Oscar Piastri’s title charge survived a first-lap crash at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix without major damage as rival Lando Norris could finish only seventh.
A second crash of the weekend for Piastri ended his 34-race streak of finishing a Grand Prix within five corners and threw the door wide open for McLaren team-mate Norris to make major inroads into his championship lead.
But Norris started sluggishly and overtaking was at a premium during the 51-lap on Baku’s windy streets, meaning he could only take six points out of Piastri’s title lead which stands at 25 with seven rounds remaining.
Pole-sitter Max Verstappen breezed to a commanding lights-to-flag victory, blasting away from the line and winning by 14 seconds to claim successive victories and close within 69 points of Piastri. George Russell finished second, with Carlos Sainz securing his first podium for Williams in third.
Follow the Azerbaijan Grand Prix with The Independent:
F1 AZERBAIJAN GRAND PRIX - LATEST UPDATES
- Max Verstappen wins the Azerbaijan GP; Russell 2nd; Sainz 3rd
- Click HERE for the top-10
- CRASH! Piastri OUT on lap one as he hits the wall
- Piastri's lead is cut to 25 points in the world championship
- Lewis Hamilton downbeat after finishing eighth
Carlos Sainz beats Lewis Hamilton to first F1 podium with new team in 2025
18:05
,
Kieran Jackson
Carlos Sainz beat Lewis Hamilton to an F1 podium finish in 2025 on a memorable day for Williams in Azerbaijan.
After a terrific qualifying performance, Sainz lined up second on the grid alongside pole-sitter and eventual race winner Max Verstappen in Baku.
While Mercedes cleverly opted to go long on their one-stop strategy for George Russell, resulting in the Brit finishing in second place, Sainz held off the challenge of Kimi Antonelli in the other Mercedes to finish third – Williams’ first podium in more than four years.
Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur:
22:00
,
Kieran Jackson
“We cannot be satisfied with eighth and ninth. We started behind Norris and we finished behind him, which is the reality of this track.
“We had an issue with Charles’ engine which we will now investigate and, even if it was marginal, it was enough to prevent him from being able to overtake in a straight line, which explains why we were stuck behind Lawson.
“The main regret is for yesterday, because we had the pace to do a much better job in qualifying and that’s where the weekend got away from us. It’s encouraging that the pace was there, but frustrating that we did not capitalise on it because you have two parts of the job: one is pure performance and the other is your execution.
“In terms of performance we made a step forward after Spa, but to be P10 and P12 yesterday was not what we expected. Now we need to understand what we could have done better, because we made some mistake, some poor choices.”
Kimi Antonelli, after finishing fourth:
21:00
,
Kieran Jackson
“Today was a much better grand prix than I've had in recent races. That said, I am still slightly disappointed that I wasn't able to get myself on the podium.
“We were closing in on Carlos (Sainz) in the final few laps, but I just couldn't quite find the pace to get within DRS range and then attempt an overtake. He did a great job so congratulations to both him and Williams.
“Whilst I was hoping for more, today was still a decent result and with George in second, a good day for us as a team. We gained a lot of points on Ferrari which is a positive and moved back into second in the Constructors' Championship.
“The pace across the field is tight but hopefully we can carry the momentum from here in Baku into Singapore in two weeks' time.”
Lando Norris reacts to missed opportunity in Azerbaijan: ‘I’m doing the best I can’
20:00
,
Kieran Jackson
“I wanted to do better today, I needed to do better yesterday,” Norris said.
“I felt like I was close to maximising today. It didn’t maybe look like it from the outside, but we struggled with the pace.
“If I started second, I think I would have finished second.”
George Russell reveals he was close to pulling out of Azerbaijan GP after illness
19:00
,
Kieran Jackson
George Russell admitted he nearly did not compete at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix after overcoming illness to finish an impressive second.
The Mercedes driver missed Thursday’s F1 media day and was battling an infection throughout the weekend.
Russell qualified fifth on Saturday and delivered another superb display in the race, with a solid long first stint allowing him to leapfrog Williams’ Carlos Sainz and finish behind race winner Max Verstappen.
“I was pretty glad when I saw the chequered flag, to be honest. I was fortunate — I felt much better today than I felt on Friday and Saturday,” Russell said.
Oscar Piastri on F1 championship battle:
18:00
,
Kieran Jackson
"I guess it is what it is, I'm not too concerned about that. For me, I'm solely focused on myself and what I can do to improve.
