F1 Azerbaijan GP: The Last Five Winners at Baku

Formula 1 returns to the famed street circuit at Baku for the 2026 Azerbaijan Grand Prix. It was in 2016 when F1 first held the European Grand Prix at Baku, with Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg winning the race. 

However, F1 decided to rename the race to the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in 2017, and it has been a staple in the calendar until today. 

Ferrari's Charles Leclerc's one-lap pace at Baku is absolutely spectacular. In 2023, he set the fastest ever qualifying lap with a time of 1:40.203. The Monegasque driver also holds the fastest race lap record here, setting a time of 1:43.009 on Lap 50 of the 2019 Azerbaijan GP.

After finishing P2 at Zandvoort and P1 at Monza, Max Verstappen's perfect weekend at the 2025 Azerbaijan GP confirmed that he's setting up a comeback against the two McLaren drivers.

On Saturday, the four-time World Champion took pole at the last minute to disappoint Carlos Sainz Jr. and the hopeful Williams garage. Then, Verstappen dominated on Sunday, leading the entire time, setting the fastest lap, and winning the race. 

Verstappen might not be able to forge a similar comeback against the current 2026 championship leader, Kimi Antonelli, but the Red Bulls are historically very good at Baku.

Ferrari's Charles Leclerc started from pole for the fourth consecutive year, with McLaren's Oscar Piastri slotted alongside him. Leclerc led early on, building a decent lead until McLaren decided to pit Piastri first on Lap 15. 

Leclerc followed suit by pitting on Lap 16, but Piastri had already cut the lead. Piastri stalked Leclerc all the way until Lap 20, when he made one of the boldest overtakes that Baku has seen. He dived into Turn 1, got ahead, and put on a defensive masterclass to hold off Leclerc.

After winning the Sprint Race earlier on Saturday, Sergio Perez qualified for P3 on Sunday. Leclerc started from pole again, but he couldn't hold off the two Red Bulls behind him. Verstappen eventually passed Leclerc on Lap 4, and then Perez followed suit on Lap 6. 

However, yellow flags came out after Nyck de Vries stopped on track. Verstappen was already in the pit lane before the Safety Car was deployed, which meant that he lost more time. Perez pitted under Safety Car conditions, reduced his time lost, got the lead, and held off Verstappen after the restart. 

Leclerc started on pole but lost the lead immediately to Perez in the first corner. Double trouble would come for Ferrari with Sainz retiring on Lap 9, and Leclerc's car billowing smoke and retiring on Lap 20. 

Meanwhile, Perez was ahead of Verstappen until Lap 15, when the latter dived into Turn 1. Verstappen comfortably led the race since, and won the race by more than 20 seconds over his teammate.

Verstappen dominated most of the race until his left-rear tyre blew out on the main straight on Lap 47. He retired the car and triggered a red flag. 

Perez started P1 on the two-lap standing restart after the red flag, with Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton on P2. However, Hamilton locked up and overshot into Turn 1, securing Perez's first Azerbaijan GP victory.

Antonelli, who won the most recent race at Madrid, is the heavy favorite to emerge victorious at Baku. His Mercedes has been consistently fast, and he has won the last two races.

But don't count out Verstappen here, as Red Bull has won four of the last five Baku races.