Azerbaijan GPVerstappen strolls and Piastri sinks on Sainz's big day in Baku

The qualifying of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix showed us everything this urban circuit in Baku can offer: accidents, wind, surprises, and spectacular maneuvers in the fast sections.

With this background, the race on Sunday was expected to be spectacular, on par with previous events that provided unusual results. Even more so after a grid was configured differently than usual, with Carlos Sainz and Liam Lawson second and third, or with the McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri in seventh and ninth positions respectively.

Piastri self-eliminates

The race started with overcast skies and temperatures similar to previous days (27 °C on the asphalt). However, the wind was much less intense, which undoubtedly gave the drivers a breather after so many previous problems.

At the start, there was a lot of respect among the front runners, with Max Verstappen (hard tires), Carlos Sainz (mediums), Liam Lawson (mediums), and Kimi Antonelli (mediums) maintaining their positions. The opposite was true for the championship leader, Oscar Piastri, who dropped to the last position after jumping the start and braking to stop the car just as the lights went out.

But that wasn't the worst, as a few corners later he lost control of his McLaren and crashed into the barriers, ending his race.

The glaring mistake by the Australian provided a great opportunity for Lando Norris (mediums) to make up for his retirement in Zandvoort. But the Englishman had to climb back up, as he was eighth when the safety car came out to restore order to the chaos.

Another consequence of all this was the investigation into Fernando Alonso (mediums) for a possible infraction at the start. The Asturian reacted to Piastri's movement, who was right in front of him, and the stewards wanted to check if he had also jumped the start.

Sainz consolidates second position

After the track was cleared, the race resumed with the leaders again maintaining their positions, although Russell (hard) dropped to sixth and Norris to ninth. Meanwhile, Alonso was overtaken by Hamilton (hard) just before the five-second penalty imposed by the stewards was confirmed.

Soon, Lando Norris regained eighth position and stuck to Charles Leclerc's Ferrari (mediums). Meanwhile, Max Verstappen left Carlos Sainz one and a half seconds behind, with Lawson already 2.5 seconds back.

With 10 laps completed, Verstappen's lead consolidated, although still a narrow margin of two seconds over Carlos Sainz. For his part, Liam Lawson was already over four seconds back and felt the pressure from Antonelli.

The second Red Bull, Tsunoda's, served as a brake for the rest, although Russell quickly overtook him to try to catch up with his Mercedes teammate. Further back, things were not going well for Alonso, who was overtaken by Bortoleto and dropped to 12th position even before serving his penalty during the pit stop.

There was still a long way to go, as the possibility of rain appearing at some point in the race was starting to be considered.

Verstappen pulls away

As the laps passed in Baku, positions consolidated, with Verstappen leading by four seconds over Sainz, who was increasing his advantage over the trio Lawson-Antonelli-Russell to more than three seconds. Behind, Tsunoda continued to hold off Leclerc, Norris, and Hamilton.

Then came the first round of pit stops for the drivers who had started on medium tires. The first to enter the pits was Antonelli on lap 19. The Italian was looking to overtake Lawson with an undercut, but he did not react and stayed out on track the following lap. The one who did enter was Leclerc, to try the same with Tsunoda.

On lap 21, it was Lawson's turn, who when rejoining the track maintained his position with Antonelli, although by very few meters. This didn't help the New Zealander much, as a couple of laps later the young Italian from Mercedes overtook him on the main straight with the help of DRS.

The rest of the drivers who had started on mediums decided to extend the first stint as much as possible to prevent the possible arrival of a safety car or more action at the end of the race. Meanwhile, Verstappen increased his lead over Sainz to eight seconds, with Russell closing in to less than 3.5 seconds behind the Spaniard from Williams, who, in any case, was keeping the race under control at this stage of the race.

Disparity of strategies

By lap 28, Carlos Sainz made his move, putting on new hard tires and rejoining the track just ahead of Isack Hadjar in sixth position. However, all the drivers ahead of him (four of them on hard tires) still had to pit, so his real position remained second, now with a three-second margin over Antonelli and six over Lawson and Leclerc.

From this moment on, Williams and the Spaniard had to maintain this competitive pace, but keeping an eye on the possible rain, safety cars, and finally, the potential late push from those who finished the race on medium tires.

The mid-phase of the race was quite stable, and everything depended on the remaining pit stops. The drivers on hard tires could accumulate laps without problems, while Norris, the only one left on mediums on track, was also still setting good times.

Norris and McLaren fail in the pits

Hamilton got excited on lap 37, preceding a Norris who imitated him the next lap. But the stop was very slow, thus ruining the attempt at an undercut on Tsunoda and Leclerc. Next was Tsunoda, rejoining the track ahead of Lawson. But the cold tires prevented him from keeping the Racing Bulls driver behind, leaving the Japanese again at the mercy of Leclerc and Norris.

The next to pit was Russell, who aimed to overtake Antonelli and Sainz in the battle for second position. And he succeeded, rejoining the track just ahead of the Spanish driver. Now, the Williams driver had to focus on keeping the other Mercedes at bay.

Finally, on lap 41, the last driver who had not yet pitted did so: the leader Max Verstappen. The Dutchman did it cleanly and rejoined the track first with a 12-second lead over Russell. Sainz was third, almost 15 seconds back, and Antonelli fourth, just over a second behind.

Fifth was Lawson, with Tsunoda, Norris, Hamilton, Leclerc (who ceded the position to his teammate on medium tires) and Hadjar rounding out the top ten. Alonso was still in the race, but barely in 15th position.

Sainz vs. Antonelli

In the following laps, the main point of interest focused on the battle between Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda, with the Japanese trying the impossible to overtake his former teammate in Racing Bulls and also a former tenant of his Red Bull.

But there was no way. Just as Antonelli could not get close to Carlos Sainz, who was already considering Russell impossible and focused on consolidating third position. Thus, with just over five laps to go, the Williams driver kept the Italian 1.5-2 seconds behind, always without the option to use DRS.

And there were no more changes before the checkered flag, with Max Verstappen dominating a race that was never in danger for him. Second was George Russell, with Carlos Sainz third and Kimi Antonelli fourth.

Liam Lawson closed the top 5, while Fernando Alonso had to settle for 15th position in a race where we finally saw barely one safety car and the threatening rain did not appear.

Lando Norris settled for seventh position, so Oscar Piastri's retirement did not turn out to be as serious as it might seem. In fact, the Australian's lead in the standings remains a comfortable 25 points. Meanwhile, Carlos Sainz adds 31 and rises to 12th position.