Azerbaijan GP driver ratings: Verstappen’s Baku blitz, Sainz’s Williams stunner, McLaren waste a gift
Two in a row, a Grand Slam, and a statement. Max Verstappen didn’t just win in Baku, he wiped the floor with it, dragging himself right back into a title fight that looked ready to leave without him. Behind the Red Bull juggernaut, George Russell hauled a weary body to silverware, and Carlos Sainz delivered a podium that felt like a line in the sand for Williams. McLaren? They had the opening they wanted and fumbled it.
Here’s how the 20 fared in the land of tight walls and long straights.
– Max Verstappen – 10
Flawless. A sixth career Grand Slam wrapped in clinical qualifying and a race he controlled from Turn 1. The kind of win that makes everyone else look busy rather than fast. The title race just tightened.
– George Russell – 9
Hard graft from a driver under the weather. Wrestled a capricious Mercedes into clean air and held his nerve. A badly needed result for Brackley and a reminder that Russell’s racecraft is rarely in doubt.
– Carlos Sainz – 9.5
Called it the best podium of his career and you can see why. This wasn’t a chaotic lottery; it was Williams speed on merit and Sainz executing like a metronome. Seized the moment McLaren left behind.
– Kimi Antonelli – 8.5
Back on the front foot away from Europe. Qualified P4, raced with composure, and played the team game when Russell came calling. Smart undercut on Lawson, just didn’t have the final sting to reach Sainz.
– Liam Lawson – 9
Qualifying was a belter and, without a sticky pit stop, this could’ve been the first podium. Pace was real, race was tidy. Fifth is still a job very well done.
– Yuki Tsunoda – 8
His sharpest Sunday since stepping up. Committed in quali, elbows-out in the pack, and brought it home for solid points. Not the headline act, but part of a very healthy weekend.
– Lando Norris – 6.5
A missed chance. With Piastri out early, this should’ve been damage — or better — for the title bid. Instead, a scrubbed qualifying lap after clipping the wall set the ceiling. Saturday did the damage.
– Lewis Hamilton – 6.5
Ferrari’s set-up roll of the dice in quali didn’t work and he spent the afternoon rowing back. Climbed to eighth from 12th, ignored a late order to hand the place back to Leclerc. All a bit messy for very modest reward.
– Charles Leclerc – 6.5
Same mountain as Hamilton, different route. Strategy didn’t fall his way and the intra-garage etiquette got murky. Neither Ferrari should be arguing over eighth, and yet here we are.
– Isack Hadjar – 7
The bar he’s set for himself makes P10 feel lukewarm, but that’s a compliment. Qualified well, lost out to the Ferraris, banked a point. Plenty to like in the bigger picture.
– Gabriel Bortoleto – 6.5
Eleventh at the flag, and it never truly looked like cracking the top ten. In clean air the pace was fine; in traffic, not enough punch. Still, kept it clean and beat his teammate on a tough day.
– Oliver Bearman – 6.5
Called it damage limitation and that’s exactly what it was after the Safety Car shuffle left him in a DRS queue. Pace in the car, little to show for it.
– Alex Albon – 5.5
When the sister car’s on the podium, P19 on Saturday is a heavy anchor. Spent the race in traffic, picked up a 10-second penalty for spinning Colapinto, and watched the opportunity vanish.
– Esteban Ocon – 6
Started last, tried something different, and made some of it stick. Early contact forced a reset, then he nursed a hard tyre to the flag. Six places gained is a decent salvage.
– Fernando Alonso – 5.5
Jumped the start, took the five seconds, and that was that. Said he reacted to Piastri in front, but once the penalty landed, his race was traffic and frustration.
– Nico Hülkenberg – 5.5
The early-season shine has dulled. Out of position on Saturday, little way forward on Sunday, and beaten by the other car. The points drought rolls on.
– Lance Stroll – 4.5
Qualified 14th, went backwards. Pace never materialised and he ended up ahead of only the stragglers. A weekend to forget.
– Pierre Gasly – 5
Handcuffed by straight-line speed and paid for it in both sessions. Eighteenth on the grid, eighteenth at the flag. There’s not much more to say.
– Franco Colapinto – 5
Wrong place, wrong time with Albon’s lunge, and the rest was a slog. The car wasn’t kind and the gap to the pack won’t help him in any boardroom debate.
– Oscar Piastri – 3 (DNF)
A weekend that never got going. Put it in the wall in qualifying, stumbled off the line, then found the barrier at Turn 5 on Lap 1. Rarely ruffled, but this was one to bin quickly. The response in the next few rounds will tell us more than this did.
Baku gave Verstappen clear air and he turned it into a roar. It handed McLaren a lifeline and they tripped over it. And it gave Williams, yes Williams, a podium that felt sustainable rather than sensational. That might be the most interesting part of all.