“There's still a long way to go and if you have good or bad weekends, the championship is far from over."
Piastri’s gap to Norris is 25 points - and to Verstappen it’s 69 points.
Lando Norris says it was 'impossible to overtake'
17:00
,
Kieran Jackson
"I did the best I could yesterday and today, the opportunities are there every weekend. Every race I didn't win was an opportunity missed, so of course today I wanted more,” he said after finishing 7th.
"I couldn't do anything more today, it was lost yesterday because of going out a bit early, not doing the best lap and we maybe could have gained a couple of positions.
"It wouldn't have changed anything today, it was just impossible to overtake. The pace was alright today when it needed to be, I did a long stint on the medium [tyre]. Things could have been a little bit better, but if there was anything I could have changed, probably not."
Lewis Hamilton, who finished eighth:
15:45
,
Kieran Jackson
On his race: “Not good. We were slow. Disappointing result. To feeling so optimistic after practice, felt so good in the car, but we went in the wrong direction.
But the ultimate pace wasn’t there. Qualifying was obviously key. Happy to move forward from 12th but don’t really care for that position.
“We’ll internally go and have a look at what would’ve done differently, it’s something we need to work on. I felt like I made progress today, out of our cars, it was decent. But the others were just rapid, an unusual Baku race where overtaking was difficult.”
“Definitely disappointed to come away with nothing.”
Oscar Piastri on his retirement:
15:15
,
Kieran Jackson
"It was certainly not my finest moment, just anticipated the start too much and a silly, simple error with that really.
"With the crash I just didn't anticipate the dirty air in the way I should have. I clearly went in to the corner way too hot and that was that.
"The grip level was low but I should know that, so I'm certainly not blaming it on anything other than myself. I didn't make the judgement calls that I needed to at the right time and that is obviously disappointing."
F1 driver standings after Azerbaijan GP:
14:59
,
Kieran Jackson
4. George Russell (Mercedes) – 212 points
5. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) – 165 points
7. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) – 78 points
8. Alex Albon (Williams) – 70 points
9. Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls) – 39 points
10. Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber) - 37 points
11. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) – 32 points
12. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) – 30 points
13. Esteban Ocon (Haas) – 28 points
14. Pierre Gasly (Alpine) – 20 points
15. Carlos Sainz (Williams) – 31 points
16. Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) – 30 points
17. Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber) – 18 points
18. Ollie Bearman (Haas) – 16 points
20. Franco Colapinto (Alpine) – 0 points
21. Jack Doohan (Alpine) – 0 points
Max Verstappen on his fourth win of the season:
14:15
,
Kieran Jackson
“This weekend has been incredible for us, to win here is fantastic, the car was working really well. It was pretty straightforward, incredibly happy.
“Difficult to say, the last two weekends have been amazing, Singapore a different track but we’ll see what we can do there.”
George Russell, after finishing second:
14:05
,
Kieran Jackson
“Congrats to Carlos and Williams, for us - really happy to be back on the podium. Happy with that.
On his illness: “I was pretty glad when I saw the chequered flag, felt much better today but looking forward to a bit of a rest.”
Sainz on radio:
13:55
,
Kieran Jackson
“Vamos! Best podium of my career guys, thank you so much - this is my smooth operation in Williams, and not the last!”
Time for the podium!
13:54
,
Kieran Jackson
A proud moment for Carlos Sainz - his first podium for Williams!
George Russell takes second but it’s Max Verstappen on the top-step of the podium once again!
George Russell:
13:50
,
Kieran Jackson
“Not bad considering I felt like s*** all weekend, good job!”
Carlos Sainz on first Williams podium:
13:47
,
Kieran Jackson
“I cannot describe how happy I am, how good this feels - better than my first ever podium! Today we proved when we have the speed, we can do some amazing things together. We nailed the race, not one mistake.
“Extremely proud of everyone at Williams, we are on the rise and the right direction.”
Verstappen wins:
13:45
,
Kieran Jackson
“Yes! An unbelievable race, on fire! Really well done the whole weekend, well done to everyone on board.”
Verstappen now 69 points behind Piastri. He couldn’t, could he?!
TOP-10 IN BAKU
13:43
,
Kieran Jackson
1. Max Verstappen
2. George Russell
3. Carlos Sainz
4. Kimi Antonelli
5. Liam Lawson
6. Yuki Tsunoda
7. Lando Norris
8. Lewis Hamilton
9. Charles Leclerc
10. Isack Hadjar
Max Verstappen wins the Azerbaijan Grand Prix!
