| 2025 Azerbaijan Grand Prix | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Race 17 of 24 in the2025 Formula One World Championship
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 Layout of the Baku City Circuit | |||||
| Race details[1] | |||||
| Date | 21 September 2025 (2025-09-21) | ||||
| Official name | Formula 1 Qatar AirwaysAzerbaijan Grand Prix 2025 | ||||
| Location | Baku City Circuit Baku, Azerbaijan | ||||
| Course | Street circuit | ||||
| Course length | 6.003 km (3.730 miles) | ||||
| Distance | 51 laps, 306.049 km (190.170 miles) | ||||
| Weather | Cloudy | ||||
| Pole position | |||||
| Driver | Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT | ||||
| Time | 1:41.117 | ||||
| Fastest lap | |||||
| Driver |  Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT | |||
| Time | 1:43.388 on lap 50 | ||||
| Podium | |||||
| First | Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT | ||||
| Second | Mercedes | ||||
| Third | Williams-Mercedes | ||||
Lap leaders | |||||
The2025 Azerbaijan Grand Prix (officially known as theFormula 1 Qatar Airways Azerbaijan Grand Prix 2025) was aFormula One motor race held on 21 September 2025 at theBaku City Circuit inBaku,Azerbaijan. It was the seventeenth round of the2025 Formula One World Championship.
Max Verstappen (Red Bull) converted his pole position to win. It was his second Baku win and his sixthgrand chelem. He was joined on the podium byGeorge Russell (Mercedes) andCarlos Sainz Jr. (Williams). Sainz scored Williams' first podium since the rain-curtailed2021 Belgian Grand Prix and Williams' first podium from a full race distance since the2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Championship leaderOscar Piastri crashed out during the first lap, marking his first retirement since the2023 United States Grand Prix.
The event was held at theBaku City Circuit inBaku for the ninth time in the circuit's history, having previously held one edition of theEuropean Grand Prix in2016, across the weekend of 19–21 September.[2] The Grand Prix was the seventeenth round of the2025 Formula One World Championship and the eighth running of theAzerbaijan Grand Prix.[3]
Going into the weekend,Oscar Piastri led theDrivers' Championship with 324 points, 31 points ahead of teammateLando Norris in second and 94 ahead ofMax Verstappen in third.McLaren, with 617 points, led theConstructors' Championship fromFerrari andMercedes, who were second and third with 280 and 260 points, respectively.[4]
World Constructors' Championship leader McLaren had an opportunity to secure its tenth title at this event, and the second in a row. With eight rounds remaining in the season, a maximum of 389 points could still be scored. McLaren had the opportunity to secure the title if they outscored Ferrari by nine points, and Mercedes failed to outscore McLaren by 12 points, andRed Bull Racing failed to outscore McLaren by 33 points. McLaren had the opportunity to secure the title by achieving either a 1–2 or 1–3 finish, regardless of where anyone else finished.[5]
The drivers and teams were the same as published in the season entry list with two exceptions;[6]Yuki Tsunoda atRed Bull Racing was in the seat originally held byLiam Lawson before the latter was demoted back toRacing Bulls from theJapanese Grand Prix onward,[7] andFranco Colapinto replacedJack Doohan atAlpine from theEmilia Romagna Grand Prix onward until at least theAustrian Grand Prix on a rotating seat basis.[8] Before the Austrian Grand Prix, it was confirmed that Colapinto would retain his seat with the team, effectively on a race-by-race basis.[9]
Tyre supplierPirelli brought the C4, C5, and C6 tyre compounds—the softest three in their range (designated hard, medium, and soft, respectively)—for teams to use at the event.[10]
Threefree practice sessions were held for the event. The first practice session was held on 19 September 2025, at 12:30 local time (UTC+4), and was topped byLando Norris (McLaren) ahead of teammateOscar Piastri andCharles Leclerc (Ferrari). The session was disrupted by a lengthy red flag due to debris on track. Further issues with the kerbs on turn 16 delayed the session further. The second free practice session was held on the same day, at 16:00 local time, and was topped byLewis Hamilton (Ferrari) ahead of teammate Leclerc andGeorge Russell (Mercedes). The third free practice session was be held on 20 September 2025, at 12:30 local time, and was topped by Norris ahead ofMax Verstappen (Red Bull) and Piastri.[1][11]
Qualifying was held on 20 September 2025, at 16:00 local time (UTC+4), and determined the starting grid order for the race.[1]
Six red flags were observed during qualifying, breaking the previous record of five red flags during a single qualification session set jointly at the2022 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix and the2024 São Paulo Grand Prix. Due to the stoppages, the session, scheduled to run over one hour, ran for over two hours.[12]
During the first session,Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) topped the session beforeAlexander Albon (Williams) crashed at turn 1, breaking his steering rack, stopping the session and disallowingOscar Piastri (McLaren) a chance to do a flying lap. The session was suspended for eight minutes; shortly after it resumed,Nico Hülkenberg (Sauber) crashed at turn 4, breaking his front wing and inflicting heavy floor damage to his car. A ten-minute suspension followed; as the session ended, another red flag was thrown due toPierre Gasly (Alpine) going off the track at turn 4. Shortly afterward, teammateFranco Colapinto hit the wall nearby, whileLando Norris (McLaren) topped the session.Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) had a scrappy session, having his times deleted and running poorly across the track, he posted a time that was enough to get him out of the bottom five drivers, who were Colapinto, Hülkenberg,Esteban Ocon (Haas), Gasly and Albon.[13] Ocon would be disqualified following the session due to a rear wing infringement and started the race from last.[14]
