Red Bull F1 driver Max Verstappen’s first-place finish in the 2025 Azerbaijan Grand Prix wasn’t a shocker, but the absence of either McLaren driver on the winners’ podium was a surprise. It was only the second time in the 2025 F1 season for a McLaren-less podium.
Mercedes driver George Russell finished in second place despite a lingering illness, and Carlos Sainz scored his first podium with Williams by finishing third.
The Azerbaijan winners
Verstappen has already ceded his shot at the Drivers’ Championship this year, which would have been his fifth consecutive title. However, as many F1 observers understand, Verstappen is a once-in-a-generation driver who often outdrives the expectations of the cars he pilots. Other Red Bull drivers have struggled with the team’s cars, but Verstappen can win if given the chance.
When Max started the Azerbaijan race in the pole position, no one expected him to lose. A string of P1 or P2 finishes in the rest of the schedule, combined with low-scoring races by both Piastri and Norris, could conceivably put Verstappen in the winner’s circle for the 2025 season.
Mercedes driver George Russell’s second-place win was notable, particularly since he started the weekend recovering from a respiratory virus and wasn’t at his usual performance level, which improved as the weekend progressed.
Even more notable was Atlassian Williams driver Carlos Sainz’s third-place finish. Sainz, the driver replaced at Ferrari by former Mercedes driver and 7-time Champion Lewis Hamilton this year, scored his first podium for Williams. It was the 28th podium in Sainz’s career, but all the more special because it was Williams’ first podium since 2021.
Piastri’s DNF gives Norris a better chance
McLaren still has a near lock on the 2025 F1 Constructors Championship thanks to the team’s 623 points total after 17 races completed in the 24-race season. That point total is more than Mercedes’ 290 and Ferrari’s 286 points combined. If McLaren drivers Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris had both earned spots on the Azerbaijan podium, it would have been mathematically impossible for any other team to beat them.
Realistically, McLaren will win the Constructors’ crown, because Mercedes or Ferrari would need to win the top two Grand Prix spots in the seven remaining races, including the three remaining Sprint races.
Piastri’s DNF (Did Not Finish) also gave a boost to Lando Norris, the second McLaren driver, in his shot at the Drivers’ Championship. Norris, favored by many at the start of the season as the most likely to prevail in 2025, is still in second place behind Piastri, but the gap has narrowed.
Before Azerbaijan, Piastri had 324 points to Norris’ 293. With the six points Norris gained with his seventh-place finish in the race Piastri failed to complete, he now has 299 points – the exact number of points a Grand Prix winner earns. So, assuming Norris won the next race and Piastri didn’t finish again or finished below the top ten, and therefore received zero points, the two McLaren drivers would then be tied.
Again, it’s unlikely that Norris will make up the difference in a single race, but it is possible. It’s also likely that finishing a place or two above Piastri in several races could help Norris catch up to and pass Piastri.
