The Azerbaijan Grand Prix took place on Sept. 20, 2025, in the streets of Baku, Azerbaijan. Max Verstappen, driver for Red Bull, took first place in both the qualifiers and in the race at the Formula One (F1) motor racing event.
Alongside Verstappen, Carlos Sainz, driver for Williams, took second place and Liam Lawson, driver for Racing Bulls, took third place for the starting lineup.
After a chaotic qualifying day with multiple crashes, Verstappen ended the race day in first place, taking home a unique, flame-inspired trophy called the “Land of Fire” to represent Azerbaijan’s nickname.
George Russel, driver for Mercedes, qualified for the fifth spot on the grid and went on to overtake his teammate, Kimi Antonelli, Lawson and Sainz, placing Russel in second for the overall race.
Russell was battling a respiratory virus over the weekend, which almost made him pull out of the event. Despite missing media sessions two days before the race, Russell decided to still race.
Sainz dropped down one spot during the race, securing third place on the podium. Last season, Sainz switched from Ferrari to Williams, which makes this his first podium win in a Williams car and Williams’ first podium finish in three years.
“Carlos’ podium [win] was not necessarily expected, but it was very exciting. I definitely think he deserved to be ‘Driver of the Day’,” Paige Jarochym, sophomore F1 fan, said.
F1 Driver of the Day is where fans get to vote for one driver who they think performed the most memorable during a Grand Prix.
Ferrari is the oldest and most successful team in F1 history, according to Statista. Due to the car’s new design this year, it has shown inconsistent performance for Ferrari drivers, Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc.
Leclerc qualified tenth and finished ninth at the Grand Prix. Hamilton qualified 12th and finished eighth. The team radio communication with Ferrari’s race engineer confirms that after Hamilton passed Leclerc for eighth place, Hamilton understood that he would give the position back if he couldn’t advance further in the rankings.
Hamilton was able to pass some drivers due to having fresher tires than his teammate, but he couldn’t overtake the McLaren car in front.
“This is so incredibly frustrating. We’ve lost all competitiveness… Now it’s just undrivable. Undriveable. It’s a miracle if we finish on the podium,” Leclerc said to his Ferrari team over the radio during the 2025 Hungarian Grand Prix.
Antonelli, the youngest driver at age 18 on the F1 grid, qualified in fourth place and finished the race in the same position. Fans and drivers of the sport believe that Antonelli has the potential to become a world champion, including the seven-time world champion driver, Hamilton.
Hamilton left Mercedes to drive for Ferrari last season. He said to F1 News that he was excited to see Antonelli take his seat in Mercedes.
“ [Antonelli] has potential for Mercedes and he is definitely working up towards that, but as of right now, I think he needs to build up more confidence in driving,” Katheryn Rodriguez, junior F1 fan, said.
As of now, Antonelli holds the record for being the youngest driver to lead a Grand Prix and set the fastest lap. Mercedes Team Principal, Toto Wolff, is confident in Antonelli and wants to keep him on the team for next season.
“There are some good indications that he has a lot of talent and a lot of potential and now it needs to be conditioned,” Wolff said in an interview with F1 News.
Lawson had his best race at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, where he finished fifth, his highest-ever placing in Formula 1.
“To have a P5 [fifth-place position] is big for us, especially in the Championship right now. We’ve had a good car all weekend thanks to the team, so I’m pleased to be coming home with points,” Lawson said to F1 News reporters after the race.
The Racing Bulls car isn’t as competitive as the top-performing teams, such as McLaren and Mercedes, due to a lower budget for designing their car and engine. Achieving a high finishing position in a Grand Prix is a significant accomplishment for Racing Bulls.
McLaren is considered to be the best team of the 2024-2025 season, with a podium finish average of 77.8% according to F1 News. This led fans to assume both drivers, Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, who are at the top of the drivers’ championship standings, would race well in Azerbaijan.
Norris started in seventh and placed in seventh, showing no improvement for the day.
“It’s not a missed opportunity. Every race is an opportunity. Today we just weren’t good enough and made too many mistakes yesterday,” Norris said to F1 News after the race.
Piastri, who holds the most points this season, had a Did Not Finish (DNF). He crashed a total of two times. The first crash was during qualifiers, which led him to start in ninth place. During the race, Piastri crashed into the wall and had to retire the car, meaning he could not race anymore.
“I know he [Piastri] has been doing really well, so it’s just a shame. I think when there’s more racers, it makes it more fun to watch since the grid feels more complete,” Kaden Wiebe, senior F1 fan, said.
As of now, McLaren has been announced as the winner of the 2025-2026 Constructors’ Championship, a competition in F1 where the team with the most points at the end of the season wins. Drivers score points by finishing in the top ten positions on race day.
The award is normally given out near the end of the season, but McLaren secured a point total of 656, which can not be passed by any other team in the six remaining races.
“I’m a very big McLaren fan, so I’m very happy that they won and I’m especially happy for Lando Norris because he’s my favorite driver,” Megan Bridwell, sophomore F1 fan, said.