The start of the second session was delayed to observe track cleaning operations. Running lasted for three minutes beforeOliver Bearman (Haas) hit the wall at turn 2, which led to his suspension being broken and a fourth red flag being observed. No further incidents were observed during this session, and the eliminated drivers wereFernando Alonso (Aston Martin),Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari),Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber),Lance Stroll (Aston Martin), and Bearman.[13]
The third session was suspended after four minutes whenCharles Leclerc (Ferrari) found the wall at turn 15. As he had not set a time, he would start tenth. This crash ensured that Leclerc would not start on pole for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix for the first time since2019, where he also crashed in qualifying.Carlos Sainz Jr. (Williams) was on provisional pole position ahead of Lawson andIsack Hadjar (both Racing Bulls). Immediately after the session resumed, Piastri put his car in the wall at turn 3, facilitating the last red flag of the session; similarly to Leclerc, he was unable to set a time, so he started ninth.Max Verstappen (Red Bull) took pole position ahead of Sainz and Lawson,[13] Antonelli qualified in fourth, his highest starting position since theCanadian Grand Prix.[15] Norris was unable to capitalise on his teammate's error, himself making mistakes during his qualifying lap to start seventh.[13] Sainz recorded Williams' first front row start since Russell qualified second at the2021 Belgian Grand Prix.[16]
Notes
The race was held on 21 September 2025, at 15:00 local time (UTC+4), and was run for 51 laps.[1]
Championship leaderOscar Piastri (McLaren) topped off his mistake-laden weekend by jumping the start, triggering thecar'santi-stall and dropping him to last as a result. He eventually crashed at the sixth turn on the first lap, marking his first retirement since the2023 United States Grand Prix, triggering the safety car that came in on lap 4.Fernando Alonso, who started in 11th, behind Piastri, incorrectly reacted to Piastri's jump start, and was penalised for jumping the start.[19]Mercedes'George Russell, who was feeling unwell throughout the weekend,[20] started with hard tyres, had a bad restart following the safety car ending at lap 4, and got passed by both Tsunoda and Antonelli but managed to overtake the former. On lap 17, while attempting to overtakeFranco Colapinto at turn 7, Williams'Alexander Albon hit the rear left of Colapinto, causing the latter to spin and triggering a brief safety car, but Colapinto managed to recover, and Albon was given a ten-second time penalty as a result. With Antonelli pitting earlier, Russell took advantage of the hard tyres, closing the gap toWilliams'Carlos Sainz Jr., and successfully overcut Sainz on lap 40 with a well-timed pit stop.[19]
PolesitterMax Verstappen (Red Bull) converted pole position to win his fourth race of the season, and marked consecutive race wins for the first time in the season. Russell finished in second, his seventh podium of the season.[19] Sainz, who finished in third, scored his team's first podium since the rain-curtailed2021 Belgian Grand Prix.[21] Verstappen, who led the whole race, scored his sixthgrand chelem of his Formula One career.[22] Antonelli finished fourth,Liam Lawson finished in fifth place, scoring his best finish in his career, and his teammateIsack Hadjar managed to get tenth place, with Racing Bulls successfully gaining points five races in a row. Norris finished seventh, andLewis Hamilton finished in eighth.[19]
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Constructor | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT | 51 | 1:33:26.408 | 1 | 25 |
| 2 | 63 |  George Russell | Mercedes | 51 | +14.609 | 5 | 18 |
| 3 | 55 |  Carlos Sainz Jr. | Williams-Mercedes | 51 | +19.199 | 2 | 15 |
| 4 | 12 |  Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | 51 | +21.760 | 4 | 12 |
| 5 | 30 |  Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls-Honda RBPT | 51 | +33.290 | 3 | 10 |
| 6 | 22 |  Yuki Tsunoda | Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT | 51 | +33.808 | 6 | 8 |
| 7 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren-Mercedes | 51 | +34.227 | 7 | 6 |
| 8 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | 51 | +36.310 | 12 | 4 |
| 9 | 16 |  Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 51 | +36.774 | 10 | 2 |
| 10 | 6 |  Isack Hadjar | Racing Bulls-Honda RBPT | 51 | +38.982 | 8 | 1 |
| 11 | 5 |  Gabriel Bortoleto | Kick Sauber-Ferrari | 51 | +1:07.606 | 13 | |
| 12 | 87 | Oliver Bearman | Haas-Ferrari | 51 | +1.08.262 | 15 | |
| 13 | 23 |  Alexander Albon | Williams-Mercedes | 51 | +1:12.8701 | 19 | |
| 14 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Haas-Ferrari | 51 | +1:17.580 | 20 | |
| 15 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin Aramco-Mercedes | 51 | +1:18.707 | 11 | |
| 16 | 27 |  Nico Hülkenberg | Kick Sauber-Ferrari | 51 | +1:20.237 | 17 | |
| 17 | 18 |  Lance Stroll | Aston Martin Aramco-Mercedes | 51 | +1:36.392 | 14 | |
| 18 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine-Renault | 50 | +1 lap | 18 | |
| 19 | 43 |  Franco Colapinto | Alpine-Renault | 50 | +1 lap | 16 | |
| Ret | 81 |  Oscar Piastri | McLaren-Mercedes | 0 | Accident | 9 | |
| Source:[18][23][24] | |||||||
Notes
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| Previous race: 2025 Italian Grand Prix | FIA Formula One World Championship 2025 season | Next race: 2025 Singapore Grand Prix |
| Previous race: 2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix | Azerbaijan Grand Prix | Next race: 2026 Azerbaijan Grand Prix |
