What the teams said – Race day in Azerbaijan

Red Bull

Verstappen led off the line, despite gambling on the hard tyres for the start. In clean air he built a commanding lead and pitted late for some mediums. Never under any pressure, the Dutchman bagged his fourth win of the season and a ‘Grand Slam’ to boot. But his was not the only success story for Red Bull. Tsunoda had a clean start, fought hard and kept Norris at bay in the early stages. He did not put a foot wrong and although he could not find a way past Lawson, sixth is still his best Grand Prix result of the season.

Max Verstappen, 1st

“It was an incredible weekend and today we had really good pace and it ended up being quite a straightforward race. Starting out in front today was key for us and we managed our tyres well. We were going well on the first stint and executed everything how we wanted to. Our strategy was to go from Hard tyres and then on to Mediums and luckily there were no safety cars in the middle of the race which might have messed this up. This is a tough track to be consistent at, with the challenging layout and also very hard winds so you have to keep reminding yourself to keep out of the walls! I was happy with the car and we really managed our pace and had quite a big gap to the Mercedes. It has been a great weekend overall and the last two weekends for sure have been amazing. Both are tracks where we have low downforce so we will see how we go on other circuits. Hopefully we can continue forward with this form, but we are just enjoying the moment right now. We are really happy with what we are doing: the relationship that I have with the Team is really good and when the car goes well, everything comes together."

Yuki Tsunoda, 6th

“We've put together a strong weekend here in Azerbaijan, where we showed the performance that we've wanted to for a long time. So, scoring my best result with the Team feels deserved. We put ourselves in a great position yesterday in Qualifying and we wanted to capitalise on that with the good promise that we showed in the long runs in practice. There wasn't a lot of tyre degradation on either the Medium or Hard tyre, so no one was particularly falling away, which made it tricky to pass but still, I am happy with P6. I've received massive support from the Team, so it's nice to repay that with some solid points. The changes that we've made to the car have really worked this weekend and it allowed us to be more competitive than we have been on race days previously. I came into Baku having put in a lot of hard work off track to extract as much performance as possible and today was a step in the right direction. I feel like I have unlocked something that I can take into future races. Also, a huge congratulations to Max as it was a classic drive from him. The Team has been operating at a very sharp level, and we want to continue this momentum. We are not giving up anything until the end of the season."

Laurent Mekies, Team Principal

“This win started with a Max masterclass in Qualifying yesterday. We didn’t know what race pace would be like as nobody really got any long runs on Friday, but he just pulled away lap after lap, another Grand Chelem, Pole, in the lead from start to finish and setting the fastest lap. The win is down to everyone in Milton Keynes pushing so hard to make the car faster. There is no silver bullet, but no one has ever given up on this season in terms of understanding why we were not reaching the level we wanted and, little by little, the work that Max and Yuki have been doing with the whole Team has been paying off and at least, here and in Monza we were back in the game. We are not leaving any stone unturned in this 2025 campaign. We are fighting to get more and more learning, to unlock more and more understanding because even if the 2026 regulations are completely different there is always a lot we can carry over from this season. Yuki had a very strong race, keeping the McLaren and Ferrari behind him. He needed a clean weekend and he performed really well scoring important points for the Team in what is his best result of the season.”

Mercedes

In the cooler conditions, Mercedes once again came to the fore. Antonelli was strong from word go, pressuring Lawson in the first stint. Russell had to battle back past Tsunoda, but was soon on his team mate’s tail. Mercedes pitted Antonelli early to undercut Lawson, and while that did not initially work, the teenager was able to pick off his Kiwi rival on track. Russell stayed out for a very long first stint and managed to overcut both his team mate at Sainz. From there the podium was assured, an impressive effort considering how unwell he has been. Antonelli could not chase down Sainz for the rostrum, but P4 is his best result since Canada.

George Russell, 2nd

"I am really happy to be back on the podium. It’s been a tough run of races recently and I also have not felt well this weekend. That made today even more challenging than it could have been, so I am very pleased to finish P2. I was pretty glad when I saw the chequered flag! Congratulations to Carlos (Sainz) and Williams too. That was a very well-deserved result for them.

"On our side, the car felt great throughout and Kimi did a superb job to bring home P4 too. That is important points for the team as we look to battle Ferrari and Red Bull for second in the Constructors’ Championship. Hopefully we can build on this result over what is sure to be a tight battle across the final seven races of the season."

Kimi Antonelli, 4th

"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."

Toto Wolff, Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport

"That was a strong weekend for us as a team, and we come away from Azerbaijan with a good result. It felt good to get back on the podium in P2 and for Kimi to bring home solid points in P4. Of course, we are always hoping to be on the top step of the podium, but this gives us some positive momentum after two difficult races after the summer break.

