Max Verstappen emerged with a dominant pole position after a chaotic qualifying session for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Reigning world champion Verstappen pulled out a stunning lap to deny Carlos Sainz P1, outstripping the Williams driver by almost half a second.
There were a record six red flags during the session, with championship leader Oscar Piastri and Ferrari's Charles Leclerc among those to crash.
Piastri and his team-mate and title rival Lando Norris start ninth and seventh respectively, while Lewis Hamilton is down in 12th after failing to make it out of Q2.
MORE: Updated driver and constructor standings for 2025 F1 season
Who won the F1 race today?
Max Verstappen backed up his victory at the Italian Grand Prix with an imperious drive to take the chequered flag in Baku, claiming his fourth victory of the season.
It means the four-time champion is not entirely out of the running this time around after Oscar Piastri suffered a hideous outing.
Verstappen got away cleanly and chopped across Carlos Sainz to get into turn one first, but the story of the opening lap was an unimaginable nightmare outing from the championship leader.
Piastri jumped the start and, in trying to remedy that, dropped down to last place. In his haste to start working through the field, he locked up going into turn six and ploughed into the barrier to crash out of the race.
It meant an opportunity for Lando Norris to capitalise, but he was slow from the safety car restart and ceded eighth position to Leclerc.
Norris opted for a long run before his first pit stop and worked his way up to fourth by lap 28, although his medium tyres were pushed to the limit as he failed to make inroads on Yuki Tsunoda in the second Red Bull, who was running on the harder compound.
McLaren's intention was to undercut Tsunoda when both cars had to pit, but problems with Norris' front right meant a slow pit stop and Norris rejoined behind Leclerc in seventh and Tsunoda in sixth.
It left Verstappen and George Russell serenely up the road in P1 and P2, with the compelling closing stages left to unfold between Sainz in the final podium spot. Norris managed to pass Leclerc to take seventh, but it represented a missed opportunity to make up ground on Piastri and an error-strewn weekend to forget for McLaren.
Follow The Sporting News on WhatsApp
F1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix results
| Position | Driver |
| 1 | Max Verstappen |
| 2 | George Russell |
| 3 | Carlos Sainz |
| 4 | Kimi Antonelli |
| 5 | Liam Lawson |
| 6 | Yuki Tsunoda |
| 7 | Lando Norris |
| 8 | Lewis Hamilton |
| 9 | Charles Leclerc |
| 10 | Isack Hadjar |
| 11 | Alex Albon |
| 12 | Gabriel Bortoleto |
| 13 | Ollie Bearman |
| 14 | Esteban Ocon |
| 15 | Fernando Alonso |
| 16 | Nico Hulkenberg |
| 17 | Lance Stroll |
| 18 | Pierre Gasly |
| 19 | Franco Colapinto |
| DNF | Oscar Piastri |
MORE: Updated NASCAR driver rankings from 2025 Cup Series
F1 points standings 2025
Here is a look at the F1 standings after Sunday's race.
| Position | Driver | Team | Points |
| 1. | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 324 |
| 2. | Lando Norris | McLaren | 299 |
| 3. | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 255 |
| 4. | George Russell | Mercedes | 212 |
| 5. | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 165 |
| 6. | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | 121 |
| 7. | Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | 78 |
| 8. | Alexander Albon | Williams | 70 |
| 9. | Isack Hadjar | Racing Bulls | 39 |
| 10. | Nico Hulkenberg | Sauber | 37 |
| 11. | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 32 |
| 12. | Carlos Sainz | Williams | 31 |
| 13. | Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls | 30 |
| 14. | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | 30 |
| 15. | Esteban Ocon | Haas | 28 |
| 16. | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | 20 |
| 17. | Yuku Tsunoda | Red Bull | 20 |
| 18. | Gabriel Bortoleto | Sauber | 18 |
| 19. | Oliver Bearman | Haas | 16 |
| 20 | Jack Doohan | Alpine | 0 |
| 21. | Franco Colapinto | Alpine | 0 |