PRIXVIEW – Azerbaijan Grand Prix

Round fifteen brings F1 to Western Asia and the Azerbaijani capital Baku, since joining the calendar a decade ago, the high-speed street circuit has provided drama and controversy as drivers tackle the third-longest circuit on the calendar, which features the narrowest section of the season, but also great overtaking opportunities.

Baku was the first of a new generation of street circuits, then the fastest on the calendar, thanks to its long straights and the flat-out blast between Turn Nineteen and One along Neftchilar Avenue. The width of much of the circuit is about the same as permanent circuits, which increases the opportunities to overtake.

Drivers enjoy the challenge offered by its mixture of long straights, slow technical sections and no margin for error due to the proximity of the walls. It’s a race where drivers are likely to need to keep their eyes peeled so as not to make mistakes, though there are more opportunities to overtake than in Monaco.

It’s a challenge as the high-speed downforce coupled with mostly wide streets create opportunities for overtaking; however, the barriers are never too far away, meaning mistakes can lead to safety cars and red flags. But Monza should give us a very good idea of where performance is given they are very similar in what they need in terms of downforce and speed.

The circuit mixes the old with the new; modern high-rise hotels and skyscrapers are dotted around the circuit’s perimeter. But none of them sits quite as close to the action as the fortress walls of Baku’s old city – a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This is the narrowest section of the circuit of the season, with 7.6m on the castle section.

This means that teams need to work out a balance between high speed and downforce; this makes the circuit one of the faster street circuits and the third fastest after Jeddah and Monza. Also, this has seen many dramatic races since joining the calendar in 2016; it’s a circuit of contrasts between long straights, slow technical sections and no margin for error due to the proximity of the walls. It’s a race where drivers are likely to need to keep their eyes peeled so as not to make mistakes, though there are more opportunities to overtake than in Monaco.

Overtaking is possible in the new town, but in the old town, many of the streets are typical of street circuits. But as ever, that comes with the risk of crashing into the barriers; the nature of the circuit punishes cars, and lockups are common, forcing drivers to use escape roads where possible to avoid crashing out of qualifying, but there isn’t runoff, so that comes with the risk of red flags.

The added mix of a street circuit on one hand, which needs high speed and downforce, but there is a high chance of safety cars and accidents with drama throughout the last decade. Teams need to work out a balance between high speed and downforce; this makes the circuit one of the faster street circuits and the third fastest after Jeddah and Monza. The final sector runs along the coastline, making it a challenge to choose between drag and straight-line speed.

The 2016 GP2 support race saw twelve of the twenty-two cars retire. This means the teams need to be careful not to overheat the cars, make mistakes or crash; that also means there can be big rewards if teams pull off a good strategy. Though the 2016 F1 race was largely uneventful, Baku has seen its fair share of drama and incidents.

Before Covid, there were four different winners in four years. Nico Rosberg won the first race in Baku from pole, holding the lead for much of the race before taking a sixteen-second victory. Lewis Hamilton suffered from problems with his car, being stuck in the wrong engine mode. Due to the regulations stating that drivers had to drive the vehicles “unaided”, the team was not allowed to help him

2017 was when Baku started to earn its reputation for drama and unpredictability, as the race was defined by crashes. Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel at the first restart, Vettel ran into the back of the Mercedes, Vettel accusing Hamilton of ‘brake testing’ him. The stewards didn’t agree, handing him a ten-second penalty, which ultimately allowed Daniel Ricciardo into the lead, and he went on to win. The second incident saw a collision between the Force Indias of Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon, bringing out the red flag.

The following year, a late puncture on the restart following a collision between Ricciardo and Max Verstappen as they fought for the lead with ten laps to go resulted in them both retiring and Valtteri Bottas making his pit stop, allowing him to rejoin in the lead. However, with three laps to go, Bottas locked up, dropping to second before retaking the lead for a lap and a half, before a puncture and retiring.

Following a year’s hiatus in 2021, Leclerc took back-to-back poles in Baku, despite struggling in practice. Mercedes turned it around after setting up changes in practice for Hamilton to take pole. While Verstappen went off into the wall in the closing stages, bringing out the red flag with five laps remaining, on the restart, there was drama for Hamilton.

Starting from pole for the restart with three laps to go, Perez took the lead from Hamilton, who had selected the wrong setting on his wheel. This resulted in another surprise result as Vettel took the podium for Aston Martin. Last year’s race saw Verstappen take victory ahead of his teammate Sergio Perez after Leclerc retired early on with a power unit issue.

2022, Leclerc took his sixth pole of the season after setting a 41.359 on soft tyres, which put him a quarter of a second ahead of teammate Sainz. While Ferrari looked to have the edge over Red Bull anyway, both Perez and Verstappen’s final runs were hampered by a delay in refuelling the two Red Bull’s.

2023, Verstappen took victory by twenty seconds from teammate Perez after a close first half of the race between Red Bull and Ferrari, but Ferrari’s race would unravel in the middle part. Sainz retired with a brake-by-wire failure on lap nine while Leclerc retired with engine issues later on.

That gave George Russell third, the only driver to finish in the to five in all of the first eight races ahead of Lewis Hamilton. Hamilton worked his way from seventh with some brilliant overtaking.

2024 Leclerc took his fourth pole in a row, which put him just over three-tenths ahead of Piastri, who split the Ferraris after going a tenth faster than Sainz. But the shock was Norris, who was knocked out in Q1 after he was forced to back off because of a yellow flag.

Piastri put in a dominant performance to win the race by ten seconds ahead of Leclerc. The McLaren lunged past the Ferrari during the pit stop phase; from then on, he looked to have a slight edge over the Ferrari.

