F1 update – Azerbaijan GP

Round 17 of the 2025 Formula 1 World Championship was held on the Baku City Circuit in Baku, Azerbaijan for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Red Bull’s reigning world champion Max Verstappen took his fourth win of the year finishing of Mercedes driver George Russell who was battling a fever the whole race weekend with third place going to the way of Williams’s Carlos Sainz.

Azerbaijan GP – top 5:

• 1st: Max Verstappen – Red Bull
• 2nd: George Russell – Mercedes
• 3rd: Carlos Sainz – Williams
• 4th: Andrea ‘Kimi’ Antonelli – Mercedes
• 5th: Liam Lawson – Racing Bulls

Other highlights:

• McLaren’s championship leader Oscar Piastri had a torrid race weekend which ended at turn 5 on the opening lap by crashing out, this did bring out the safety car. He was also given a 5 second time penalty for jumping the start.
• Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso was also slapped with a 5 second time penalty for jumping the start.
• Williams’s Alexander Albon was hit with a 10 second time penalty for colliding with Alpine’s Franco Colapinto, it did drop the Williams driver down to thirteenth from eleventh in the final race results.
• Racing Bulls driver Liam Lawson scord the best result of his Formula 1 career so far with a fifth place finish in what was a good weekend for the New Zealander.
• Carlos Sainz scored Williams’s first podium finish since Belgian Grand Prix 2021 with a third place.

News:

• Former Red Bull team boss Christian Horner has officially left the team after receiving $100 million in settlements.
• Formula 1 have announced the calendar for it’s sprint schedule for 2026 which will be held in China, Miami, Canada, Britain, Dutch and Singapore Grand Prix weekends.
• Racing driver Laura Villars has announced her intention to run for President of the governing body the F.I.A. Current F.I.A President Mohammed Ben Sulayem is also running to be re-elected.
• Williams won their right to review case on Carlos Sainz’s penalty at the Dutch Grand Prix which saw the F.I.A recind the penalty points given to Sainz.

The next round of the 2025 Formula 1 World Championship will be held at the Marina Bay Circuit in Singapore for the Singapore Grand Prix on 3rd to 5th October.

Here’s Aston and regular contributor Cameron Perkins have the latest from the world of Formula 1.