The 2025 Azerbaijan Grand Prix Thread

[cmlean]

This is the place to discuss everything related to the 17th round of the 2025 season in Baku, Azerbaijan between the 19th and 21st of September.

The event timetable for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Friday
1st Practice 11:30 local time - 08:30 GMT
2nd Practice 16:00 local time - 12:00 GMT

Saturday
3rd Practice 12:30 local time - 08:30 GMT
Qualifying 16:00 local time - 12:00 GMT

Sunday
Race 15:00 local time - 11:00 GMT

[cmlean]

FP1

Code: Select all

Pos	Time	 	 Driver		  Team	
1	1:42.704	Lando Norris	  McLaren	
2	1:43.014	Oscar Piastri	  McLaren	
3	1:43.256	Charles Leclerc	  Ferrari	
4	1:43.257	George Russell	  Mercedes	
5	1:43.563	Alexander Albon	  Williams	
6	1:43.738	Yuki Tsunoda	  Red Bull Racing	
7	1:43.790	Max Verstappen	  Red Bull Racing	
8	1:43.859	Carlos Sainz	  Williams	
9	1:43.903	Liam Lawson	  Racing Bulls	
10	1:43.975	Isack Hadjar	  Racing Bulls	
11	1:43.985	Kimi Antonelli	  Mercedes	
12	1:43.986	Nico Hulkenberg	  Sauber	
13	1:44.087	Lewis Hamilton	  Ferrari	
14	1:44.087	Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber	
15	1:44.139	Fernando Alonso	  Aston Martin	
16	1:44.151	Oliver Bearman	  Haas	
17	1:44.329	Lance Stroll	  Aston Martin	
18	1:44.439	Esteban Ocon	  Haas	
19	1:45.299	Franco Colapinto  Alpine	
20	1:45.418	Pierre Gasly	  Alpine	

[cmlean]

FP2

Code: Select all

Pos	Time		Driver		  Team
1	1:41.293	Lewis Hamilton	  Ferrari
2	1:41.367	Charles Leclerc	  Ferrari
3	1:41.770	George Russell	  Mercedes
4	1:41.779	Kimi Antonelli	  Mercedes
5	1:41.891	Oliver Bearman	  Haas
6	1:41.902	Max Verstappen	  Red Bull Racing
7	1:41.989	Liam Lawson	  Racing Bulls
8	1:42.167	Esteban Ocon	  Haas
9	1:42.177	Alexander Albon	  Williams
10	1:42.199	Lando Norris	  McLaren
11	1:42.255	Carlos Sainz	  Williams
12	1:42.295	Oscar Piastri	  McLaren
13	1:42.443	Isack Hadjar	  Racing Bulls
14	1:42.444	Yuki Tsunoda	  Red Bull Racing
15	1:42.561	Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber
16	1:42.674	Pierre Gasly	  Alpine
17	1:42.771	Lance Stroll	  Aston Martin
18	1:42.820	Nico Hulkenberg	  Sauber
19	1:42.967	Fernando Alonso	  Aston Martin
20	1:43.322	Franco Colapinto  Alpine

[cmlean]

It was a difficult day for McLaren with a technical problem sidelining Oscar Piastri for some time in the first session. His lost track time against the rest of the field was minimized due to a track problem with the exit kerbs at turn 16.
In the second session, Lando Norris hit the concrete barrier as he exited turn 6 damaging his left rear suspension. He limped back to the pits however iy sidelined him for the rest of the session.
Lewis Hamilton was finally at one with his Ferrari and topped the charts as the flag dropped, ahead of team mate Charles Leclerc.
It is shaping for an exciting qualifying!

[cmlean]

FP3

Code: Select all

Pos	Time		Driver		  Team
1	1:41.223	Lando Norris	  McLaren
2	1:41.445	Max Verstappen	  Red Bull Racing
3	1:41.477	Oscar Piastri	  McLaren
4	1:41.499	Lewis Hamilton	  Ferrari
5	1:41.876	Kimi Antonelli	  Mercedes
6	1:41.964	George Russell	  Mercedes
7	1:41.983	Alexander Albon	  Williams
8	1:41.985	Oliver Bearman	  Haas
9	1:42.146	Liam Lawson	  Racing Bulls
10	1:42.209	Charles Leclerc	  Ferrari
11	1:42.267	Isack Hadjar	  Racing Bulls
12	1:42.428	Nico Hulkenberg	  Sauber
13	1:42.486	Carlos Sainz	  Williams
14	1:42.591	Fernando Alonso	  Aston Martin
15	1:42.789	Franco Colapinto  Alpine
16	1:42.840	Yuki Tsunoda	  Red Bull Racing
17	1:42.868	Esteban Ocon	  Haas
18	1:43.060	Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber
19	1:43.322	Pierre Gasly	  Alpine
20	1:43.350	Lance Stroll	  Aston Martin

