Azerbaijan Grand Prix: Drivers and Teams report from Baku

It was the Dutchman's second win in a row after his victory at the 2025 Italian Grand Prix which he also won from pole.

It was an interesting race in Baku that never fails to deliver a show especially with the crazy qualifying on Saturday where Verstappen also rose to the top taking pole in the trickiest of conditions where the likes of McLaren and Ferrari fumbled.

McLaren had another horrible day with Oscar Piastri crashing on Lap 1 while Ferrari did not have the pace to challenge for top position while Williams rose to the occasion with Carlos Sainz and Mercedes with George Russell.

While we covered the top teams and mains stories, here is what the rest had to say after the 2025 Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Lewis Hamilton (P8): "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."

Charles Leclerc (P9): "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."

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."

Liam Lawson (P5): "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!"

Isack Hadjar (P10): "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."

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."

Ollie Bearman (P12): "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."

Esteban Ocon (P14): "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."

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 maximize 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."

Fernando Alonso (P15): "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 (P17): "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."

Pierre Gasly (P18): "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 (P19): "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."

Nico Hulkenberg (P16): "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 (P11): “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.”