Verstappen Wins in Baku and Sainz the Smooth Operator Makes Williams History

51 laps of Baku’s tight street circuits delivered a dominant Max Verstappen win, as well as history made for Williams, with Carlos Sainz securing their first podium since 2021. 

From pole, Verstappen made the perfect launch, but behind him chaos unfolded. Oscar Piastri jumped the start, stalled, dropped to 20th, and moments later ended up in the wall after locking his front-left, becoming his first retirement of the season. Fernando Alonso, focused on Piastri’s movement, also jumped the start and was handed a five-second penalty. Additionally, Esteban Ocon and Nico Hülkenberg had a small collision, all of which triggered an early safety car.

When racing resumed on Lap 4, Verstappen once again surged clear. Behind him, Mercedes teammates Russell and Antonelli went wheel-to-wheel, with Antonelli shutting the door and forcing Russel down to sixth. The sole remaining McLaren of Norris struggled badly, tumbling from seventh to ninth behind Hadja and Leclerc. 

Hadjar soon hit trouble with a car issue, dropping two spots back, while Tsunoda and Russel battled for 5th position. The Mercedes drivers then reunited and set their sights on Liam Lawson, who qualified third and was still running impressively in the fight for a podium. 

On Lap 17, Albon made contact with Colapinto, spinning the Argentinian while earning himself a 10-second penalty. Meanwhile, pit strategies began to unfold: Antonelli pitted on Lap 18, Leclerc on Lap 20, and Lawson on Lap 21. 

Sainz, running strongly in second, pitted on Lap 28 and rejoined in sixth, leaving him with work to do. Further back, Norris attempted an undercut on Tsunoda but a slow 4.1-second stop cost him important time. 

In the final stints, Russel pitted and managed to stay ahead of Sainz who was now in third, while Verstappen made his pit stop on Lap 41 without surrendering the lead. Behind, Lawson found himself at the head of a DRS train, defending against faster cars. 

In the end, Verstappen crossed the line to take victory in Baku, Russel finished a strong second for Mercedes, while Sainz secured his and William’s first podium of the season. A remarkable achievement for a team who has struggled for quite some time now. 

After the race, an emotional Sainz reflected on his first Williams podium: “Honestly, I cannot describe how happy I am, how good this feels. We have been fighting hard all year and today we proved when we have the speed, and everything comes together, we can do some amazing things. We didn't make one mistake and managed to beat a lot of cars I didn't expect to beat. I'm extremely proud of everyone at Williams. We are the rise, we are [going] in the right direction. We have had a lot of incidents, and now I understand why it had to happen to give me this podium like this. A life lesson to keep believing and keep trusting yourself as sooner or later it all pays off.”