F1 Stock Watch: Which Drivers Have the Most to Lose at the Azerbaijan GP?

The Stock Watch is back on duty! This time, we'll analyze which drivers have more to win and lose in the upcoming 2026 F1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix in the streets of Baku. 

For George Russell, the championship might be a foregone conclusion already. But he still has a job to do, and that is to maintain his current second place. With Lando Norris and Max Verstappen charging from behind, plus Lewis Hamilton lurking in third place, Russell needs a strong result at Baku.

Oscar Piastri's teammate, Lando Norris, has already won two races this season. In the last four races, Norris has also finished at least P4, scoring a total of 83 points during that span, compared to Piastri's 26. Norris could have even won the Spanish GP, if not for his bad luck from the Virtual Safety Car.

This puts the pressure on Piastri to perform better at Baku. We saw him win this race in 2024, so he knows that he can come in and do his thing here.

Having qualified for pole four straight times from 2021 to 2024, Charles Leclerc's strong qualifying form at Baku unraveled when he crashed in Q3 last year. He has been the recent target of a lot of funny memes referencing his crashes at the castle section. The Ferrari driver would want to put those memes to bed with another stonking one-lap pace in the streets of Baku.

Esteban Ocon admitted that he's a free agent for 2027, giving us hints that his days at Haas are already numbered. But there might be other teams who'll look into his services, especially if he makes a good impression from this point on. His focus right now would be to outperform his teammate Oliver Bearman.

After announcing his return from a three-race injury layoff, Isack Hadjar also signed a contract extension that will see him race for Red Bull at least through 2027. It's already a great week for the French driver, but it will be even better if he immediately gets back to the form that helped him finish at least P6 in his last seven races.

His bad luck at Madrid was very unfortunate, but McLaren driver Lando Norris is looking to replicate his excellent form at Baku. He's now five points behind Hamilton in third place, and 25 points behind Russell's second place. With McLaren showing some pace and reliability lately, Norris should be able to close in or even leapfrog Hamilton and Russell soon.

Franco Colapinto has never scored in three straight races in his young F1 career. He has the chance to do so at Baku, especially with the Alpine car improving its pace in recent races. It's a huge opportunity for the Argentine driver to make a statement within the team.