"Congratulations to Carlos (Sainz), James (Vowles), and Williams on their P3 too. That was totally earned on merit. Kimi did what he could to get close enough to attack but their pace was a bit too strong. Kimi nevertheless did a great job to get past (Liam) Lawson; we saw how several cars such as the Ferrari of Leclerc and the Red Bull of Tsunoda were unable to do so when they were in DRS range. He will use this weekend to take momentum into the final seven races. George meanwhile drove a fantastic race; he’s been suffering with illness all weekend and it was touch-and-go whether he'd even be able to drive on Friday and Saturday. It was a big push from him and to perform like this was mega."

Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director

"We’ve had a solid weekend throughout here in Azerbaijan and that continued into today. We executed the race well on both sides of the garage to get ourselves back on the podium and bring home good points in P4 too. We'd not run the medium or hard tyres in free practice, so it was good to see that the car was well balanced on both compounds. We elected to split the start tyre strategies with the lack of long run data and so many cars out of position. George used this to good effect in his first stint to build a gap that, with a perfectly executed pit stop by our mechanics, gave him P2 on track. It was an impressive performance, particularly given that he has not been feeling 100 per cent this weekend.

"For Kimi, it was a solid weekend from start-to-finish. He looked after his Medium tyres early on and was then able to jump Lawson for P4 with a pass on track. He closed on Sainz in the closing stages, but the pace of the Williams and the difficult following meant he had to settle for a spot just off the podium. Nevertheless, he has shown what he is capable of after some tough weekends recently and we are sure he will build on this in the closing stages of the season."

Williams

Sainz had a great start and held onto second in the opening stint. He even pushed Verstappen in the early stages, before getting into a rhythm and keeping the rest at bay. He lost out to Russell in the pit stops, after Mercedes overcut Williams, but sensibly he opted not to try and fight the Mercedes ahead but to concentrate on the one behind. The Spaniard gave no incentives to Antonelli, not putting a foot wrong in securing his first podium for his new team, and Williams’ first since 2021. As for Albon, he collided with Colapinto after opportunistically trying to send one up the inside after his second pit stop. That earned the Thai driver a 10-second time penalty, and ended any hopes he had of making it back to the points.

Alex Albon, 13th

"First of all, today was a great result for the team and for Carlos, it has been a long time coming. Carlos executed a really clean weekend, and the car was quick and so it was great to see that result. Unfortunately for me, I think yesterday’s Qualifying put us on the back foot for the Race. I expected us to be fast today, and we were quick on track when we were able to be in clean air, but the degradation was quite low today so that limited our progress when we were in the DRS train and it got a bit scrappy at times. It’s a very different track in Singapore so we will analyse everything from this weekend and hope to score good points the next time out."

Carlos Sainz, 3rd

"Finishing P3 today in Baku and being on the podium is an amazing feeling! I think it’s one of my best races ever! We’ve been working so hard and gone through some really big ups and downs, but this makes it all worth it and we need to feel proud as a team. I’m sure this is just a taste of what’s to come for us at Williams and we need to keep working in this direction.Today we had the pace, and we delivered when it mattered, not making any mistakes and scoring a magnificent podium on pure merit. Thank you to the entire team, here and back at home, for your relentless effort and support! And also, to all our Williams fans out there! I can’t wait for more to come! Vamos!"

James Vowles, Team Principal

"The result is fantastic. I’ve been fortunate to have a few podiums in my career, but this is one I’ll remember forever. We earned this together as a team - a team that, in recent years, has been at the back, fighting just to survive, and now has battled its way back into this position. Carlos delivered a phenomenal race — an exceptional drive from start to finish, and a joy to watch. You could see and hear just how much it meant to him. I believe in positive momentum, and this gives Carlos a real foundation to build on. With Alex, sometimes you just have those days. He absolutely had the pace — we’ve seen it all weekend — but after that early incident in Qualifying, it was always going to be difficult. Still, he fought back and finished close to the points. For now, I can’t wait to get back to the factory on Monday with the trophy and feel the roof come off the place. This result is a reward for the incredible dedication of the entire workforce, who give so much of their lives to this team."

Racing Bulls

Lawson started third and held that position early on. In fact, he spent much of the race holding arguably faster cars at bay. He pitted after Antonelli, and although he came out just ahead, on cooler tyres he could not keep the Mercedes man at bay. He also lost out to Russell - who overcut the Kiwi - but running fifth, Lawson managed to hold onto the position despite huge pressure lap after lap from the likes of Tsunoda and Norris. Hadjar made it double points for the team, as he came home P10 after a quieter race than his team mate enjoyed. Racing Bulls have jumped Aston Martin and are now sixth in the Championship.

