Verstappen wins at the Baku circuit, Azerbaijan on 21/9. Photo: AP

For the sixth time in his career, Verstappen achieved a Grand Slam, equaling the achievement of Lewis Hamilton and trailing only the late Jim Clark's record of 8. The victory on the Baku circuit (Azerbaijan) also helped the Dutch driver rekindle his championship hopes, as both McLaren drivers had poor results at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Starting 9th after an early car failure in qualifying, Oscar Piastri had a 31-point advantage before the race began. However, yesterday afternoon in Baku quickly turned into a nightmare for the Australian McLaren driver. Piastri jumped the start and dropped to the back of the pack before his MCL38 crashed into the barrier at turn 5.

Piastri had to retire early, and the red flag was waved to control the speed of the race. Failing to score points in Baku was not too damaging for Piastri as his teammate Lando Norris only finished 7th, and the 31-point gap was only reduced to 25 points.

Oscar Piastri crashes into the barrier at Baku.

Norris could have taken advantage of his teammate's misfortune, but the British driver himself dropped to 8th behind Isack Hadjar of Racing Bulls on the first lap, setting the stage for a disappointing race. Norris quickly overtook the French driver but then focused on fending off Charles Leclerc of Ferrari throughout the early stages of the race.

To help Norris move up, McLaren extended the use of the starting tires by asking the British driver to pit as late as possible. However, when he pitted, a problem with the tire-changing equipment cost Norris a further two precious seconds. The pit stop incident dashed Norris's slim hopes of getting ahead of Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) and Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull).

The advantage of newer tires helped Norris quickly close the gap and stick close to Tsunoda. However, the narrow track and the lack of DRS advantage made it impossible for Norris to overtake Tsunoda or Lawson. Lawson, the New Zealand driver, defended effectively, holding back faster cars throughout the race after a brilliant qualifying performance secured him third on the grid. Lawson's defensive skills caused a series of cars to get stuck behind him.

Up front, Verstappen was in complete control of the race from the start, as expected when the two McLarens started in the midfield and quickly fell behind. The Dutch driver quickly increased his speed and then focused on conserving his hard tires when he created a safe distance from his rivals. Completing 51 laps at Baku with a time of 1 hour 33 minutes 26.408 seconds, 14 seconds faster than second-placed George Russell (Mercedes), Verstappen secured his 4th victory of the season, just one win behind Norris.

Verstappen leads, completely controlling the race at Baku. Photo:

A second consecutive victory gives Red Bull more confidence in the remaining races outside Europe, with the new floor design creating better balance than the old one. The new design still needs to be proven on different track types as Baku is essentially not much different from Monza with its combination of long straights and slow corners. But this is certainly a warning to McLaren, even though the British team's advantage is still quite large.

The gap between Verstappen and leader Piastri is 69 points with 7 races remaining in the season. If he maintains his impressive form from the last two races, the Dutch driver will put immense pressure on McLaren. Any mistakes by the British team like in Baku will be an opportunity for Verstappen to turn the tables.

Verstappen expressed satisfaction with his recent performance. He said, "It was a great race for us. The car worked really well. The last two races have been great for us, the next race in Singapore is another challenge with high downforce and we'll see what we can do there,".

2025 Azerbaijan Grand Prix results:

Minh Phuong