At the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku, Red Bull Racing’s upward trend continued. Max Verstappen secured pole position and went on to win the race in commanding fashion, finishing ahead of George Russell in the Mercedes and a sensational Carlos Sainz, who took a podium for Williams. McLaren, on the other hand, endured a weekend to forget. Crashes in practice and qualifying already set the tone. In the race, championship leader Oscar Piastri botched the start completely and crashed out on the very first lap. His teammate Lando Norris was stuck in the midfield and could not even challenge Yuki Tsunoda or Liam Lawson, who impressively finished 4th and 5th. Ferrari once again fell short of expectations: despite having a quick car, Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton could only manage 8th and 9th place. Red Bull, however, showed consistency, with all four of its cars finishing in the top ten. Verstappen cut his deficit in the drivers’ standings to 69 points and, with seven races remaining, can still hope to defend his title. Next race: Singapore