Isack Hadjar, 10th

“We had some hydraulic issues before the race start, but the boys did an amazing job to get everything fixed in time. I got off to a really good start, but unfortunately, I made the same costly mistake as yesterday and lost two places. We had great pace on the Hard tyre, but not so much on the Medium, so we’ll need to do some research to understand why. There are still plenty of positives and learnings to take away from this weekend though; Liam drove a perfect race, and I’m really happy for the team with a double points finish. I’m looking forward to Singapore and feel confident that we can do well there.”

Liam Lawson, 5th

"The race felt rewarding, particularly after the last ten to fifteen laps, which was pretty intense. Obviously it's a little disappointing from where we were starting, but realistically we didn't have the speed to fight with the guys in front today, despite always being hopeful. To have a P5 is big for us, especially in the Championship right now. We've had a good car all weekend thanks to the team, so I'm pleased to be coming home with points. We gave it everything!"

Alan Permane, Team Principal

“The race finishes off a great weekend for us here in Baku, which was strong for both our drivers. It was always going to be difficult to keep the quicker cars behind, but we finished with both cars in the points, putting us back to P6 in the Championship. I’m really pleased for Liam; a career best for him with 5th place. He put together 20 perfect laps towards the end, keeping those cars behind him. For Isack, starting 8th with two Ferrari’s behind him was always going to be tricky, but he finished very close to them in the end. He struggled a little bit with the Medium tyre at the start with the balance, but was flying once he was on the Hard tyre.

"We’re going armed into Singapore with bags of confidence and we can really relish in the last third of the season.”

McLaren

Piastri’s poor weekend went from bad to worse in Baku. He anticipated the start and jumped too early, his car going into anti-stall when he immediately stopped. That earned him a five-second time penalty, but also meant the whole field flowed past. Running last, Piastri then locked up attacking Turn 5 and ran straight into the barriers. That ended his race, but he was forced to watch from the side of the track for much of the afternoon. As for Norris, he lost out a few times, especially to Leclerc at the Safety Car restart. He ran a very long first stint on the mediums, but a slow pit stop meant he came out in traffic and despite having DRS, the McLaren man could not find a way past his rivals. He reduced the Championship gap – but not by as much as he might have hoped.

Oscar Piastri, DNF

"Obviously not the weekend we were looking for in Baku. I made a mistake at the start and then locked up. I want to apologise to the team, especially the mechanics after they did such a great job to get my car back together after Qualifying. We just need to keep our heads down, review, and put this one behind us before coming back stronger next race weekend."

Lando Norris, 7th

"A tricky race and a tricky weekend overall. Today the pace was okay, but not enough to overtake. After not doing a good enough job yesterday, and a lack of real strategy options today, there wasn't much more we could have done. Frustrating and not how I wanted the weekend to go, but we'll get our heads down now and look ahead to Singapore."

Andrea Stella, Team Principal

"A difficult weekend at a circuit we knew would be tricky for us. It was confirmation once again that our competitors are not far from us and at some circuits, faster.

"For Oscar, it was a rare weekend with a few uncharacteristic mistakes, but he is already processing the weekend and taking all the learnings ahead of the next round. On Lando's side, we didn't give him a car that was in condition to overtake. He otherwise drove a solid race.

"A big thank you to team trackside for all of their work, especially rebuilding Oscar's car after Qualifying and to the team back in Woking for their great support. We will review our efforts and ensure we come back stronger in Singapore."

Ferrari

Ferrari opted to split strategies at the start, Leclerc on mediums and Hamilton on hards. Both had clean starts, with Leclerc fighting with Norris in the early stages. After the Monegasque racer pitted to try and undercut some rivals, Hamilton ran a long stint and climbed to fifth. On fresher rubber, he was let back past his team mate to try and chase down Norris ahead. Unable to get ahead of the McLaren, Hamilton slowed on the last lap to give the place back to his team mate – but not quite enough, winding up crossing the line 0.4s ahead of Leclerc.

Charles Leclerc, 9th

"Today, what mattered was being on the right strategy, in the sense that some cars started on Hards and others on Mediums, and the most important thing was to find yourself in the faster group of cars who were on the same tyres as you, in order to be able to fight your way forward. I was stuck behind Liam (Lawson) for most of the second stint. He was on a different strategy with the Mediums and I was on Hards at that point, so I couldn't overtake him. I also had a small issue on my PU, which affected my pace for a few laps.

