Winners and Losers of the F1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix

Matt Hylen
4 minutes ago
6 min read

From left to right, Mercedes' George Russell, Red Bull's Max Verstappen, Williams' Carlos Sainz, and Paul Manoghan (Red Bull Head of Car Engineering). Credit to Clive Rose/Getty Images via forbes.com.

Round 17 in Baku, Azerbaijan is officially in the books as one to remember. This weekend was filled with action-packed driving and unexpected twists and turns that kept viewers on the edge of their seats. Coming off one of the craziest qualifying sessions EVER, the race was not as entertaining, yet still provided some great wheel-to-wheel action that shook up both Championships.

Now, before we get into my winners and losers of the weekend, a few reminders:

Formula One has two main championship competitions. The first of the two Championships is the Drivers' Championship, which is a competition based on the drivers' individual performance. On a non-Sprint style weekend, the drivers who finish in the top 10 in each race will score points (the higher you place, the more points you get). These points are added up, and whichever driver finishes with the most points at the end of the season will win the Drivers' Championship.

The next is the Constructors' Championship, a competition between the teams. The number of points the drivers within a team get each race is combined, creating the total points for the team (e.g., Lando Norris has scored 299 points and Oscar Piastri has scored 324 points, giving the McLaren team 623 points in the Constructors' Championship). The team whose drivers accumulate the most points combined for their team will win the Constructors' Championship.

Note, 21 drivers will be listed within the Drivers' Championship Standings, as Franco Colapinto replaced Jack Doohan at Alpine.

Now, here is a look at the standings for both Championships:

Drivers' Championship Standings:

Oscar Piastri 324 points
Lando Norris 299 points
Max Verstappen 255 points
George Russell 212 points
Charles Leclerc 165 points
Lewis Hamilton 121 points
Andrea Kimi Antonelli 78 points
Alexander Albon 70 points
Isack Hadjar 39 points
Nico Hülkenberg 37 points
Lance Stroll 32 points
Carlos Sainz 31 points
Liam Lawson 30 points
Fernando Alonso 30 points
Esteban Ocon 28 points
Pierre Gasly 20 points
Yuki Tsunoda 20 points
Gabriel Bortoleto 18 points
Oliver Bearman 16 points
Franco Colapinto 0 points
Jack Doohan 0 points

Constructors' Championship Standings:

McLaren 623 points
Mercedes 290 points
Ferrari 286 points
Red Bull 272 points
Williams 101 points
VCARB 72 points
Aston Martin 62 points
Kick Sauber 55 points
Haas 44 points
Alpine 20 points

Standings were found at F1.com.

Winner: Red Bull

Max Verstappen hoisting the 1st place trophy after winning the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Credit to F1 Media via formula1.com.

I think this may be the best all-around weekend we have seen from Red Bull since the 2023 season. From start to finish, both Red Bull drivers got the best they could out of a still average car. Max Verstappen was dominant once again, securing a race Grand Slam (pole position, leads every lap, fastest lap time, and wins race) for his second straight win. Meanwhile, Yuki Tsunoda put together his best weekend as a Red Bull driver, putting himself in sixth in qualifying and the race.

This is exactly the sort of weekend that Red Bull has been searching for all season long. Both their drivers looked extremely comfortable in the car, which is something we have not seen to this extent in years, while also securing a huge bulk of points. Plus, if Tsunoda can drive the rest of the year like he did in Azerbaijan, Red Bull may have a much tougher choice regarding who gets that 2nd seat next year than originally thought. Absolutely fantastic weekend for Red Bull.

Loser: Ferrari

Charles Leclerc exiting his car after crashing in Q3. Credit to F1TV via grandprix247.com.

Ferrari are a huge loser of the weekend in my mind. Coming into qualifying, Ferrari was looking great. Both Leclerc and Hamilton seemed to have figured out a good car setup, marking the team as the presumed 2nd-best car. However, it all went downhill from there.

