F1 Fantasy: Verstappen stars in surprising Azerbaijan Grand Prix

Verstappen drove flawlessly in Sunday’s race, streaking away from surprise frontrunners Carlos Sainz and Liam Lawson to clinch an emphatic win.

Piastri, who false-started and then chucked into the barriers off the start, and Norris, who failed to capitalize, were left to lick their wounds after a bruising weekend that should’ve seen McLaren crowned world champions.

Their disaster of a weekend has allowed Verstappen to close the gap—Piastri is now just 69 points ahead in the championship.

Things are tighter in F1 Fantasy as well, with Verstappen scoring 45 points and Piastri -16. Only 17% of players backed the Dutchman, shaking things up quite a bit!

The twists & turns didn’t end there as Ferrari had yet another shocker, while others arguably had their best performances of the season.

It was certainly a wild weekend in F1 Fantasy terms; let’s take a look at the biggest winners and losers in Baku.

Verstappen’s lights-to-flag victory was teed up by a dramatic qualifying session, which saw six red flags caused by a succession of drivers clattering the barriers.

Sainz was the biggest beneficiary of the chaos, grabbing second on the grid. He duly converted this into his first podium for Williams, and his F1 Fantasy backers were rewarded with 33 points.

Lawson, another driver who hasn’t had the smoothest of seasons, qualified third. He slipped to fifth but still managed not to bottle a decent result for his team, taking home 17 fantasy points.

Yuki Tsunoda, who inherited the Kiwi’s Red Bull seat, was also impressive, finishing sixth for his best points haul since becoming Verstappen’s teammate earlier in the year.

Mercedes were similarly impressive, picking up second and fourth in a very strong weekend for the team. The Brackley outfit’s result was particularly surprising given that George Russell was unwell during the race and Kimi Antonelli arrived under huge pressure. Having earned 33 & 22 fantasy points, respectively, they can be pretty happy with their efforts.

The only team to bottle qualifying more than McLaren was Ferrari. The Scuderia seemed on course for the front couple of rows, but they failed to capitalize when it counted.

Even Charles Leclerc—a bit of a Baku specialist—could only grab tenth, which cost him during the grand prix. Lewis Hamilton made his race strategy work slightly better, but only finished one place higher in eighth.

They even tried (and failed) to swap places on the final lap! Truly a weekend to forget for two of F1 Fantasy’s most expensive drivers, who picked up just 18 points between them.

This week’s other flops included Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll. While Alonso jumped the start, Stroll was completely anonymous on yet another poor weekend for Aston Martin. Both were punished with minus points in F1 Fantasy. 35% of all players had Alonso in their team, ouch!

Alpine also had another shocker. Their fate was sealed on Saturday, when Pierre Gasly blew it on his final lap and Franco Colapinto seemingly followed him into the barriers.

The likes of Nico Hulkenberg and Isack Hadjar (F1 Fantasy’s most popular driver) didn’t fully flop but struggled compared to their teammates, picking up just four in-game points each.

Our longtime F1 Fantasy league leader, 44th Gear, saw Verstappen’s win coming, selecting the Dutchman for this weekend’s grand prix.

As a result, their lead at the top has actually extended, despite the woes of McLaren—who still have the fastest car on the grid.

It’s tricky to tell if Verstappen’s hot run of form (two wins and a second place in the last three rounds) will continue. But his re-emergence as a championship threat certainly asks some questions of F1 Fantasy players.

Other questions include whether Mercedes and drivers like Sainz and Lawson have turned a corner, or if Azerbaijan was just a flash in the pan.

We’ll find out at the Singapore Grand Prix from September 03-05, 2025. For those wanting to take part, there’s still time to join our GP247 F1 Fantasy league here.