"At the end of the day, what had the biggest impact on our race was our qualifying result. I made a mistake in Q3 and ended up starting from P10. Going for a P8 or P9 in a race is not my target, and these are not positions I am interested in fighting for. We have to reset and come back stronger in the upcoming races. The temperatures were colder than ever before in Baku this time around, which has impacted our performance in the way we were able to work our tyres. Things should look better in warmer temperatures, so I’m looking forward to Singapore and hope we will be in better shape there.

"Congratulations to Carlos (Sainz) for his first podium with Williams, he had a strong weekend and I’m happy for him."

Lewis Hamilton, 8th

"It’s not the result we were aiming for and of course it’s disappointing. I felt more comfortable in the car today and the balance was much better, but it was difficult to close on the cars ahead as they had strong pace.

"Qualifying is always key and we didn’t maximise it this weekend. Our setup choice and execution in quali weren’t ideal, and that left us further back than we should have been. Fighting for eighth and ninth doesn’t reflect the potential we had if everything had come together.

"We’re going to be focused on how we can improve our qualifying performance over the coming weeks. The team and the pit crew did a great job today and I’m thankful for their hard work. We’ll regroup and come back stronger in Singapore."

Fred Vasseur, Team Principal

"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. I know Charles is accepting the responsibility for qualifying, but we need to work on our execution to come back stronger."

Kick Sauber

Hulkenberg’s race was compromised by damage off the line, as he tangled with Ocon at the start. He was able to continue without needing to pit, but it was Bortoleto who got the closest to points for Kick Sauber. He ran a very long first stint and climbed into the top 10, making himself a nuisance to the top runners by sitting in their pit stop window. But after pitting and with just the one DNF in the field, the opportunity just was not there for the Brazilian to back up his Monza P8 with another score.

Nico Hulkenberg, 16th

“It was one of those races where things just didn’t fall into place. I always seemed to be on the wrong side of the timing, losing out here and there. The highlight was definitely the restart - I managed a nice double overtake into Turn 3, which was rewarding. But after that, I was stuck behind Franco [Colapinto] and Lance [Stroll] for most of the first stint. We lost a lot of time there, and that was really the make-or-break moment.

"The pace at the end was good, but by then the race had already slipped away from us - qualifying and the early laps left us with too much to recover. There weren’t many variables or opportunities to shake up the order today. It wasn’t our strongest weekend, but we’ll take the lessons on board and focus on executing better next time out.”

Gabriel Bortoleto, 11th

“It's been an intense race, always near some other cars and very close to the walls at all times. I think we delivered everything that we had on the table today, with P11 being the maximum we could achieve: it's been a bit of a tricky weekend overall of us, and I don't think we would have had enough pace to fight higher up. Still, we kept pushing, managed to maximise what we had and took home some important learnings. Some weekends you can put up a fight, some you can’t as much, but that's racing. Now, we turn our focus to Singapore in two weeks’ time.”

Jonathan Wheatley, Team Principal

“It’s been a very windy weekend here in Baku, and one that certainly tested our package. The circuit exposed some of the limitations of the C45, particularly in qualifying. However, in race trim, we started Sunday knowing we had a more competitive car for the midfield battle. Gabi fought hard in the pack, and Nico’s pace in the final stint was particularly strong. I think we delivered the maximum we could today - in a race where the wind affected the cars throughout and, with low attrition, there weren’t many chances to capitalise on.

“On a more positive note, the hydraulic issue from Monza was fully resolved thanks to the hard work from the team trackside and back at the factory. During the race, the pit crew did a great job; huge credit to everyone involved. This weekend showed that we’re still in the midfield fight – now it’s about translating that into points next time out.”

Haas

After a very difficult Saturday that saw one car crash and the other disqualified from Qualifying, race day did not start any better for the American team. Ocon was involved in a racing incident off the line with Hulkenberg and pitted with a puncture. The team opted to pit him immediately under the Safety Car so he could run to the end on the hards – which he managed in a heroic feat, keeping those tyres alive for 50 laps. As for Bearman, he had a quieter race in many ways but just found himself stuck in a DRS train for much of the afternoon.

Esteban Ocon, 14th

“It was a good start, and we tried a really aggressive strategy. It’s a bit of a shame on that side, but we’ll review. It’s been a difficult weekend for us, and there are a lot of things to improve on for the next race, and this is what we’ll look out for in Singapore. We need to have a clean sweep with no issues – a healthy weekend – which is what we’re all asking for.”