[cmlean]

Qualifying

Code: Select all

Pos	Time		Driver		  Team
1	1:41.117	Max Verstappen	  Red Bull Racing
2	1:41.595	Carlos Sainz	  Williams
3	1:41.707	Liam Lawson	  Racing Bulls
4	1:41.717	Kimi Antonelli	  Mercedes
5	1:42.070	George Russell	  Mercedes
6	1:42.143	Yuki Tsunoda	  Red Bull Racing
7	1:42.239	Lando Norris	  McLaren
8	1:42.372	Isack Hadjar	  Racing Bulls
9	No Time		Oscar Piastri	  McLaren
10	No Time		Charles Leclerc	  Ferrari
____________________________________________________
11	1:41.857	Fernando Alonso	  Aston Martin
12	1:42.183	Lewis Hamilton	  Ferrari
13	1:42.277	Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber
14	1:43.061	Lance Stroll	  Aston Martin
15	No Time		Oliver Bearman	  Haas
____________________________________________________
16	1:42.779	Franco Colapinto  Alpine
17	1:42.916	Nico Hulkenberg	  Sauber
18	1:43.139	Pierre Gasly	  Alpine
19	1:43.778	Alexander Albon	  Williams
20	Disqualified	Esteban Ocon	  Haas

[cmlean]

This would have to be the longest qualifying in history.
There were a total of 6 red flags and the session went near 2 hours.
Q1 and Alex Albon, on his second timed run, clipped the barrier on the inside of turn 1 destroying the left front corner of his Williams.
The session restarted and Nic Hulkenberg parked his Sauber in the barriers entering turn 4. The red flags came out due to the drbris from the incident and Hulkenberg limped back to the pits for a new front wing.
Again, the session resumed and with the chequered flag about to fall, Pierre Gasly drove into the turn 4 escape road. His team mate, Franco Colapinto, noted Gasly was up the escape road and proceeded to hit the barriers exiting the turn. Red flag number 3.
Q2 commenced and the first and only casualty for the session was Ollie Bearman who hit the barriers exiting turn 2 to bring out red flag number 4.
This session was also notable in that Lewis Hamilton, who was on the pace all weekend, finished in 12 and was eliminated.
Q3 began under cloudy skies and Carlos Sainz and the two Racing Bulls managed to set times as a light shower crossed the circuit catching out Charles Leclerc who parked his Ferrari in the turn 15 barriers and brought out red flag number 5. This also spoiled the first runs of all others on hot laps. During the break, it looked like the dampness on the circuit might give Carlos Sainz his first Williams pole. Qualifying resumed and Oscar Piastri entered turn 3 and the McLaren plowed into the barriers bringing out the 6th and final red flag. With 4 minutes left before the chequered flag was due to drop, the pressure was on for someone to usurp Carlos Sainz and that someone was Max Verstappen. Lando Norris had a scrappy lap and could only qualify in P7, just 2 positions ahead of his team mate. It is going to be an interesting race, aside from Max taking off into the distance. But, stranger things have occurred at Azerbaijan previously. Bring it on!

[cmlean]

Race

Code: Select all

Pos	Driver		  Team
1	Max Verstappen	  Red Bull Racing
2	George Russell	  Mercedes
3	Carlos Sainz	  Williams
4	Kimi Antonelli	  Mercedes
5	Liam Lawson	  Racing Bulls
6	Yuki Tsunoda	  Red Bull Racing
7	Lando Norris	  McLaren
8	Lewis Hamilton	  Ferrari
9	Charles Leclerc	  Ferrari
10	Isack Hadjar	  Racing Bulls
11	Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber
12	Oliver Bearman	  Haas
13	Alexander Albon	  Williams
14	Esteban Ocon	  Haas
15	Fernando Alonso	  Aston Martin
16	Nico Hulkenberg	  Sauber
17	Lance Stroll	  Aston Martin
18	Pierre Gasly	  Alpine
19	Franco Colapinto  Alpine
DNF	Oscar Piastri	  McLaren

Next: Round of Singapore '25
Date: 3rd-5th October 2025

[cmlean]

Baku never fails to provide a great race.
Given that Max Verstappen dominated the race from start to finish, the rest of the race was exciting.
George Russell followed the same strategy as Max which proved a master stroke permitting him to take the runner up step on the podium by running long on the hards in his first stint. Carlos Sainz then controlled the chasing pack bringing his Williams home on the lower step podium. Kimi Antonelli looked to have the goods on Sainz, racing up behind him following his pit stop but the straight line speed and careful use of his tyres enabled Carlos Sainz to hold Antonelli at bay.
Oscar Piastri had a weekend to forget but Lando Norris was unable to take the opportunity presented to him finishing a distant 7th behind Yuki Tsunoda but ahead of the Ferrari duo.