Baku notebook: Verstappen rolls, Sainz lands Williams on the podium, Ferrari’s team-orders knot, and Piastri’s costly misfire
Max Verstappen has flicked the switch. Two straight poles. Two straight wins. In Baku, he didn’t so much win as vanish, and with that, Red Bull’s season suddenly looks a great deal less twitchy. The world champion has momentum again—and you can feel the paddock recalculating.
The other story was blue, not red: Carlos Sainz stood on the podium for Williams. Yes, Williams. It’s his first top three for Grove and a jolt of validation for a project that’s promised a lot and, finally, delivered something you can point at. Sainz was sharp all weekend, and the team around him didn’t blink. That’s what proper rebuilds look like when they take.
Ferrari, meanwhile, spent the last laps talking to themselves.
With Liam Lawson, Yuki Tsunoda and Lando Norris dangling just up the road and Lewis Hamilton on fresher tyres, the call was simple: Charles Leclerc moved aside to unleash Hamilton. The plan didn’t bite—no passes, no prize—and the give-back for eighth never fully materialised. Hamilton slowed on the dash to the flag, edged off-line, but Leclerc wasn’t back ahead by the stripe. Hamilton owned it later, saying he was deep in the rhythm and misjudged the lift. He apologised.
Leclerc, calm but pointed, called it what it was: not the end of the world for P8, but something that needs to be crystal clear when the stakes are, in his words, “sexier.” Ferrari have made strides on pit wall sharpness this year; trust between two alpha-calibre drivers is the next box to tick. You don’t want a grey area lingering into flyaways that actually decide trophies.
If the Ferrari radio gave us drama, McLaren gave us winces. Oscar Piastri’s Sunday was over before it even began. A Q3 shunt set the tone, a false start drew a five-second penalty, and the opening lap ended it. He didn’t get to serve that penalty—no matter; the stewards won’t convert it into a grid drop for Singapore. Small mercy on a messy weekend.
And yet, even after the Baku bruises, Piastri still heads the standings. He knows exactly what’s coming at him now, though: Verstappen with a car underneath him and a clear line of sight. The Australian isn’t ruling anything out—and why would he? The season’s long, the field behind Red Bull is knotted, and there’s still plenty of heavy weather to come. But the margin for error just shrank.
Winners and losers, in short form:
– Big winners: Verstappen and Red Bull. This was vintage execution. When they control the rhythm, the rest of the grid spends 51 laps staring at tyre deltas that never matter.
– Also winners: Sainz and Williams. That’s not a fluke podium. It’s a statement that Williams can cash points when chaos rears its head—and even when it doesn’t.
– Smiles at Mercedes too, with George Russell maximising a tricky weekend. Quietly efficient, quietly important.
– On the other side: McLaren. Both cars on the wrong side of fate and finesse. For a title bid, you can’t have many Sundays like this.
– Ferrari? Call them “complicated.” The car’s quick enough for heavy points, but the intra-garage choreography needs to be bang-on next time.
There’s a temptation, after a Baku like that, to overreact. Don’t. The Azerbaijan Grand Prix tends to exaggerate extremes, and the streets can make smart teams look silly. But you can draw a few safe lines: Verstappen’s found rhythm, Piastri has to absorb and respond, and Ferrari need to set their traffic rules in six-inch letters. As for Williams, enjoy it. Podiums don’t come with asterisks.
Singapore’s up next, a circuit that punishes indecision and rewards the brave. The title picture isn’t settled, but the camera’s just sharpened its focus. Hamilton and Leclerc will want a cleaner duet. Piastri needs a reset. And somewhere in Milton Keynes, a familiar hum is getting louder.
