2025 Race 17 - Baku Grand Pri

[F1nKS]

Wind and light rain shakes up the Baku GP.

1. Max
2. Sainz
3. Lawson
4. Antonelli
5. Russell
6. Tsunoda
7. Norris
8. Hadjar
9. Piastri
10. Leclerc

[airshifter]

That was exactly the qualifying podium I would have predicted.


Never


A new record for red flags and a very interesting session. A lot of the suspected frontrunners took themselves out of the mix.

[airshifter]

That was exactly the qualifying podium I would have predicted.


Never


A new record for red flags and a very interesting session. A lot of the suspected frontrunners took themselves out of the mix.

[N. Jones]

Crazy race. McLaren just had no grip. Lots of shakeups in the order but those in unusual positions did well to stay there.

[F1nKS]

The high mountain that Verstappen has to climb has just gotten a little shorter. Still need Mclaren or the weather to screw things up.

It's crazy that Norris was not able to work himself back up out of the pack. He had a lost opportunity to make up significant ground to Piastri.

[Matthew]

Crazy to see that Sainz now has a podium with Williams while Hamilton is still waiting for his first with Ferrari.

[airshifter]

Another crazy weekend.

Things went sideways in qually for a number of people, and the starting grid wasn't much like many of us expected it to be after the practice sessions. **rant mode on** Though I'm so glad we don't have to get Sky commentators now, and really glad Will Buxton is gone, the obvious ranting bias of other Brits is insane. Jaques was losing his crap over Lando's lap as if it would go down in history as a thing of legend. The lap that landed him in 7th. **rant mode off**

Like many, I was surprised that Lando couldn't make up for his poor qually and slice through more of the field. I'm sure Oscar was ok with that, and it was a major lost opportunity for Lando. Carlos had an amazing race to retain a podium, and Liam fighting so hard probably helped. Liam still ended up with a weekend to be proud of as well. George did what George often does, quietly moving up and getting a podium. Yuki finally put it together with a decent finish for Red Bull, and though Isack dropped some from qually, he stayed in the points. Both Red Bull senior and junior teams put both cars in the top 10.

Ferrari looked strong until qually and slipped. Race pace was decent but still not enough to really help things much. The swap seemed to make sense when they made it so they finally got that one right, even though Hamilton couldn't move up any more positions. And hey, Hamilton finally beat Leclerc in a race! ...with team orders...and with "accidentally" judging the swap back wrong

As for Max, once again he shows his hand. I think he was the cleanest through all of qually, and didn't even tap a wall that I saw while everyone else did, some getting away with it and others paying a price. Leclerc's one hit was solid, and somehow the car was ok. But Max stayed clean all weekend, got the benefit of clean air, and controlled the gaps through the race. Starting on hards was a risk but it paid off even without a safety car in the window he would have wanted.

I think Max is still out of the title fight unless there is some major drama yet to come. Even catching Lando is probably a long shot. But he is proving his abilities and staying enough in the hunt to add some pressure maybe. With the WCC all but done, he is managing to keep that Red Bull in sight as a challenge.


The trend of the dominant McLarens just flipped the entire script for this race.