The streets of Baku never fail. From curbs coming loose in practice to six red flags in Formula 1 qualifying, from Formula 2 rookies finding walls to Williams finally finding a podium, the Azerbaijan Grand Prix weekend delivered its trademark mix of chaos and coronation.
Formula 1: Verstappen Dominates, McLaren Fumbles
Qualifying was carnage: strong winds and six red flags in total. Alex Albon clipped Turn 1 and broke his suspension, Nico Hülkenberg destroyed his front wing, both Alpines ended in the runoff or the wall. Q2 featured Oliver Bearman’s car crabbing before he even set a time, Charles Leclerc going wide on back-to-back laps, and Lewis Hamilton missing out alongside both Aston Martins. Q3 was capped by Leclerc’s heavy hit at Turn 15 and Oscar Piastri crashing hard again, badly damaging his McLaren. Max Verstappen had the final say with a near flawless lap that snatched pole from Carlos Sainz.
Sunday somehow saw all 20 cars start despite Saturday’s carnage. Piastri jumped the lights, hesitated, and was swallowed by the pack. Overdriving in recovery mode, he crashed out by Turn 5 — a brutal weekend for the Aussie.
Albon, starting deep, lost patience with Franco Colapinto, forced the issue without track position, clipped him, shed part of his front wing, and picked up a 10-second penalty.
At the sharp end, Verstappen was untouchable. George Russell gave chase but never got close, while Carlos Sainz pulled Williams to its first podium of the year — more than doubling his season points tally in one go.
The McLaren misery continued: Norris’s race was undone by another slow stop, this one over four seconds thanks to a sticky right-front. Instead of coming out clear of Liam Lawson’s DRS train and fighting Antonelli for fourth, he rejoined behind it and never escaped, finishing seventh.
Top 3: Verstappen, Russell, Sainz
Formula 2: Crawford Cashes In, Beganovic Bags Podium
F2 qualifying was as red-flagged as F1’s. Amaury Cordeel and Victor Martins both found the barriers, then Roman Staněk rejoined dangerously and plowed into John Bennett — session over, Jak Crawford on pole.
The sprint was messy before the stream even stabilized. By lap 5 three cars were already out, the safety car was heading in, and both Trident seats had been filled by F3 call-ups Laurens van Hoepen and Martinius Stenshorne. Stenshorne’s debut ended early with a retirement that triggered a VSC and then a full safety car. Dino Beganovic inherited the lead in the early chaos and never let it go, winning ahead of Luke Browning to give Hitech its first 1–2 since 2020.
The feature had Leonardo Fornaroli leapfrogging Crawford into Turn 1, but lap 5 struck again: Stenshorne in the wall, safety car, nearly the whole field pitting. Fornaroli lost out badly in pit traffic, boxed in and shuffled back. Browning’s runoff excursion ended his hopes, and later Fornaroli rear-ended Alex Dunne. Both continued, but Dunne eventually retired and Fornaroli picked up a 10-second penalty.
Crawford reclaimed the lead after the safety car and managed the race to the end despite heavy pressure from Joshua Durksen. Fornaroli crossed third but was demoted, promoting Beganovic to the podium once again.
Sprint Top 3: Beganovic, Browning, Fornaroli
Feature Top 3: Crawford, Durksen, Beganovic
Formula 3: Quiet Stage, Ripple Effects
With its season wrapped the previous in Monza, Formula 3 sat out Baku. But its fingerprints were still there — most notably in Trident’s promotion of Van Hoepen and Stenshorne to F2, both finding out the hard way just how punishing Baku’s walls can be.
The Takeaway
Baku’s streets chewed up suspensions, tires, and egos — then spit out storylines. Max Verstappen delivered a statement win, reminding McLaren’s surging duo that Red Bull’s ace still sets the standard. Jak Crawford finally turned pole into victory in Formula 2, while Dino Beganovic quietly pieced together another podium-heavy weekend highlighed by his first F2 win. And Carlos Sainz gave Williams champagne to spray, their rebuild now real and measurable.
Same old Baku: brutal, unpredictable, unforgettable.
The Stain Sports 