon’s drop into the bottom five as both Williams drivers struggled to find pace, but soon found himself out of luck when Leclerc’s last-attempt effort proved good enough for sixth in Q2.

Albon took P12 ahead of Carlos Sainz, while Liam Lawson claimed P14 after shaking off crashes in FP2 and FP3. Yuki Tsunoda struggled to get out throughout the session and only landed in P15 – bottom of the Q2 order.

Pierre Gasly’s stoppage in the final stages of Q1 halted a handful of attempts to break out of the bottom five, as the Alpine driver pulled over with a suspected hydraulics issue at Turn 11.

Gabriel Bortoleto was unable to improve enough on his final lap meaning this was the Sauber driver’s first Q1 exit since the British Grand Prix, as Lance Stroll was also eliminated in the opening phase.

Franco Colapinto outqualified teammate Gasly, whose issue left him unable to progress from last on the grid, as Esteban Ocon split the Alpines.

So congratulations to George Russell with pole position at the Singapore Grand Prix. To get P1 around this challenging Marina Bay street track is excellent and with overtaking very limited despite four DRS zones, Russell has a great chance to win.

Singapore Grand Prix, qualifying results:
1 George Russell Mercedes 1:29.158
2 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:29.340
3 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:29.524
4 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:29.537
5 Lando Norris McLaren 1:29.586
6 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:29.688
7 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:29.784
8 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls 1:29.846
9 Oliver Bearman Haas 1:29.868
10 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1:29.955
11 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber 1:30.141
12 Alexander Albon Williams 1:30.202
13 Carlos Sainz Williams 1:30.235
14 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls 1:30.320
15 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull 1:30.353
16 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber 1:30.820
17 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1:30.949
18 Franco Colapinto Alpine 1:30.982
19 Esteban Ocon Haas 1:30.989
20 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:30.989

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