King of Baku: Max Verstappen secures victory and DHL Fastest Lap

Baku, the "city where the wind blows", certainly lived up to its name and reputation on the 17th race weekend of the 2025 Formula 1 season. In qualifying, the drivers had to contend with strong gusts of wind, which caused a number of close encounters with the track wall. A light drizzle added to the chaos and thoroughly mixed up the field for the Grand Prix.

Max Verstappen made an unorthodox choice for a pole-sitter, starting on the hardest compound (C4). It was a risky strategy, but one that paid off: after a brief safety car deployment triggered by the early exit of championship leader Oscar Piastri, the four-time world champion pulled away from the rest of the field.

Because of minimal tire wear, the Azerbaijan Grand Prix was a one-stop race. Many drivers opted for a long first stint, including Verstappen who waited until lap 41 after the entire field had already pitted to collect his medium tires. Having opened up a huge gap by this stage, he did not relinquish the race lead during the stop.

He then went on to crown a dominant victory with the DHL Fastest Lap. On the penultimate lap of a race distance of 51, he set the fastest time of the race on yellow C5 tires, clocking in at 1:43.388 minutes. He then crossed the finish line 14 seconds ahead of his closest pursuer. "I am happy with how the race went," said Verstappen after his second consecutive victory. "The car was doing what I wanted it to do. Our season has been swinging left and right, but now it's been going really well for two weekends in a row."