The double magic of Verstappen and Ferrari’s burden
Max Verstappen has done it again. In Baku, the four-time world champion showcased all his experience and delicate touch at the decisive moment, extracting the full potential from an excellent Red Bull. The same cannot be said for Ferrari, whose chronic tyre preparation problems continue to be exposed, failing to mask execution errors. Meanwhile, former Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz has reason to smile, aiming to defend his podium position against the aggressive challenges of Mercedes and McLaren.
Azerbaijani chaos
Qualifying in Baku painted a very different picture compared to free practice, once again highlighting just how sensitive ground-effect Formula 1 cars are to even the smallest environmental changes. The track had changed significantly from Friday afternoon: around seven degrees cooler, dustier due to strong and unpredictable winds, and made trickier by gusts of varying intensity and direction. A record number of red flags was the natural consequence, with many errors even from experienced drivers caught out by a circuit that allows no room for mistakes, while the cars were on the absolute edge in their low-downforce setups. For those still in the fight, there was no time to relax – every chance to set a lap had to be taken, or risk being caught out by another interruption.
This created a battle for pole position that hinged heavily on execution, especially in tyre preparation. Balancing front and rear tyre temperatures is always a challenge in Baku, where the long straights, smooth asphalt, slow corners and low-downforce wings generate little internal heat. To complicate matters further, Pirelli brought the new C6 compound, which offers a higher peak performance but is also more difficult to unlock. It provides less support under braking compared to the medium compound and reopened the debate about which tyre is truly the best for qualifying laps.
The double magic of Max
As if there was not already enough drama, a light drizzle arrived in Q3 to make the Baku street circuit even more unpredictable. This was the moment where Max Verstappen’s class came through. He produced a memorable pole lap, once again proving his remarkable sensitivity in instantly feeling the grip limit. But his brilliance was doubled: at the decisive moment, with just one attempt available and in constantly changing conditions, the Dutchman still managed to prepare his tyres to perfection. Credit must also go to the team, both for planning the warm-up lap and for the decision to send him out last. That risky call meant potentially facing a yellow flag, but it also maximised track evolution and avoided excessive tyre cooling while waiting at the end of the pit lane.
There was plenty of Verstappen in this pole position, but the RB21 also looked solid and convincing. Max ended Q1 just a few thousandths behind Lando Norris, then went fastest in Q2 while managing to save a crucial extra set of fresh tyres for Q3 – the only driver able to do so for the final attack. Red Bull has long been known for efficiency in low-downforce setups, but it was far from guaranteed that the RB21 would perform at Baku, a track filled with slow corners that rely heavily on mechanical grip. On Friday, the car was bouncing excessively on the uneven asphalt and unstable under braking. The team responded with strong setup solutions, showing that beyond recent updates, the biggest step forward has been in understanding and fine-tuning the car.
Open fight for the podium
The other star of the day was Carlos Sainz. The Spaniard benefited from completing his lap in Q3 just before a red flag and light rain, but he also delivered an excellent time that secured him a place on the front row. Williams achieved its best qualifying result in one of the most difficult sessions for tyre preparation, a strong response after missed opportunities at Zandvoort and Monza due to mistakes in tyre usage. Another surprise came from Liam Lawson and Racing Bulls, who took third with a great lap after the final red flag.
McLaren, however, was the big absentee. Oscar Piastri made a costly error and never looked close to his teammate’s pace. Lando Norris had shown potential for pole since Friday but wasted it with a disappointing final lap – partly due to tyre temperatures being far from ideal, partly due to excessive caution with the championship in mind, and also because he went out first without a slipstream. Recovering will not be easy for either McLaren driver, with the car lacking straight-line speed compared to rivals and suffering from the relatively weak combined effect of slipstream and DRS in Baku.
Ahead of them will be the Silver Arrows. The Azerbaijani circuit suited Mercedes, helping to keep tyre temperatures low and showcasing the car’s strengths in braking and traction on corner exits. After two messy weekends, Andrea Kimi Antonelli was the best in qualifying, although he was caught out by a gust of wind at the final corner during a lap that could have put him on the front row. The Italian will start ahead of a struggling George Russell, who was forced to revert his setup after final practice to tame a W16 that had become too stiff and prone to lock-ups compared to Friday.
Ferrari disappointment
Having been first and second on Friday, Ferrari will line up only on the fifth and sixth rows, a decline that cannot be pinned on a single factor. Execution was questionable from the drivers, with Charles Leclerc hitting the wall and Lewis Hamilton underperforming during the hectic Q2 phases. The team’s decision-making also raised eyebrows, such as not calling Hamilton back to the pits in Q2 for a fresh set of tyres. Operational weaknesses were most visible in tyre preparation, with Leclerc describing it as “incredible” how difficult it was to get the medium compound working, despite his teammate having tested it the previous day. Warming and balancing tyre temperatures over a qualifying lap has become a real burden for Ferrari, an area where they are clearly behind their rivals. For the first time in Baku, the team introduced updated front brake ducts to try to improve this process, but the road ahead remains long.
From the final practice session, it was already clear that Ferrari’s competitiveness was not the same as on Friday. On that day, there was no direct comparison with some rivals, who later made overnight gains through setup changes and more aggressive engine modes. There is also the impression that the SF-25 was affected by the arrival of strong winds, after Ferrari had chosen the lower-downforce configuration out of the two tested the day before. On the positive side, both drivers used identical wing levels, which highlighted Lewis Hamilton’s growing confidence with the car. Unlike earlier in the season, he no longer felt the need to add extra downforce compared to his teammate. The seven-time world champion credited his progress to the work done with the team on the braking system – one of the few positive notes in a weekend where Ferrari once again failed to turn a promising start into a standout Saturday result.