It was the most eventful race of the year in terms of battling, as Piastri and Leclerc went wheel to wheel several times, then Verstappen and Norris also got close at different points in the race. George Russell finished third, twenty seconds behind Leclerc and ahead of Lando Norris and Verstappen.

Race & Circuit Guide

Fast facts

• At its narrowest point near the ancient fortress wall complex (Turns 8 and 9), the track shrinks to just 7.6 meters wide, leaving zero room for driving errors.
• In 2023, Sergio Perez became the first repeat winner at Baku City Circuit on his seventh visit to Azerbaijan. Charles Leclerc became the circuit’s first repeat polesitter in 2022. Max Verstappen is the only other driver with multiple wins here.
• Perez holds the record for most podium finishes at this track. He has finished on the podium here five times. 2021 marked the first time that a Mexican driver, a German driver and a French driver shared the three podium positions.
• At the 2022 Grand Prix, Fernando Alonso set a new record for the longest F1 career. Race day in Baku marked 21 years, 3 months and 8 days since his debut at the 2001 Australian Grand Prix, eclipsing Michael Schumacher’s former longevity record.

Event timetable

What happened in 2025?

FP1 saw Lando Norris lead a McLaren one-two with a 42.704 just over three tenths faster than his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri. Charles Leclerc put his Ferrari third but was over two tenths further behind the two McLarens, but he has been in the mix in Baku since the race’s hiatus in 2020, and he was a thousandth faster than the Mercedes of George Russell.

FP2 saw Lewis Hamilton lead a Ferrari one-two; the seven-time champion set a 41.293, putting himself three-quarters of a tenth faster than Leclerc. McLaren’s raw pace was not seen because of the errors made by both drivers on what should have been their fastest laps. George Russell put his Mercedes third as he went four tenths behind Leclerc and a hundredth faster than his teammate Kimi Antonelli.

FP3 saw Norris top the times with 41.299, which put him just under two and a quarter tenths faster than Verstappen. The Red Bull driver managed to split the two McLarens after he went three hundredths faster than Piastri. Hamilton was just over two hundredths further behind.

In qualifying, it was Verstappen who took pole with a 41.117, going just under half a second faster than Carlos Sainz. The battle for pole effectively became a one-lap shoot-out after Piastri made a rare mistake and crashed. He was just one of six drivers to be caught out by the gusty and cloudy conditions, and then Norris failed to capitalise on his final attempt, going only seventh.

Verstappen went onto dominate the race and take a fourteen and a half second win ahead of Russell. He went long into the race as he built his lead at the front, and when he did stop with ten laps to go, his gap was over thirty seconds, which allowed him to rejoin the race in the lead.

Norris couldn’t take advantage of his teammate’s retirement startied out of position; after he and Piastri crashed in Q3 on Saturday, he could only manage seventh, two seconds ahead of the Ferraris. While Norris made good early progress, he then became stuck behind Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton.

Piastri’s race unravelled before the start of the race; he jumped the start and had to stop again before getting underway. That dropped him to the back of the field into the first corner, and his race came to an end just five corners later. He tried to go for an ambitious move around the outside of Esteban Ocon into Turn Five, but found no grip and slid straight on into the barrier

Championship Standings

What to watch for?

Baku, as things stand, marks the start of nine races in eleven weeks, the most intense part of the season where this championship will be decided. We still don’t know how many races remain after Vegas. After his wins in Monza and Madrid, there is a growing sense that this is Kimi Antonelli’s title to lose, as his rise appears unstoppable unless something goes majorly wrong in this triple header.

This will be another circuit that suits Mercedes, as it’s one of the fastest street circuits, and they were so dominant at Monza, where power and straight-line speed are similar to Baku. However, there is always a risk of accidents on a street circuit; red and yellow flags in practice and qualifying, then VSC and safety cars, mean again strategy and communication are key.

Baku is also a confidence circuit where you need to be on the limit without crashing, and if you find the wall, that hurts your ability throughout the weekend. This is a circuit where you can overtake, but power along the 1km ‘straight’ is so important, as well as being able to slow down into turn one. Reliability may play a role, given the factors mentioned above will also play a role as we are in that stage of the season, but we have already seen that this season.

Track evolution, this being a street circuit is another factor teams and drivers need to be aware of, as we know that these types of circuits get faster as the rubber goes down, but it’s a living thing. In the race, as the discarded rubber goes down, drivers need to be careful going off line, as that can lead to crashes and to the race changing quickly.

I think this is a key race for both Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris if they are to have a serious chance of fighting for this championship, but the latter’s two wins this season have come on less power-sensitive circuits, which Baku isn’t. It feels as if they need to be reactive, as we have also seen reliability be a factor this season, so all teams need to bear this in mind throughout this triple header.

Ferrari needs a win and/or a big statement. I feel if they are to both keep Lewis Hamilton’s hopes alive and Madrid felt to me like a tough weekend, a win in Baku will help do that, as the mood over the last week or so has begun to feel like this championship is Antonelli’s to lose as we move into the flyways. If they can’t win the title, they need to improve communication to get ahead of Mercedes and on par, as some would say this is a fundamental issue.

We know there is a big gap between the top four teams and the midfield; Alpine could be a team to watch after Pierre Gasly’s surprise pole position and strong race in Monza, which was a huge surprise. Presuming the top four teams get into Q3, but that isn’t guaranteed, but there is also an increased chance here.

2024 vs 2025 Race Data

2025 Lap time comparison

Tyres