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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

Oscar Piastri scored an important race victory at Zandvoort as his main championship rival and teammate Lando Norris was forced to retire with a mechanical issue in the McLaren.

The home fan favourite Max Verstappen finished in second position for Red Bull and yet Isack Hadjar achieved his first podium result in Formula 1 with an impressive third place for Racing Bulls. The late non-finish from Norris promoted both Verstappen and Hadjar to the podium places.

Piastri and Norris looked set to score a straightforward fifth consecutive 1-2 finish for McLaren after Oscar kept his lead into Turn 1 with Lando recovering the position he lost to Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.

But on lap 65 of 72 Norris started reporting smoke from the cockpit before parking his McLaren MCL39 by the side of the track.

After the third safety car, Piastri led Verstappen home while Racing Bulls rookie Isack Hadfar scored a spectacular maiden Formula 1 podium.

Before the start McLaren team boss Andrea Stella warned of a powerful weapon Red Bull had at its disposal in the shape of a fresh set of soft tyres, and Verstappen immediately proved it was not just chatter to talk up the competition.

At the start, Max powered on by the orange wave of home support, went around the outside of Norris into Turn 1 aka Tarzan. Verstappen went wide on the exit, but somehow still managed to make the move stick despite getting out of shape through Turns 2 and 3.

Verstappen’s overtake in the slower Red Bull was exactly what leader Piastri wanted to see, as he quickly went four seconds clear until Norris managed to challenge around the outside of Turn 1 on lap 9.

Norris chased towards Piastri while drivers were informed of the imminent threat of light rain around the windy seaside circuit, bringing the gap down to three seconds when Piastri started reporting drops of rain on lap 15.

At that point Verstappen had already gone passed 12 seconds as his powerful weapon was not working, the immediate benefit of his softer tyres turning into a longer-term tyre wear disadvantage.

That was reflected by medium-starting Racing Bulls driver Hadjar keeping Verstappen within reach as the impressive rookie kept a train with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, Mercedes driver George Russell and the second Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton.

That three drivers only lasted until lap 24, when Hamilton crashed out at the exit of the high-banked Turn 3, bringing out a full safety car.

Leclerc ended up a victim of his teammate’s mistake, too, as he had just made his first pitstop under green-flag conditions while the other frontrunners completed a cheaper stop, with Russell coming out ahead in fifth.

The order on the lap 26 restart was Piastri, Norris, Verstappen, Hadjar, Russell and Leclerc, with Verstappen switching to the mediums while every other car in the field picked the hard Pirellis.

On the fourth lap of green running Hadjar’s teammate Liam Lawson and Williams driver Carlos Sainz came together, with the pair having to dive back into the pits with damage. Sainz was not impressed, calling the Lawson “so stupid”, but it was Carlos who had a 10-second penalty.

A brief virtual safety car was called to remove debris from the race track on the main straight, before the on-track drama continued at the front.

On lap 33 Leclerc made a dramatic lunge on Russell to take fifth, appearing to have cut the apex of Turn 3 to barge his way past.

At the front it was looking good for McLaren, with Piastri controlling a two-second lead to Norris, who was told by his race engineer to try and overtake his teammate in the fear of any strategic options.

Hadjar continued shadowing Verstappen for a maiden podium spot, with the Racing Bulls man on a harder-tyre compound that he hoped would pay off towards the end of the race.

With Leclerc’s overtake being investigated after the race, Mercedes tried a different tactic to put pressure on the Ferrari driver. It first issued team orders to let Antonelli past Russell, and then brought Kimi in for an aggressive second stop on soft tyres.

How that would have worked out compared to Russell we will never know, as Leclerc covered Antonelli’s stop on the following lap and the pair came to contact a few corners later, with Antonelli tagging Leclerc into a race-ending spin in Turn 3 and earning himself a 10-second penalty.

Under the resulting safety car most of the field came in to switch to a fresh set of tyres for the 15-lap dash to the chequered flag. Piastri and Norris picked up fresh hards while Verstappen went to used softs, but the Red Bull driver could not benefit enough to put Norris under threat.

But on lap 65 Norris suffered a dramatic mechanical failure on his McLarene, in a harsh blow to his title hopes. Norris held his head in his hands on the grassy knoll overlooking the Zandvoort circuit as he witnessed Piastri scoring his seventh win of the 2025 season.

