Azerbaijan GP driver ratings: Mighty Max Verstappen and Super Sainz master Baku steets
Here's our scores for all 20 drivers from the race in Baku.
Max Verstappen moved himself back into title contention as he made it two wins from two with another dominant victory at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Meanwhile, Oscar Piastri suffered possibly the worst weekend of his career with a Lap 1 DNF while his title rival Lando Norris failed to make the most of it.
Driver Ratings for the 2025 Azerbaijian Grand Prix
Max Verstappen – 10
A sixth Grand Slam for Verstappen and another flawless drive.
His best work came during the chaos of qualifying but as we have seen so often in his career, he mastered the conditions to put his Red Bull on pole.
Come the race, he enjoyed the benefit of clean air to be able to dictate the length of his stints but Verstappen could have stopped at the side of the road for 14 seconds before anyone else caught him.
The Dutchman is firmly back in the title race.
George Russell – 9
Battling a respiratory infection is no easy task, especially not when you are in the coffin of an F1 cockpit.
Russell overcame his own personal ailments to provide a much-needed result for a Mercedes team that still struggles to understand its car.
Carlos Sainz – 9.5
Sainz deserved it as the “best podium of my career” and it is easy to see why.
When one of the smaller teams reaches the top three, there is often a great deal of fortune behind it but in Williams’ case, their car was genuinely quick.
Yes the issues at McLaren opened the door but Sainz was great in both qualifying and the race and deserved his P3 on merit.
Kimi Antonelli – 8.5
The European season is over which means Antonelli is for some reason back to near his best.
After a tough run of form on his home continent, Antonelli qualified P4 and finished there even after being told to let Russell move by.
The undercut worked in his favour as he was able to attack Lawson on warmed up tyres but Sainz was just out of reach.
Liam Lawson – 9
A great quali that did not quite deliver the first podium of Lawson’s career.
With quicker cars around him, Lawson needed things to go his way but a delayed pit stop allowed a number of drivers to pass on by.
Still, he can be happy with P5.
Yuki Tsunoda – 8
It may not be the drive of his teammate but this is easily Tsunoda’s best since arriving at Red Bull.
He did well in quali and survived a number of battles in the race to finish sixth, making it just his fifth points score of the season.
Lando Norris – 6.5
Norris said post-race that he does not care what others think but this was undoubtedly a chance missed.
The first opportunity came in quali when his teammate had put it in the wall but Norris then joined him by clipping his right rear and condemning himself to a low starting spot.
In the race, Piastri lasted a handful of turns but the damage was done on Saturday for Norris who could not work his way up the grid.
Lewis Hamilton – 6.5
Hamilton blamed setup choices for Ferrari’s failure in qualifying and it cost both drivers.
The Briton did at least move up to eighth from 12th but failed to follow team orders when he was told to give his teammate the place back.
Charles Leclerc – 6.5
Like Hamilton, Leclerc had a mountain to climb after a less-than-ideal qualifying.
With Hamilton’s strategy proving to be the superior one, he was told to move by but never got his place back.
As both drivers said though, fighting over who has the honour of finishing eighth is not something Ferrari should be concerned about.
Isack Hadjar – 7
Outshone by his teammate but it is testament to Hadjar’s performances over the year that a P10 can feel like something of a disappointment.
He qualified well to start eighth on the grid but both Ferraris were able to get by.
Gabriel Bortoleto – 6.5
Bortoleto may have finished 11th but he never looked in serious condition to score points.
He qualified 13th and improved two spots but was also almost 30 seconds off P10 Hadjar.
Still, he beat his teammate to bring the score to 7-8 in Hulkenberg’s favour.
Oliver Bearman – 6.5
Bearman described his race as “damage limitation” after the safety car restart caught him out and he dropped into a DRS train.
He did at least say the car was quick but that the team could ultimately not do anything with it.
Alex Albon – 5.5
As shown by Sainz, the pace of the Williams was there this weekend but Albon failed to capitalise on it.
A P19 start meant that any pace he did have was negated by dirty air and DRS trains. He also picked up a 10-second penalty for sending Colapinto for a spin.
Esteban Ocon – 6
Attempting to make up for lost ground with his P20 start, Ocon was put on the hards to begin with but made contact with Nico Hulkenberg on lap 1.
The safety car allowed him to come in for mediums but before coming in again on lap 2 for hard tyres. He stayed on those to the end and was rewarded with a gain of six places.
Fernando Alonso – 5.5
An uncharacteristic careless mistake as Alonso false-started and received a five-second penalty.
He said he was reacting to Piastri ahead of him but that penalty put him at the back and stuck in traffic.
Nico Hulkenberg – 5.5
Early season praise has slipped away for Hulkenberg who has not scored a point since his podium at Silverstone.
In Baku, he started 17th but rose only one spot and was beaten by his teammate.
More reaction from the race in Baku
👉 Carlos Sainz says Williams ‘on the rise’ after ‘best podium of my career’ in Baku
👉 Lewis Hamilton at centre of Ferrari team orders in untelevised Baku GP radio call
Lance Stroll – 4.5
Qualified 14th but fell back three spaces to cross the line ahead of only the Alpines.
Pierre Gasly – 5
The underperforming Renault engine meant Baku was always going to be a challenge and even a talented driver like Gasly found he had little to work with.
He qualified 18th and finished there.
Franco Colapinto – 5
When it rains, it pours in F1 as Colapinto, who could do with a slice of luck, instead got the opposite when Albon sent him spinning round.
The Alpine car was slow anyway but finishing so far off the pack feels like something that could be used against him when it comes to deciding future driver lineups.
Did not finish
Oscar Piastri – 3
Just an awful weekend from start to finish for Piastri.
A crash in qualifying was followed by a flat start and then an unwelcome trip into the wall at Turn 5.
Up until now, Piastri has been known as an unflappable title contender but whether this is a sign of the pressure or simply a one-off, that will be answered by the upcoming races.
Read next: Azerbaijan GP conclusions: Piastri SOS, Lando’s big problem, Max’s post-Horner wavelength
