There had been one poster that I kept noticing all weekend on the broadcast feed. It loomed in the background, plastered on a building that stared back towards the main straight and pit garages.
That huge poster of Piastri, Hamilton and Verstappen was emblazoned with the words “expect the unexpected”. The words in the aftermath of the Azerbaijan sound prophetic, despite one man being immune to all of the madness, Formula One’s own chosen one, Max Verstappen.
Qualifying was seemingly turning into survival of the fittest, F1’s version of Lord of the Flies or maybe The Hunger Games. A record six red flags in a session with Albon, Hulkenberg, Colapinto, Gasly, Leclerc and Piastri, all victims, claimed by the walls of Baku.
And through all the red flags and session restarts, inevitably it was one man who came out on top, claiming his sixth pole position for the season. Verstappen, yet again affirming himself as F1’s top tribute and leader of the island.
In Oscar Piastri’s Formula One career you rarely see his car off track, let alone in a wall. It was a case of when it rains it pours for Oscar Piastri. Jumping the start and dropping he car into anti stall left the Australian dead last heading into turn one. He managed to recover to P18 heading into turn 5 after getting past Alex Albon and Pierre Gasly but Piastri wouldn’t make it any further. He overcooked it, locked his front left and slid into the wall. Baku claimed the championship leader, not once but twice, after binning it in Q3 as well.
Piastri had been dancing with the walls all weekend, it seems if you dance for too long in the land of fire you will get burned.
Can you put it down to championship pressure? The Australian has often looked unflappable but if his McLaren finds one of the many walls of Singapore serious questions will have to be asked.
Lando was handed two opportunities to take a chunk out of Piastri’s 31-point championship lead on both Saturday and Sunday. And twice he squandered them. After going out first on a slightly damp track for his final run in Q3 he only managed 7th position, a combination of track conditions and a lap that nearly put his McLaren in the wall getting him nowhere near pole position.
And with Piastri out of the race on Sunday, again Norris was unable to take full toll. He finished the race where he began, having spent most of race staring at the rear wing of Leclerc or Tsunoda.
Norris believes he did “everything he could”, a claim that falls flat considering the pace of his McLaren. Norris’ 7th position means he comes out of the weekend only taking 6 points out of Piastri, a gap that is less than if Norris had led home a McLaren one-two. Considering Piastri’s weekend from hell, it seems incredible that his championship lead stands at 25 points.
Verstappen’s consecutive race victories will ignite questions over the potential of a late championship charge. With the manner of Verstappen’s win invoking memories of 2023, is it possible that Verstappen pulls off what would be the most miraculous of championships?
Whilst not many would doubt Verstappen’s ability to string together 7 consecutive wins if he is given the machinery, whether the Red Bull will be up to it is another matter entirely. Monza and Baku are tracks that suit the characteristics of the RB21 and nullify the strengths of the MCL39. Long straights require a low downforce set up, and the ‘negative deg’ doesn’t allow for McLaren to flex their tyre management muscles.
When the Red Bull is within striking distance of the McLaren, Verstappen comes out on top, perhaps the only exception this season being in Jeddah, where Piastri edged ahead into turn 1 despite Verstappen starting from pole.
Singapore’s twist and turns calls for a high downforce set up, the likes of which you see in Hungary and Zandvoort, places where even Verstappen had no answer to the McLaren pace.
But there remains optimism that Red Bull’s floor upgrade in Monza has unlocked something in the car. The credentials of Verstappen’s near impossible title charge will be tested in Singapore, if he snatches a third consecutive win under the lights, Verstappen’s title bid will no longer be a fantasy.
But Verstappen’s performance in Baku shouldn’t have been a surprise. The words on that poster, “expect the unexpected”, were never meant for him. They are for the Smooth Operator.
“Unexpected” is far too soft a word to describe Carlos Sainz’s podium for Williams. It has been eight years since Lance Stroll delivered Williams’ last podium, also in Baku, if you bar the farce that was Belgium 2021.
2025, through a combination of driver performance and lack (or lack thereof), has contributed to what had been a pretty dire first season in William’s colours for the Spaniard.
Heading into Baku, Sainz had scored 16 points to Alex Albon’s 70, but Sainz’s podium will ease any pangs of a frustrating season. There also is the irony that it is Sainz, not Hamilton in a Ferrari, who would be the first to taste the champagne this season for their new teams. Ludicrous. And yet, here we are.
As Piastri and Norris run around a little like headless chickens at times, they can be thankful that the engineers at McLaren have given them a very fast car. Whilst both the McLaren drivers have put in exceptional performances, at almost any available opportunity, Verstappen reminds them who really is F1’s top dog.
It seems absurd to even have whispers of a title charge, and that’s because it is when the driver in question is 69 points behind the leader with only seven races to go. But with Verstappen, fans will dare to hope.
The outcome of the grand prix in Singapore will see if the drums of Verstappen’s destiny continue to beat, or if McLaren will put to bed the ghost of a challenge that should never have been there in the first place.
About the Author: Moosa Niazi
Brisbane kid who’s chasing narratives. Cricket, F1 and everywhere in between, trying to justify the hours lost watching them.