13:39
,
Kieran Jackson
A stunning weekend once again for Max Verstappen, who takes his fourth win of the season in Baku!
George Russell takes an impressive second place while Carlos Sainz takes a fantastic third place and podium for Williams.
4-10: Antonelli, Lawson, Tsunoda, Norris, Hamilton, Leclerc, Hadjar
Norris cuts the gap to just 25 points in the world championship to Piatri. A missed opportunity...
Final lap (Lap 51/51)
13:36
,
Kieran Jackson
Verstappen starts the final lap of the grand prix, then, with a 14-second lead - a dominant display.
Lawson is still keeping hold of fifth place, with Norris sandwiched between Tsunoda and Hamilton in seventh.
Norris can't get past (Lap 49/51)
13:34
,
Kieran Jackson
No such luck for Norris at the moment - he’s in the middle of a DRS train which contains: Lawson, Tsunoda, Norris, Hamilton.
A few laps to go - Norris is just going to make up six points as it stands on Piastri.
Lawson defending fifth (LAp 45/51)
13:28
,
Kieran Jackson
Lawson, who’s had a terrific weekend, defending hard from Tsunoda in sixth and Norris in seventh.
DRS train here, can Norris make up anymore places?
Verstappen on course for the win out in front, with Russell in second and Sainz in third - two seconds clear of Antonelli in fourth.
Hamilton passes Leclerc (Lap 43/51)
13:24
,
Kieran Jackson
No fight from Leclerc, with Hamilton passing his teammate for eighth on fresher tyres.
Top-10: Verstappen, Russell, Sainz, Antonelli, Lawosn, Tsunoda, Norris, Hamilton, Leclerc, Hadjar
Norris, in seventh, is currently trailing Tsunoda by half-a-second.
Verstappen and Russell pit (Lap 40/51)
13:20
,
Kieran Jackson
Verstappen dives in and comes out in first, a mammoth 13 seconds ahead of Russell, who keeps second ahead of Sainz out of the pits!
Russell on course for second, with Sainz in third.
Meanwhile, Norris has taken seventh from Leclerc - more key positions and points!
Next up: Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda.
Yuki Tsunoda pits (Lap 39/51)
13:17
,
Kieran Jackson
Tsunoda now dives in and while he comes out in front of Lawson, the Racing Bull gets the Red Bull down the inside!
Norris and Leclerc, meanwhile, watch it all unfold in front of them!
Norris will have to do the overtaking on track..
Lando Norris pits (Lap 38/51)
13:14
,
Kieran Jackson
Norris now dives into the pit-lane and it’s slow - 4.1 seconds!
The Brit comes out and Liam Lawson and Charles Leclerc both come out in front of him!
Those two seconds were key!
Lewis Hamilton pits (Lap 37/51)
13:12
,
Kieran Jackson
Hamilton, in fifth, is the first of the top-five to pit.
A quick 2.2-second stop and the Briton comes out in ninth, behind Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc.
When will frontrunners pit? (Lap 35/51)
13:09
,
Kieran Jackson
Verstappen’s lead is now 14 seconds, and it seems is in no rush to take his prerequisite pit stop.
The top-5 have not pitted yet.
2-10: Russell, Tsunoda, Norris, Hamilton, Sainz, Antonelli, Lawson, Leclerc, Hadjar
George Russell in second:
13:01
,
Kieran Jackson
“This tyre feels good, keep extending.”
Engineer: “Affirm, agreed.”
Russell happy on the hards...
Carlos Sainz pits (Lap 28/51)
12:57
,
Kieran Jackson
Sainz moves from second to sixth after a 2.5-second stop, with Russell now moving up to second and Tsunoda in third.
Norris is in fourth and has been told to extend his stint - could he get some luck with a safety car/rain?
Verstappen’s lead now a mighty 12 seconds.
Azerbaijan Grand Prix
12:54
,
Kieran Jackson
Lawson pits (Lap 21/51)
12:46
,
Kieran Jackson
Lawson pits from third, comes out just in front of Antonelli, but the Mercedes driver - with warmer tyres - gets past on the home straight!
Ninth on the track for Antonelli, but third in reality.
Top-10: Verstappen, Sainz, Russell, Tsunoda, Norris, Hamilton, Hadjar, Bortoleto, Antonelli, Lawson
Leclerc pits (Lap 20/51)
12:43
,
Kieran Jackson
Interesting move from Ferrari, who box Leclerc from seventh.