Verstappen had nothing for Piastri on the final restart and settled for second on home ground, narrowly ahead of impressive Hadjar, who grabbed a breakthrough podium after a faultless weekend that saw him qualify fourth.

Russell was third ahead of Alex Albon, who recovered from a poor qualifying with an excellent comeback drive.

Oliver Bearman also recovered from a pitlane start to take an unexpected sixth position, beating Aston Martin duo Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso.

Yuki Tsunoda was promoted into the points, with Esteban Ocon claiming the final point in P10 for Haas.

Piastri now heads to next weekend’s Italian Grand Prix in Monza with a 34-point lead. It will be fascinating how Lando Norris can recover following this non-finish at Zandvoort.

Dutch Grand Prix, race results:
1 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:38:29.849
2 Max Verstappen Red Bull +1.271s
3 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls +3.233s
4 George Russell Mercedes +5.654s
5 Alexander Albon Williams +6.327s
6 Oliver Bearman Haas +9.044s
7 Lance Stroll Aston Martin +9.497s
8 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +11.709s
9 Yuki Tsunoda Racing Bulls +13.597s
10 Esteban Ocon Haas +14.063s
11 Franco Colapinto Alpine +14.511s
12 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls +17.063s
13 Carlos Sainz Williams +17.376s
14 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber +19.725s
15 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber +21.565s
16 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes +22.029s
17 Pierre Gasly Alpine +23.629s
Lando Norris McLaren DNF
Chalres Leclerc Ferrari DNF
Lewis Hamilton Ferrari DNF

Championship leader Oscar Piastri edges out ahead of his McLaren teammate Lando Norris by a tiny margin of 0.012 seconds to take pole position for the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort.

Although Norris had been the fastest of the two Papaya drivers over the course of the weekend, Piastri just got ahead of his title rival on the first run of Q3.

Qualifying was held in sunny conditions after overnight rain had washed away some of the grip on offer at Zandvoort’s spectacular seaside circuit.

In the deciding top ten shootout Piastri set the benchmark on the first of two runs, besting Norris by a mere 0.012 seconds with his lap time of one minute, 08.662 seconds thanks to marginally quicker first and third sectors.

Neither McLaren driver was able to find any improvement on the second Q3 run, with Piastri keeping P1. In doing so he moves ahead of his teammate with five poles for the 2025 season, compared to four for Norris, who trails him by nine points in the drivers’ championship.

Underlining McLaren’s dominance, Max Verstappen gave it a go in the Red Bull but was only to fall four tenths behind in third after the first run, with George Russell conceding six tenths to the McLarens in his Mercedes.

But Verstappen then delivered a promising second sector on his final run to cut the time gap to Piastri to a quarter of a second. Isack Hadjar also producing a solid qualifying effort in his Racing Bulls to be with Verstappen on row two, the rookie bumping Russell down to fifth with his second lap.

Lewis Hamilton had made an encouraging start by being 0.010 seconds faster than Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc on run one, but unlike Leclerc he could not find any more lap time on his final attempt, with Leclerc claiming sixth ahead of the seven-time world champion.

Liam Lawson was eighth, with Carlos Sainz and Fernando Alonso rounding out the top ten.

Norris had earlier led the way in Q2 with a lap of one minute, 08.874 seconds, less than a tenth clear of Piastri, with Verstappen a quarter of a second in third.

Having set his first lap on used soft tyres, Fernando Alonso was on the outside of the top ten looking in, needing to find just 0.005 seconds to move his way back into Q3.

On better tyres Alonso did so and grabbed seventh as the last driver over the line. Lawson also joined Hadjar in the top ten at the end, knocking out Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Yuki Tsunoda.

Antonelli fell just 0.019 seconds short of Carlos Sainz at the end of an extremely tight session, meaning the Williams driver booked a place in Q3 for the first time since Imola.

Sauber rookie Gabriel Bortoleto, Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and a frustrated Alex Albon were also eliminated, with Albon blaming the team’s tyre preparation.

The McLarens were out in front in Q1 as well, but Piastri took top position ahead of Norris for the first time over the Zandvoort weekend. Russell narrowly edged Verstappen for third, with the pair three tenths behind.

Tsunoda once again came under pressure, having been knocked out of Q1 four times this season, but the Red Bull driver was able to get a Q2 spot, while Alpine’s Franco Colapinto missed the cut-off by less than a tenth compared to Bortoleto.