Disaster in qualifying (Hamilton's Q2 exit and Leclerc's Q3 crash) resulted in the drivers starting in 10th and 12th, respectively. The team then was unable to get by anybody after the first few laps, which was extremely unexpected considering the pace of the car around Baku. So, not only did the team finish in 8th and 9th, but they also lost 2nd place in the Constructors' Championship after getting crushed by Mercedes. Horrible, horrible weekend for Ferrari.

Winner: Carlos Sainz and Liam Lawson

Carlos Sainz (left) and Liam Lawson (right). Credit to ESPN F1 X page via x.com.

I felt these two fell in the same category of winners in Baku. I mean, who would have thought?! Both Carlos Sainz and Liam Lawson have had rough seasons, mostly due to no fault of their own. Whether it be bad luck for Sainz or a bad car for Lawson at Red Bull, both drivers finally got a result they deserved in Baku.

For Lawson, though he did not keep his podium position, his ability to defend against the likes of Yuki Tsunoda (who replaced him at Red Bull) and the McLaren of Lando Norris was extremely impressive. At a track like Baku, it is so hard to defend cars behind you due to the fact that one error or wide turn could result in a lost position or your car in the wall. Yet, Lawson maintained composure despite who was behind him, securing his best finish as an F1 driver.

For Sainz, this was a long time coming. He was absolutely brilliant all weekend long, finally getting some good fortune on his side. Carlos has easily been the unluckiest driver of the year, with so many of his results being due to no fault of his own. After qualifying P2, Sainz drove flawlessly in order to secure that 3rd place, and Williams' best result since 2021. If you are a Williams fan, the worry around Sainz can officially end; he is here, he has arrived, and he is going to deliver results similar to this a lot more often in the coming year.

Loser: Aston Martin

Fernando Alonso in the pit lane as his car is tended to by his race mechanics. Credit to F1 Media via formula1.com.

You probably did not hear much from Aston Martin this weekend. That was because they were absolutely nowhere in terms of pace all weekend long. Neither Alonso nor Stroll could get anything going, resulting in a horrific finish in the race of 15th and 17th. They were almost as slow as Alpine, which is saying something. They got passed in the Constructors' Championship by VCARB and are 10 points behind. A weekend to forget for Aston Martin, that is for sure.

Winner: Mercedes

George Russell holding his 2nd place trophy after finishing 2nd in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Credit to Pit Pass Media via pittpass.com.

Mercedes needed this weekend to go well desperately, and boy did it ever. Similar to Red Bull, you could not have asked for much more out of George Russell and Kimi Antonelli. Both capitalized on the Ferrari disasterclass in qualifying while looking rapid during the race.

For George, for someone who almost did not race due to illness, this was an amazing result. He drove a clean weekend and performed the undercut on Sainz perfectly. This 2nd place finish was one of his best non-race wins yet. As for Kimi, this weekend should be a huge confidence booster. He was right with Russell pace-wise, which is the most important thing for him. Not only that, but he was only a second and some change away from Sainz in 3rd. This weekend in Baku is a prime example of why Mercedes believes in Antonelli. These flashes are why he is with Mercedes, and why we should not give up on him just yet.

Loser: McLaren

Oscar Piastri exiting his car after crashing during Lap 1 of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Credit to Getty via nine.com.au.

Where do I even start...

I mean, what happened!? Everything just crashed and burned for McLaren this weekend. First of all, Oscar Piastri may have had the worst overall weekend of his career with a Q3 crash, a false start that dropped him from 9th to 20th, and a crash in the race on lap 1. Nothing about this weekend was good for Oscar, it is as simple as that. He left the door wide open for his teammate, Lando Norris, to make up for what happened in Zandvoort, making uncharacteristically bad mistakes that were entirely on him.

However, did Norris capitalize? Not even remotely. Norris put together a brutal Q3 performance that put him in 7th behind a VCARB and a Williams. Not only that, but he also made zero ground...ZERO... finishing in the same spot he started in.

Overall, this was as bad a weekend as McLaren could have imagined. The best thing for them to do is forget Baku as soon as possible. Singapore cannot come soon enough for the Championship leaders.