Oliver Bearman, 12th

“It was a good race as overall we made a good comeback, and we had good pace. I started P15 but lost a few spots early on during the Safety Car restart, and after that, I was really stuck in the first stint behind cars, and it was damage limitation from there on. The car was quick, but we couldn’t do anything with it.”

Ayao Komatsu, Team Principal

“It was a tough race to recover from, starting P15 and P20, so when you start there and get into a DRS train, it’s very difficult to overtake. For Esteban, I think the strategy was right, but in terms of balance limitation, it wasn’t quite there for him to make further progress. On Ollie’s side, we didn’t maximise the start and Safety Car restart, and we lost positions. Unfortunately, the DRS train defined his race because we were stuck behind slower cars. You can see the potential in the second stint how quick Ollie was, so we know it’s there. Again, it’s frustrating because over a whole weekend you can make one mistake and that defines it – but unfortunately that’s the nature of the game in Formula 1. We’ve got the car and the drivers, so it will happen.”

Aston Martin

Alonso reacted to Piastri moving off the line, and was pinged for a false start along with the McLaren man. That meant he had to serve a five-second time penalty at his pit stop, which dropped him down the order. He did finish ahead of his team mate on a quiet day for the team, who dropped from sixth to seventh in the Championship following Racing Bulls’ big score. Not their track, not their race – as Aston Martin turn their attention towards a different style of circuit next time out in Singapore.

Fernando Alonso, 15th

"It was a difficult race without much happening and we simply didn't have the pace. At the start, I reacted to Oscar's movement and unfortunately got the penalty. I don't think this impacted our race in the end, because we just didn't have the performance. Hopefully our car will suit Singapore better and we can fight for the points again."

Lance Stroll, 17th

"We stayed out for a longer stint on the Mediums hoping to take advantage of a Safety Car that never came, which limited our opportunities and what we could do. We will look ahead to Singapore now where we hope to be more competitive and have a stronger race weekend."

Mike Krack, Chief Trackside Officer

"There were very few opportunities in the race and points were out of reach today. The majority of cars stopped only once – as we did – with the Medium tyres performing especially well with low degradation. That limited the strategy options and made for quite a straightforward race. Both drivers pushed hard, but ultimately we were missing outright pace. We will head back to Silverstone, regroup, and come back stronger in Singapore."

Alpine

Alpine never had the pace to compete in Baku. They rolled the dice and split their strategies, starting Colapinto on the mediums and Gasly on the hards. That brought their drivers together a couple of times, with both swift to obey team orders to try and do everything they could to force a result. But the situation was not helped by Colapinto finding himself unluckily tagged into a spin by Albon after his pit stop, which dropped him down the order.

Pierre Gasly, 18th

“That was a very difficult day and not a good one for us as a team. We just lacked pace here all weekend. This track has proved difficult for us, more so than at recent races, and we have to take the lessons where we can as, even with the car we have, we really should not be finishing so far off. We have some ideas on the areas we lack and where we need to improve but something has really not clicked here and it has been a bit of a trend at the last few weekends. I am not feeling great in the car right now like I did earlier in the season so that is something we need to turnaround. This is the package we have and I know we will sit down together, work hard and aim to come back stronger from the next race.”

Franco Colapinto, 19th

“First of all, thank you to the entire team who worked hard to have the car prepared and ready to start from the grid today. It was a big effort by everyone and shows the togetherness of the team even in difficult moments. It was a pity we could not reward them with a good result. We knew coming into the race it was going to be tough as a team and that proved to be the case. With the current package we have, we need everything to go perfectly and have a bit of luck on our side, and it didn't go our way today. I tried my best and made a good start. After the first stop I was fighting with Alex [Albon] and I got spun around which cost me a lot of time. The car felt different afterwards, maybe picking up a bit of damage, which we carried for the rest of the race. We need to keep working hard in the upcoming races and take what we can from them.”

Pirelli

Mario Isola, Motorsport Director

“On this track, a one-stop has always been an almost mandatory strategy and today was no exception, even though we brought a softer range of compounds than last year. Additionally, the fact it was cooler than usual helped the teams and drivers manage thermal degradation, particularly on the rear axle.

“As a result, it was a very straightforward race in terms of tyre behaviour. The Medium and Hard were very close in terms of performance and also in terms of degradation which was practically non-existent on both compounds. The C4 saw the most use (598 laps, 61.84%) and the Soft never put in an appearance. After last night’s rain, the track surface reset itself a bit and therefore actually evolved significantly over the course of the race. Ahead of us we now have another 2026 tyre development test session. On Thursday 25th and Friday 26th September, Ferrari and Haas will support us for one day each at the Mugello circuit, working on a programme focussed on defining the hardest compounds in the range.”

More to follow...