Bortoleto also beat experienced teammate Nico Hulkenberg for the fifth time in a row in regular qualifying – the sixth time including sprint qualifying. The Hulk took P17, ahead of Haas duo Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman.

Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll was unable to set a lap time after a crash in Turn 3. He also shunted on Friday, dropping a wheel onto the grass at the entry to Turn 13 and spun into the barriers.

So an exciting qualifying battle between the McLaren drivers and it was Oscar Piastri who claimed an important P1 ahead of his title rival Lando Norris. Home crowd favourite Max Verstappen is P3 with an impressive Isack Hadjar next up in the Racing Bulls.

Dutch Grand Prix, qualifying positions:
1 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:08.662
2 Lando Norris McLaren 1:08.674
3 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:08.925
4 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls 1:09.208
5 George Russell Mercedes 1:09.255
6 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:09.340
7 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:09.390
8 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls 1:09.500
9 Carlos Sainz Williams 1:09.505
10 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1:09.630
11 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:09.493
12 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull 1:09.622
13 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber 1:09.622
14 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:09.637
15 Alexander Albon Williams 1:09.652
16 Franco Colapinto Alpine 1:10.104
17 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber 1:10.195
18 Esteban Ocon Haas 1:10.197
19 Oliver Bearman Haas 1:10.262
20 Lance Stroll Aston Martin No time

Lando Norris takes victory in the Hungarian Grand Prix beating his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri thanks to a single pitstop strategy.

The McLaren driver absorbed the big pressure and attacks from Piastri late in the race at Turn 1, one featuring a lock-up for the championship leader, but held on to convert a somewhat risky strategy – one arguably made possible by a difficult opening stint.

Piastri had run to a two-stop strategy in an effort to beat polesitter Charles Leclerc, who preserved the lead off the starting line and maintained it through the opening stint of the race. The Ferrari driver also been running to a two-stopper, with the rear-limited nature of the circuit expected to impose a heavy load on the tyres.

By comparison, Norris got a poor start to the race. Although the first stage of his getaway allowed him to gain on teammate Piastri, he was boxed in at the opening braking zone – thus, both George Russell and Fernando Alonso used the open outside line to gather more momentum and clear Norris into Turn 1.

Norris passed Alonso two laps later, but struggled to break down Russell. Having been on for third at best on the same two-stop strategy, Norris extended his stint and took the one-stop offered to him, pitting at the end of lap 31 – with the expectation that those ahead would need to pit again.

This proved to be the case, as Leclerc made a second visit to the pitlane on lap 40 for another set of hards, prompting McLaren to attempt to extend for more offset with Piastri’s tyres. Thus, Piastri stopped five laps later, giving the championship leader the opportunity to push the Ferrari driver.

But Leclerc was struggling at this stage. A race-long argument with his team over pre-race procedures eventually boiled down to Charles been angry and blaming his team for “losing competitiveness” through the stint. Piastri passed him for second on lap 51, and began his own chase towards Norris.

Over the next ten laps, Piastri reduced away at his teammate’s lead. The two were separated by almost nine seconds when Piastri cleared Leclerc, but this quickly fell to set up a late battle between the pair.

And, with five laps to go, Piastri was within DRS range, having caught up during the late-race traffic, and filled his teammate’s mirrors. He got close at the start on lap 68, and then went for a dive on the next lap – but locked up and had to go slightly wide into the opening corner.

Without enough momentum in the final lap, Piastri had to settle for second as Norris went across the finishing line with a margin of 0.698 seconds gap.

Behind the McLarens was George Russell, who managed to get by an aggressive Charles Leclerc. The Mercerces driver finished over 21 seconds behind the Papaya, underlining the competitive order between the McLarens and the other race cars.

Charles Leclerc received a five-second time penalty for moving under braking in his attempt to stop Russell getting by. To finish fourth is a disappointment after starting on pole.

Taking fifth is Fernando Alonso, finishing ahead of his protege Gabriel Bortoleto. The remaining points scorers are Lance Stroll, Liam Lawson, Max Verstappen and Andrea Kimi Antonelli.

So a tense finish to the race between the Papayas and yet Lando Norris did a solid job in managing his tyres after going with a single stop. More points in the constructors’ championship with McLaren scoring a 1-2 result.

