What time is the Azerbaijan GP?
The race in Baku starts at midday (BST) on Sunday.
(AP)Read more
Kieran Jackson20 September 2025 17:02
Hamilton ‘does not think’ Ferrari have the pace to be competitive
Lewis Hamilton admits he “does not think” Ferrari have the pace to compete for a podium in the remaining eight races of the season.
The 40-year-old is still without a top-three finish after 16 rounds this season with his best result in a grand prix being fourth, alongside a sprint race victory in China back in March.
“I don’t think so, Charles [Leclerc, finished fourth] was giving it everything, Max is up there now,” Hamilton said when asked if Ferrari cane compete after the grand prix at Monza.
“We don’t have the pace of Red Bull, they were rapid, or McLaren, and currently we’re fourth.
“A podium here or there? There’s a chance to have that at some point. But in terms of pure pace, we don’t have that.”
Mike Jones21 September 2025 01:00
Max Verstappen eyes prestigious race outside of F1 after Nurburgring debut
Max Verstappen has raised the prospect of competing at next year’s 24 Hours of Nurburgring event after obtaining the required licence to race at the famous German track.
The four-time F1 world champion, who has expanded his sim-racing team this year with an eye on competing in GT3 endurance racing, completed a convoluted process over the weekend to obtain the DMSB Nordschleife A permit.
Mike Jones20 September 2025 23:59
Piastri on winning the constructors’ championship this year
It is only a matter of time before McLaren are crowned with the constructors title for 2025.
They have been the dominant team in F1 this year and, depending on the results of this weekend’s grand prix, could be defend their constructors title in Baku.
“Last season went down to the final race, this year the car has been a step better, the team has been performing very well,” Oscar Piastri said.
“Much more of a sense of inevitability about this year which is an amazing position to be in.”
Mike Jones20 September 2025 23:00
Lando Norris reacts to Azerbaijan GP missed opportunity: ‘I did everything I could’
Asked if it was a chance missed, Norris said: “No, because I still did everything I could.”
Pushed on the fact that there was a chance to line up a distance ahead of his title rival, he added: “If I won every race, I could be world champion by now, but I didn’t.
“In the tricky conditions, I went out first and it was just the wrong decision to make in the end.
“If everyone else got a yellow flag behind because someone else went off behind me, you wouldn’t be asking me this question.
“Sometimes it goes your way around here, sometimes it doesn’t.”
Lando Norris denied he missed an opportunity in Baku (AP Photo/Darko Bandic) (AP)
Kieran Jackson20 September 2025 22:00
George Russell, who qualified 6th:
“That was a frantic qualifying session. P5 [Antonelli’s position] is perhaps not the maximum we could have achieved today but it still gives us a solid starting position for tomorrow.
“That is even more important when you see how others struggled with the difficult conditions and where they will be starting for the Grand Prix. It wasn’t just the wind or the rain that came and went several times that made it challenging.
“We also had to evaluate the Medium tyre, which we only ran for the first time this weekend in Q1. It proved a useful tyre to get through the first two segments but, as the track cooled and more rain fell, we opted to take the Soft compound for our final run.
“That was probably the correct decision, but I wasn’t able to maximise the lap as we ran on the early side when the track was perhaps a little more slippery. From a personal perspective, I’ve not felt 100 per cent this weekend either. That made today even tougher but I’m looking forward to resting up tonight, coming back stronger tomorrow and hopefully being in the fight for the podium.”
(PA Wire)
Kieran Jackson20 September 2025 21:00
QUALIFYING REPORT: Piastri crashes out as Verstappen takes pole in chaotic Azerbaijan GP qualifying
In an extraordinary qualifying which featured a record total of six red flags and lasted almost two hours, Verstappen clinched a sixth pole of the season by delivering a flawless lap at the end.
Piastri, who leads McLaren team-mate Lando Norris by 31 points with eight rounds remaining, smashed into the wall in the final stages of Q3 and will start lower than fourth for the first time this season.
That opened the door to Norris but he too clipped the wall on his final run, which was only good enough to put him seventh on the grid – two places above his team-mate. Williams’ Carlos Sainz capitalised on the chaos to qualify second, ahead of Liam Lawson and Kimi Antonelli.
There was bitter disappointment for Lewis Hamilton as he was knocked out in Q2, qualifying only 12th having looked in contention for pole for much of the weekend.
Kieran Jackson20 September 2025 20:00
Charles Leclerc after Q3 crash:
“Lewis was much more on the pace over the weekend, I’ve been struggling massively. In qualifying, we changed a lot on the car and it was feeling better until we put on the medium tyres, it was very difficult.
On race: “There’s opportunity. It’ll be tough to come back to the front, will hopefully try and have a good Sunday after a disappointing Saturday.”
(Getty Images)
Kieran Jackson20 September 2025 19:00
Kieran Jackson20 September 2025 18:00
Lando Norris, who qualified P7:
Is it an opportunity missed? “No.”
“Two-tenths, a couple of positions, but not 1.1 seconds. It was a mistake to go out when we did. It was still spitting a little bit and anyone further back, more grip. A decision which didn’t work out.
“Just didn’t have the grip on the final run, I wanted more, hurts a bit. Made a mistake, the lap wasn’t as good as it needed to be, the grip just wasn’t there.
“I would have liked a better result in this type of scenario. We just made the wrong decision, we’ll punch ourselves about it now, but it could easily have gone our way. You win some, you lose some. Long race tomorrow.
On the race: “I think Red Bull are too quick. In these conditions, the Red Bull were performing well. We’re quick when things are working nicely, we’ll see.”
(AP)
Kieran Jackson20 September 2025 17:00