Overview
The Azerbaijan Grand Prix reminded everyone why Baku is the most unpredictable stop on the calendar. A mile‑long flat‑out run, concrete walls through the castle, and a circuit that chills tyres and brakes between stops made for a tense, tactical Sunday. Safety Car timing split fortunes up and down the grid: some caught the perfect free stop, others found their strategy hollowed out in a single lap. In the end, straight‑line efficiency and restart discipline decided as much as peak downforce.
This is our Winners & Losers — focused on the levers that truly mattered: Safety Car timing luck, straight‑line speed, brake temperature windows, and tyre‑life management. Scoring context uses today’s Formula 1 rules (no fastest‑lap bonus since 2024), so finishing positions ruled the day for both the F1 drivers’ and constructors’ championships.
- Read next for context on points and formats:
Headline: Verstappen converts, Russell maximises, Sainz puts Williams on the podium
Max Verstappen controlled the critical beats — the launch, the first stint delta, and the post‑Safety Car restarts — to win in Baku. Behind him, George Russell executed a high‑floor Mercedes race to stand second, while Carlos Sainz leveraged Williams’ sleek aero to capture a hard‑earned podium. Rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli followed with maturity for fourth, and the midfield story was led by Liam Lawson (RB) and Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull) converting efficiency into points.
Winners
Max Verstappen — Straight‑line efficiency, restart mastery
Verstappen’s win was built on boring excellence. The RB21’s trimmed package kept drag low without giving up rear stability through the castle, and Max read the restart rhythm perfectly — pushing early enough to break the tow, but not so early that he bled battery before the line. Brake temps stayed in the sweet spot lap‑on‑lap, avoiding the first‑corner flat‑spots that punish you at Baku. When the Safety Car landed, Red Bull avoided vanity gambles and protected track position — the right call with no fastest‑lap point to chase.
George Russell — The opportunist with a high floor
Mercedes didn’t have the highest top speed, but Russell’s braking feel and calm tyre preparation on out‑laps let him live in the DRS train without cooking the fronts. He timed his push laps after the restarts, kept battery in hand for the opening two zones, and seized P2 when the race compressed. On a day when the undercut was fickle (cold out‑laps, tricky first stops), his consistency was the weapon.
Carlos Sainz — Williams’ podium built on drag efficiency
Williams’ philosophy pays you back in Baku. Sainz trusted low‑drag trims, braked aggressively into T1/T3 with a stable rear, and managed rear‑tyre life through the long traction zones. The Safety Car neutralised some risk and turned a podium push from ambition into probability. It’s the kind of result that shifts midfield narratives and underscores how valuable straight‑line speed remains on modern street tracks.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli — Composed, efficient, and error‑light
Fourth capped a quietly excellent day. Antonelli stayed out of the walls, kept his brake temps awake down that endless straight, and didn’t over‑rotate the car through the castle. The rookie’s racecraft on restarts — open the throttle early, straighten the car sooner than rivals — earned track position that stuck.
Liam Lawson — RB’s big haul from low‑drag discipline
RB arrived with a car that’s slippery in a straight line, and Lawson executed with patience. He resisted marginal sends before the line, harvested well, and used the second DRS zone to finish moves. When the race reset, he kept the tyres in their window and avoided graining spikes that trapped others into defensive stints. P5 was the ceiling; he touched it.
Yuki Tsunoda — Valuable points with clean restarts
Tsunoda’s role in traffic management mattered. He protected battery for the first two braking zones after restarts, then settled tyre surface temps through the castle rather than chasing purple micro‑sectors. No drama, strong points, big constructors’ value.
On the bubble
Lando Norris — Damage limitation for a title fight
McLaren’s Sunday pace was solid, but the restart lottery and long DRS trains kept Norris in a narrow lane. He banked points — not headlines — and avoided the kind of desperation that Baku often punishes. For the drivers’ championship, it’s a survivable day.
Lewis Hamilton — Ferrari pace there, tyre offsets not
Hamilton’s race had the ingredients — straight‑line speed, dependable braking — but tyre offsets rarely landed on the right lap relative to Safety Cars. The result was forward motion without the decisive undercut/overcut payoff. Still, points that matter for Ferrari’s constructors’ fight.
Charles Leclerc — Glimpses of speed, castle caution
Leclerc showed patches of serious pace, particularly on heavier fuel when the SF‑25 rotated cleanly at low speed. But track position stuck like glue in the DRS trains, and patience trumped risk through the castle after Saturday’s scars. Points, not podiums, were the realistic target after the first stint.
