Round seventeen of the 2025 F1 season takes us to a UNESCO World Heritage Site: the streets of Baku, Azerbaijan. With McLaren within touching distance of the World Constructor’s Championship, the 2025 Azerbaijan Grand Prix on September 21st looks to be a thriller.
Firstly, what is the circuit like? Baku debuted in 2016 as the European Grand Prix, but since 2017 has been known as the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. It is the fourth-longest track on the calendar, with a relatively short race distance of only 51 laps. However, the lack of laps doesn’t mean there won’t be much entertainment for fans. In fact, in both 2024 and 2023, the safety car probability was over 50%. It is likely to be similar this year, thanks to the tight, twisting nature of the circuit. For example, in the Old Town complex of turns 8 and 9, the walls are only 7.6 metres apart, leaving no room for error. Qualifying-wise, the most successful driver here is Charles Leclerc, who holds the lap record and had three consecutive pole positions 2021-2023. However when it comes to race pace, Sergio “Checo” Pérez, currently not on the grid, is unbeatable. He is the only driver to have multiple wins at Baku (2) and has scored the most points out of anyone.
After a delightful Italian Grand Prix, fans are expecting another dramatic race. There are lots of storylines to look out for. Firstly, McLaren and the Constructors’ Championship. All the Papaya team need to do to clinch the title is finish 1st and 2nd or 1st and 3rd. If they do this, it would be the earliest point in the season the WCC has ever been won.
Another team to look out for is Williams. Unlike McLaren, the two Williams drivers are very far apart in the Drivers’ Championship. Alex Albon has been a superb run, scoring points for the 11th time this year at Monza. The same can’t be said for his teammate, Carlos Sainz, who missed out on points for the sixth race in a row. He is currently trailing Albon by a whopping 58 points, so we’ll see what Baku, a track he DNF’d at last season, brings for the Spaniard.
Lastly, 2025 has provided us with much to look forward to each race, thanks to the number of rookies this season. In this race week’s “Rookie Watch”, Bortoleto, Hadjar, Bearman, and Antonelli all have interesting talking points. At Monza, Gabriel Bortoleto scored points – the fourth time he’s done so in the last six races. Baku, a track Bortoleto failed to podium at in both the sprint and feature race in his 2024 Formula 2 season, will give the Brazilian a chance to prove himself once again.
Isack Hadjar, contrary to usual, had a disappointing Q1 exit in Monza. However his gutsy performance to finish P10 leaves fans wondering if he can muster another great performance at such a difficult track.
In 2024, Ollie Bearman finished 10th at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, replacing Kevin Magnussen. However this year the young Brit is only two penalty points away from a race ban so he’ll have to keep it clean this week.
Finally, Kimi Antonelli has been going through a rough patch recently. The Italian claims to put too much pressure on himself at European tracks he knows well. The last time F1 visited a non-European track, Antonelli bagged his maiden F1 podium on the streets of Montréal. So, at Baku, a track he podiumed at in F2 last year, Antonelli is looking to impress…