A good stop and Leclerc drops to 12th, behind Antonelli.
Will McLaren therefore decide to pit Norris?
Out in front, Verstappen’s lead is 5.5 seconds to Sainz.
Piastri watching from turn 5
12:41
,
Kieran Jackson
An amusing image of Oscar Piastri watching the action at turn 5 on, presumably, a marshal’s phone!
Not interested in making his way back to the pits. Then again, given the street track nature, it’d be a long walk back...
Antonelli pits (Lap 19/51)
12:40
,
Kieran Jackson
Antonelli dives into the pits from fourth, allowing Russell through.
A 2.7-second stop for the Italian, and he drops to 12th.
Albon and Colapinto crash! (Lap 17/51)
12:39
,
Kieran Jackson
Drama at the back of the field!
Albon and Colapinto - in the last two spots - collide at turn 5. Albon goes for an overtake, hits Colapinto and the Alpine spins!
I think Albon may well be in trouble here...
Russell:
12:36
,
Kieran Jackson
“I think I’ve got a tyre advantage to get past Lawson.”
Russell is on hards, with Antonelli on mediums. He wants his team to tell Antonelli to swap positions! Let’s see how this plays out.
Verstappen extends lead to 3.5 seconds (Lap 15/51)
12:33
,
Kieran Jackson
Very comfortable at the moment for Max Verstappen, but we are expecting rain in around 15 minutes - that could shake things up!
Sainz is 3.5 seconds behind, with Lawson a further 3.3 seconds down the road.
Antonelli does have DRS on Lawson, with Russell right behind too.
TOP-10 AFTER 12 LAPS
12:27
,
Kieran Jackson
1. Max Verstappen
2. Carlos Sainz
3. Liam Lawson
4. Kimi Antonelli
5. George Russell
6. Yuki Tsunoda
7. Charles Leclerc
8, Lando Norris
9. Lewis Hamilon
10. Isack Hadjar
George Russell takes fifth
12:25
,
Kieran Jackson
Russell finally gets it done on the Red Bull of Yuki Tsunoda at turn 3 to move up to fifth.
Out in front, Verstappen’s lead to Sainz is 2.3 seconds and very comfortable.
Norris is in P8, six-tenths off Leclerc in front of him.
Alonso and Piastri get penalties (Lap 7/51)
12:20
,
Kieran Jackson
Alonso, in 11th, has a five-second penalty for jumping the start.
“I saw Piastri go, sorry,” he says.
Piastri also gets a penalty of five seconds, but of course has retired. Could that carry over to Singapore?!
Verstappen keeps lead at the start (Lap 5/51)
12:18
,
Kieran Jackson
A typically smooth restart from the Dutchman, who keeps first at the restart from Sainz.
Norris drops behind Leclerc down to ninth!
Russell drops to sixth from fifth, after a tricky skirmish with teammate Antonelli!
Safety car in this lap (Lap 4/51)
12:13
,
Kieran Jackson
Piastri’s car has been moved, the barrier fixed, and we’ll have racing again soon....
TOP-10 IN BAKU (Lap 4/51)
12:12
,
Kieran Jackson
1. Max Verstappen
2. Carlos Sainz
3. Liam Lawson
4. Kimi Antonelli
5. George Russell
6. Yuki Tsunoda
7. Isack Hadjar
8. Lando Norris
9. Charles Leclerc
10. Lewis Hamilton
VIDEO: Piastri crash
12:11
,
Kieran Jackson
THE CHAMPIONSHIP LEADER IS OUT
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) September 21, 2025
Oscar Piastri crashes out in Baku after falling to the back of the grid at the start pic.twitter.com/Ko25GeJmsI
Piastri crash
12:08
,
Kieran Jackson
What a shock here - it’s Piastri’s first retirement in 44 races!
It looks like he jumped the start, dropped to last, and then locked up at turn 5, smashing his McLaren in the wall.
What an opportunity for Lando Norris then to make up some ground in the championship. However, he’s dropped to eighth in the opening phase.
Oscar Piastri in the wall!
12:06
,
Kieran Jackson
Unbelievable!
The championship leader is OUT of the race - he’s crashed in the wall at turn 5!
SAFETY CAR.
Piastri drops to last!
12:05
,
Kieran Jackson
Lights out and it’s smooth for the frontrunners, who all keep position and get away cleanly, with Verstappen still in front.