Losers
Oscar Piastri — A rare zero in a leader’s season
It happens in Baku. Piastri — the season’s metronome — left without a headline haul. Whether trapped off‑sequence by the Safety Car or simply boxed in by DRS, the day didn’t open. The championship lead remains robust, but Sunday underlined how quickly Baku can turn percentages into pain.
Strategy windows — Undercut illusions, overcut risks
Plenty of teams aimed for the undercut, only to find cold‑tyre out‑laps too sketchy to make the delta. Others bet on an overcut with traffic‑free push laps, then watched the Safety Car eliminate the edge. Baku forces you to choose early; this year, the dice rolled more than the models did.
The impatient — Walls and brake temp traps
The long straight chills tyres and carbon. Push too soon, and you arrive into T1 with sleepy fronts and inconsistent brake feel; chase the rear through the castle and you’re millimetres from a race‑ending clip. A handful of Sundays ended in the margins this way.
How the race was decided: the four levers
1) Safety Car timing luck
The pit delta at Baku is brutal under green; under a Safety Car, it’s the golden ticket. Winners caught the window and boxed once cleanly; losers were forced to defend on older tyres or double‑stack with penalty‑grade time loss. With no fastest‑lap point to chase in 2025, there’s little incentive to stop late unless it flips track position immediately.
2) Straight‑line efficiency and battery budgeting
End‑of‑straight speed is the lap‑time engine here. The best packages trimmed drag without shattering stability at low speed. Drivers who budgeted battery for the 800‑metre surge past the line, then again into Turn 3, turned DRS into inevitability rather than hope.
3) Brake temperature windows
The straight cools everything. The first press into T1 is a leap of faith if you haven’t built temp — and a lock‑up there ends stints. The winners built gently on the out‑lap and kept discs in range through lift‑and‑coast; the losers spiked temps with desperation and paid in flat‑spots.
4) Tyre life and graining control
Medium‑to‑Hard one‑stops dominated, but only if you respected surface temps after restarts. Push too hard and you grain early; baby the tyre and you hand over track position. The teams who managed the first three laps after the Safety Car — neither sliding nor sleepwalking — owned the stint.
What it means for the championships
- Drivers’ picture: Oscar Piastri remains the benchmark on 324 points with seven wins; Lando Norris sits second on 299 with five; Max Verstappen is third on 255 with four. Baku’s win tightens the chase behind the McLarens and keeps the title math lively.
- Constructors’ picture: McLaren continue to command the Formula 1 standings on 623. Mercedes (290) and Ferrari (286) remain locked in a close fight, with Red Bull Racing (275) cutting into the gap.
If you’re new to the mechanics behind these swings, our explainers cover the details:
Quick context: the top‑10 at the flag
The decisive storylines sit inside the numbers, but here’s the headline shape of the result that drove this analysis:
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- Verstappen — control up front
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- Russell — opportunist with tyre care
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- Sainz — Williams’ straight‑line strength
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- Antonelli — error‑light rookie excellence
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- Lawson — efficiency converted
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- Tsunoda — clean restarts, clean points
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- Norris — damage limitation
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- Hamilton — steady haul for Ferrari
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- Leclerc — points without risk
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- Hadjar — smart in the trains
FAQ: Fast answers for searchers
What is the F1 points system in 2025?
Top 10 score 25‑18‑15‑12‑10‑8‑6‑4‑2‑1 in a full‑distance race. There is no fastest‑lap point from 2024 onwards. Sprint events award 8‑7‑6‑5‑4‑3‑2‑1 to the top eight.
How did Safety Cars shape the Azerbaijan GP?
They slashed the pit delta and turned the one‑stop plan into a timing lottery. Winners boxed under caution and protected track position; losers had to defend on older tyres or accept traffic rejoin.
Why are brake temperatures so tricky in Baku?
The kilometre‑long straight cools tyres and brakes between stops. If you don’t build temperature on the out‑lap, the first big hit into Turn 1 risks a lock‑up that ruins the stint.
What makes straight‑line speed so valuable here?
End‑of‑straight speed plus DRS creates overspeed that turns attacks into inevitability. Low drag without losing rear stability through the castle is the golden setup trade‑off.
Who is leading the F1 2025 Drivers’ Championship right now?
Oscar Piastri leads from Lando Norris, with Max Verstappen in third.
Where can I learn more about points in special scenarios?
See our explainers on standings in shortened races and sprint race points.
Baku rarely follows a script. Track the live twists — and watch the F1 championship standings update in real time during every Safety Car and restart — with RaceMate.