Max Verstappen dominates in Baku as title gap narrows
Max Verstappen converted pole position into a commanding victory at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, tightening the championship battle after Oscar Piastri crashed out on the opening lap. The Red Bull driver was untouchable around the Baku City Circuit, drawing to within 69 points of the championship leader with seven races remaining. George Russell and Carlos Sainz completed the podium, while McLaren’s Lando Norris salvaged just six points in seventh.
A weekend that swung Red Bull's way
Verstappen’s form has surged since Formula 1’s summer break. A new floor introduced in Monza has transformed the RB21 and unlocked back-to-back victories, with the Dutchman now sensing momentum at a crucial phase of the season.
"I think overall, just a great weekend for us," Verstappen said. "Starting up front was key... I could go very long in that first stint. The car was doing pretty much what I wanted it to do... This season has been really swinging left and right, but at least now two weekends in a row, it's been going really well."
He added that Baku ranked alongside Monza as the best the RB21 has felt: "Monza has never really been a particularly strong track for us... to do that, that was already a big plus… to have a weekend like this, it was very important."
Piastri’s bruising weekend: two crashes and a jump start
Championship leader Oscar Piastri endured a nightmare. After a heavy hit at Turn 3 in Q3 forced McLaren into an overnight survival-cell change, his race lasted less than a minute. A mistake at Turn 5 ended his afternoon on lap one, compounded by a jump start. The Australian later watched the race from the very corner where he had crashed, a photo of which went viral back home.
Despite the setback and Verstappen’s surging form, Piastri was quoted as "not yet worried" about the Red Bull threat.
Ferrari’s frustrations and other storylines
The weekend began brightly for Ferrari with a Friday one-two, but unraveled as Lewis Hamilton was knocked out in Q2 and Charles Leclerc crashed in Q3. In the race, Hamilton finished eighth, just ahead of Leclerc in ninth, with post-race chatter dominated by a misunderstood position swap between the pair.
Off the track, a diverted post-race flight led to an amusing detour: Carlos Sainz and Leclerc reportedly hired a van and drove through the night back to Monaco after their aircraft could not land in Nice due to storms. In other news, 28-year-old Swiss racer and businesswoman Laura Villars emerged as a surprise third candidate for the upcoming FIA presidential election, aiming to become the organization’s first female president.
How the international media saw it
- The Times (UK): Framed Verstappen’s display as a clear sign he is not out of the title race.
- De Telegraaf (Netherlands): Highlighted Piastri’s errors and his insistence he is "not yet worried" about Verstappen.
- La Gazzetta dello Sport (Italy): Focused on Ferrari’s missed opportunities and the Hamilton–Leclerc misunderstanding.
- The Washington Post (US): Reported on Sainz and Leclerc’s road trip home after a flight diversion.
- BILD (Germany): Covered Laura Villars’ surprise FIA presidency bid.
- Herald Sun (Australia): Shared the viral image of Piastri watching the race from his crash corner.
What it means for the title fight
Verstappen has carved 35 points out of Piastri’s lead in two races, and with seven rounds left, the narrative has shifted. Red Bull’s ups and downs have "swung left and right," in Verstappen’s words, but recent upgrades have arrived at exactly the right time. If the form holds, the champion’s pursuit of a fifth consecutive crown is very much alive.
