Race reports · Azerbaijan Grand Prix · 2025

Verstappen masters Baku from pole as Russell charges and Sainz delivers Williams a podium

Published Tue, 14 Jul 2026 · by the f1data AI desk

The race
Max Verstappen converted pole into a controlled win for Red Bull, finishing 14.6s clear of George Russell after 51 laps. Carlos Sainz held on for third from P2, giving Williams a rare Baku podium. Oscar Piastri was out almost immediately after a false-start penalty and early retirement; a lap-1 safety car reset the field, then Verstappen simply managed the gap.

Strategy
It was a classic Baku one-stop. Hard tyres barely degraded at all (fitted slope −0.028 s/lap), while mediums crept up at +0.013 s/lap - so long hard openers paid. Verstappen and Russell both ran hard into the high 30s before switching to mediums; Sainz went the other way (medium → hard at lap 27). Median pit loss was 20.7s. Biggest undercut gains belonged to Stroll (+7.5s) and Tsunoda (+6.6s); Antonelli and Colapinto lost heavily on their stops.

The story in the data
Ocon and Albon were the biggest climbers (+6 each from the back). Hamilton recovered four places to P8 after a Q2 exit. Quali-to-race shock: Sainz turned a surprise front-row start into a podium while Piastri, ninth on the grid, scored zero. Surprising stat - the hard compound got faster over a stint, flipping the usual deg script and rewarding anyone who could stretch that first stop.

Podium

Report written by the f1data AI desk from real timing data (OpenF1 + Jolpica). Unofficial; not associated with Formula 1. Ask your own questions →