Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Season 2025.
Circuit: Baku City Circuit
The 17th race of the Formula 1 World Championship season will be held on the shores of the Caspian Sea. The continuation of the duel between Oscar Piastre and Lando Norris is eagerly awaited. Still, McLaren's first goal at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix will be to confirm a second consecutive constructors' title. There are eight more Formula 1 races ahead of us in 2025. The part of the season that includes races in Western European countries is over, and the F1 caravan is heading east. Next up is the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, a race that will be held on the street circuit in Baku. As has been the case at most races this season, McLaren will be in the spotlight. For two reasons. The first reason is the duel between Oscar Piastre and Lando Norris in the hunt for the drivers' title, and the second reason is that the Woking team could defend the Formula 1 Constructors' title this weekend.
Claim Your Welcome Bonus!Azerbaijan GP
The race on the Baku streets celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, having originally been known as the European Grand Prix in 2016. Since then, the race has been held under the name Azerbaijan Grand Prix, with the only exception being in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The race is held on a 6-kilometre street circuit, dominated by long straights and 90-degree corners, with a narrow section around the UNESCO-listed old city centre. Sergio Perez is the only driver to have won the circuit multiple times since it became part of the calendar in 2016, while Ferrari's Charles Leclerc has yet to win the race, despite taking four consecutive pole positions.
Vasseur: The race will be long
Ferrari boss Frédéric Vasseur has commented on the difficult qualifying in Baku, explaining the decisions made at key moments, with Hamilton's exit in Q2 and Leclerc hitting the wall at the start of Q3, noting that the race will be long and that they will look for their chance to break through. Expectations for Ferrari's qualifying were very high. In Baku, the Italian team came after four consecutive pole positions, all thanks to Charles Leclerc. However, this time the Monegasque ended his performance by hitting the fence, and that was before he even attempted the first lap in Q3.
Max's first starting position in Baku!
On the Baku track, similar in size to Monza, in qualifying for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, which was marked by countless red flag interruptions, the first starting position was ultimately won by Max Verstappen in Red Bull ahead of Carlos Sainz in Williams and Liam Lawson in Racing Bulls. Qualifying lasted almost two hours due to constant interruptions, and the drivers also had to contend with strong gusts of wind and occasional showers. Verstappen admitted that this made the session extremely demanding. “It was just a very long and unusual qualifying time with all the red flags, so you never really got into the rhythm,” he said.
Expert Betting Tips
Pirelli has prepared the softest tires in its range for the race: C6 as the softest, C5 as the medium, and C4 as the hardest option. Last year, the drivers had C5, C4, and C3, and in the race, almost all chose a one-stop strategy in the pits using the medium and harder tire compounds. We will see if this change that Pirelli decided to make will complicate things in this regard. When it comes to the weather forecast, the weekend on the shores of the Caspian Sea will not be completely stable. However, the goal for McLaren is only to fight for the podium. Norris, who has been fighting intensely with teammate Oscar Piastri this season, will have an extremely demanding task to break through the crowd to the podium. However, we believe that he can manage it and win this race, mostly against Verstappen and his teammate Piastri.
OUR PREDICTION: Lando Norris to win
Other predictions