But Piastri has, sensationally, dropped from ninth to 20th!
What happened?!
Formation lap
12:02
,
Kieran Jackson
Verstappen leads the pack around the track then for the formation lap.
Most drivers starting on mediums, with a one-stop the expected strategy, but Verstappen is on hards at the front.
What will happen at the start here?!
Azerbaijan Grand Prix
11:59
,
Kieran Jackson
We’re just minutes away from the race in Baku!
Max Verstappen starts on pole and is the heavy favourite to claim a fourth win of the season, with a short run down to turn 1.
Carlos Sainz is in second for Williams, with Liam Lawson in third.
Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri are seventh and ninth respectively, with Lewis Hamilton in P12. With such a mixed-up grid and rain potentially on the horizon, expect an action-packed race!
A reminder of the starting grid in Baku:
11:55
,
Kieran Jackson
1. Max Verstappen
2. Carlos Sainz
3. Liam Lawson
4. Kimi Antonelli
5. George Russell
6. Yuki Tsunoda
7. Lando Norris
8. Isack Hadjar
9. Oscar Piastri
10. Charles Leclerc
11. Fernando Alonso
12. Lewis Hamilton
13. Gabriel Bortoleto
14. Lance Stroll
15. Ollie Bearman
16. Franco Colapinto
17. Nico Hulkenberg
18. Pierre Gasly
19. Alex Albon
20. Esteban Ocon*
*Ocon was disqualified from qualifying after failing a rear-wing test
Williams boss James Vowles:
11:52
,
Kieran Jackson
“There’s a bit of a rainstorm overnight so let’s see, need to keep it clean in the first few laps.
“Carlos is as cool as a cucumber, let’s see how it develops.”
UPDATE: Hadjar's car is ready
11:50
,
Kieran Jackson
A quick-fix from the Racing Bulls mechanics but, seemingly, Hadjar’s car is ready to go from eighth on the grid.
Relief for the Frenchman!
Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies:
11:48
,
Kieran Jackson
On Verstappen going for the win: “It’s clear that McLaren and Ferrari are very fast, we don’t take anything for granted, we know it’ll be a very tough fight, anything can happen today.”
Time for the Azerbaijan national anthem in Baku:
11:46
,
Kieran Jackson
Performed by Alim Qasimov and his daughter at the front of the grid...
Oscar Piastri's race engineer Tom Stallard:
11:42
,
Kieran Jackson
“I think we’re in a good place, wouldn’t choose to start from P9 but we have confidence.
“I would say Max is in a good position but in Baku, expect the unexpected.”
Azerbaijan GP odds:
11:40
,
Kieran Jackson
Azerbaijan GP winner
- Max Verstappen 2/5
- Lando Norris 11/2
- Oscar Piastri 10/1
- George Russell 13/1
- Carlos Sainz 17/1
- Charles Leclerc 25/1
- Kimi Antonelli 35/1
- Lewis Hamilton, Liam Lawson 40/1
NEW: Isack Hadjar's car in trouble
11:37
,
Kieran Jackson
There’s a hydraulic issue for Hadjar’s Racing Bull car. 25 mins for the engineers to fix it.
Touch and go for the Frenchman, who’s qualified eighth.
How can McLaren win the F1 constructors’ championship in Azerbaijan?
11:35
,
Mike Jones
Following round 17 this weekend in Azerbaijan, there will be just 346 points left to play for in the seven subsequent races and three sprint races. McLaren’s lead currently stands at 337 points.
Therefore, McLaren will seal the title this weekend if they have a lead of 346 points over the second-placed team in the standings by Sunday night.
As such, McLaren will win the constructors’ championship if Piastri and Norris’ combined total:
- Outscores Ferrari by nine points or more
- Not outscored by Mercedes by 12 points or more
- Not outscored by Red Bull by 33 points or more
A McLaren one-two finish, therefore, would guarantee the title, as would second and third place if Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton did not win the race.
One McLaren driver finishing first and the other finishing third would also seal the title, regardless of other finishing positions.
Driver standings heading into today's race:
11:30
,
Kieran Jackson
Piastri has a 31-point lead over Norris:
4. George Russell (Mercedes) – 194 points
5. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) – 163 points
7. Alex Albon (Williams) – 70 points
8. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) – 66 points
9. Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls) – 38 points
10. Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber) - 37 points
11. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) – 32 points
12. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)