The 2025 Formula 1 season now takes a summer break so the next racing action will be the Dutch Grand Prix in three weeks time.

Hungarian Grand Prix, race results:
1 Lando Norris McLaren 1:35:21.231
2 Oscar Piastri McLaren +0.698s
3 George Russell Mercedes +21.916s
4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +42.560s
5 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +59.040s
6 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber +66.169s
7 Lance Stroll Aston Martin +68.174s
8 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls +69.451s
9 Max Verstappen Red Bull +72.645s
10 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes +1 lap
11 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls +1 lap
12 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +1 lap
13 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber +1 lap
14 Carlos Sainz Williams +1 lap
15 Alexander Albon Williams +1 lap
16 Esteban Ocon Haas +1 lap
17 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull +1 lap
18 Franco Colapinto Alpine +1 lap
19 Pierre Gasly Alpine +1 lap
Oliver Bearman Haas DNF

Charles Leclerc will start the Hungarian Grand Prix in pole position after taking a surprising P1 for Scuderia Ferrari, beating the favourites McLaren in qualifying.

The Papaya had led both Q1 and Q2 by some margin, and Lando Norris had set a time of one minute, 14.8 seconds in the intermediate stage – but neither of them got anywhere close to that pace in their final runs in Q3.

Leclerc, meanwhile, produced a time of one minute, 15.372 seconds on his final attempt to take provisional pole, but both McLaren drivers went slower in the opening sector; Norris improved slightly to ensure he got closer to Oscar Piastri, but the championship leader could not improve, due to the change in wind direction.

Despite missing out on pole, Piastri will join Leclerc – who was evidently surprised by the result over the team radio – on the front row, while Norris has George Russell alongside him on the second row as the cooling conditions ensured Mercedes was in the mix.

Aston Martin impressed and secured fifth and sixth on the grid. Fernando Alonso was briefly ahead of Norris before the McLaren driver did his final lap, and was just 0.109 seconds off Leclerc’s pole pace. Lance Stroll lines up behind him, ahead of Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto, who made Q3 for the third time in four races.

Max Verstappen could only find a time good enough for eighth on the grid, marginally ahead of Liam Lawson and Isack Hadjar, who completed the top ten.

Lewis Hamilton was the biggest elimination in Q2 – the Ferrari driver ended the first runs of the session in P11, but had seemingly got himself into the top ten with his second effort.

But his time of one minute, 15.702 seconds was beaten by a series of drivers behind him, and was pushed further down the grid order when Verstappen and Bortoleto improved late on in the session.

Their laps also pushed Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Oliver Bearman out of the reckoning for Q3, as the Mercedes driver complained of no rear end. He qualified P11 for the race, with Bearman P12 and Hamilton P13.

Carlos Sainz and Franco Colapinto swapped places late on, but never posed a real threat to break out of Q2.

Lawson dropped Yuki Tsunoda out of Q1 at the final moment, even though the Red Bull driver was less than 0.2 seconds off teammate Verstappen.

Tsunoda was joined by Pierre Gasly in the drop zone, who was out-qualified by Colapinto for the second time this season. Esteban Ocon had been troubled by a loose screw embedded in the surface of his right-front tyre and only qualified P18 for Haas.

Nico Hulkenberg and Alexander Albon will provisionally occupy the final row on the grid. The latter looked to have a distinctly loose Williams underneath him, and was beaten handily by teammate Sainz in the session.

So a surprising pole position for Charles Leclerc. The Ferrari driver admitted he will not be that competitive compared to the McLarens at the Hungaroring, and yet Charles managed to qualify on pole. It will be interesting if he can stay in front of the Papayas as the McLaren is faster.

Hungarian Grand Prix, qualifying results:
1 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:15.372
2 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:15.398
3 Lando Norris McLaren 1:15.413
4 George Russell Mercedes 1:15.425
5 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1:15.481
6 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1:15.498
7 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber 1:15.725
8 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:15.728
9 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls 1:15.821
10 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls 1:15.915
11 Oliver Bearman Haas 1:15.694
12 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:15.702
13 Carlos Sainz Williams 1:15.781
14 Franco Colapinto Alpine 1:16.159
15 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:16.386
16 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull 1:15.899
17 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:15.966
18 Esteban Ocon Haas 1:16.023
19 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber 1:16.081
20 Alexander Albon Williams 1:16.223