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BAKU: Red Bull’s Max Verstappen cruised to a dominant Azerbaijan Grand Prix victory while Oscar Piastri crashed on the opening lap and had his Formula One lead over McLaren teammate Lando Norris slashed to 25 points.

McLaren had hoped to secure their 10th Formula One constructors’ title, and second in a row, on Sunday with a record seven rounds remaining but must now wait until Singapore on October 5 after their lowest scoring weekend of the season.

George Russell finished second for Mercedes, who moved up to second place and 333 points behind McLaren with 346 still to be won, and Carlos Sainz third for Williams’s first podium finish since 2021.

Norris started and finished seventh in what will rank as a missed opportunity, with six points gained on his rival but his chances of more scuppered by a slow 4.1-second pitstop for the second successive race.

VERSTAPPEN WINS SECOND RACE IN A ROW

The win was Verstappen’s second in a row and he led every lap from pole to flag, also setting the fastest lap for a “Grand Slam” that revived his slim title hopes with the reigning champion now 69 points behind Piastri.

He took the chequered flag 14.609 seconds clear of Russell, after being more than 32 seconds clear before taking his pitstop.

“I think this weekend has been incredible for us,” said Verstappen after his 67th career win, fourth of the season and second in Baku after a 2022 victory. “For us to win here again is just fantastic.

“We had clean air all the time and you could then look after your tires. And yeah, it was pretty straightforward.”

Russell, recovering from sickness and starting fifth on the grid, was happy to see a rough weekend finish strongly while Sainz — voted driver of the day — was the happiest man on the podium.

“I cannot describe how happy I am and how good this feels. It tastes even better than my first ever podium,” said the Spaniard, a four-times race winner with Ferrari who had started on the front row.

The big story came on the opening lap when Piastri, who crashed in qualifying and started ninth, jumped the start and went to the back of the field before plowing into the wall at turn five.

The uncharacteristic errors ended the Australian’s record of being the only driver to score in every race this season and also put the brakes on a run of 34 races in the points.

He had not failed to finish a race since his 2023 rookie season.

“Certainly not my finest moment,” the 24-year-old told Sky Sports. “I just anticipated the start too much and yeah...silly simple error really.”

CAREER HIGH RESULT FOR LAWSON

Italian rookie Kimi Antonelli was fourth for Mercedes, redeeming himself after a poor home race weekend at Monza, with New Zealander Liam Lawson enjoying a career-high fifth for Racing Bulls.

Yuki Tsunoda was sixth for Red Bull with Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc following Norris home in eighth and ninth, with the pair swapping places on team orders because Hamilton had fresher tires.

French rookie Isack Hadjar made it a double points finish for Racing Bulls in 10th.

Piastri’s crash brought out the safety car, a regular feature of races in Baku, and provided the main drama of the 51- lap race around the windy city streets where the threat of a downpour failed to materialize.

Norris lost a place to Hadjar and was then passed by Leclerc when the race re-started after the safety car period.

The Briton followed Leclerc past Hadjar, whose car had suffered an hydraulics problem before the start, and could have passed both Leclerc and Lawson had his pitstop not cost him critical seconds.

He ultimately passed Leclerc with 10 laps remaining but was unable to find a way past Tsunoda.

“I did the best I could yesterday, the best I could today,” said Norris.

“Every race I didn’t win was an opportunity missed, so of course today I wanted more. It was not a good result, but I couldn’t do anything more today.”

BAKU: Isack Hadjar downplayed rumors that he is set to replace Yuki Tsunoda in the second Red Bull seat alongside Max Verstappen in 2026, saying “I didn’t sign anything.”
Tsunoda has struggled to consistently generate points since being promoted to the main team ahead of the third race of the season, and enters this weekend’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix with just 12 . Meanwhile, the 20-year-old Hadjar has recovered from a crash in his first race in Australia to produce 38 points for the junior team.
With Tsunoda currently 19th place in the driver’s standings and Hadjar in ninth, speculation has been rampant that the young Frenchman is set to be Red Bull’s next attempt to find a consistent points producer alongside Verstappen.
Telling reporters this week that he “couldn’t care less” about the rumors, Hadjar added, “I think it’s very funny. Because I didn’t sign anything.”
Liam Lawson lasted just two races into the season before being replaced by Tsunod, and Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies, who replaced the ousted Christian Horner, said recently that there will not be another midseason change in the second Red Bull seat.
While no official announcement has been made yet, Hadjar acknowledged that earning a seat with the main team has been his goal since signing with the Red Bull Junior team.
“I think it is quite clear,” he said. “It (driver decisions) has always been decided, at least for me, at the very end of the season. I think it makes sense, because there are eight races to go, so I need to keep pushing.”
Tsunoda is the third driver to struggle to effectively race the notoriously difficult to drive Red Bull car, following Lawson and Sergio Perez, who parted ways with the team over the offseason. Lawson, who got only two races before being replaced, was asked what advice he would give Hadjar should he be the next in line to be teamed with Verstappen.
“I would honestly just say ignore everything that’s being said,” Lawson said. “At the end of the day, we’re all racing drivers, we all have to have enough self-confidence to be in the sport in the first place. We don’t come here thinking that other people are better than us, otherwise we wouldn’t be here. So I think to just have faith in yourself.
“He’s done a good job this year and I think he needs to just focus on the job and focus on preparing the best he can. Not listening to everything that’s said about what it’s going to be like because, at the end of the day, nobody actually knows. Only the guys that have done it (know).”