2025 F1 Azerbaijan GP: Top 5 bold predictions

The 2025 F1 Azerbaijan GP kicks off the last third of the championship. The race comes at an intriguing point where the title battle is now starting to reach an interesting stage. On one side, the gap between Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris is 31 points.

On the other hand, with just 8 races left, one has to wonder how cordial things will remain, even though they have been quite friendly. At the same time, Baku has been a paradise when it comes to inducing chaotic races. The track has been brilliant in that respect.

With that being said, what can we expect from the F1 Azerbaijan GP? Let's take a look.

#5 The softer compounds could make things interesting

One of the bigger issues with the last few editions of the F1 Azerbaijan GP has been the fact that the tires brought to the race weekends were too durable. As a result, we ended up having straightforward one-stop races, and not much happened.

This time around, they're going a step softer primarily with the aim of having more pit stops. Such a strategy can potentially mix things up, both in qualifying and in the race, and does introduce another variable into the equation.

#4 Keep an eye out for Ollie Bearman

The young rookie has had a few standout races this season with Haas, but one thing is clear, the pace is certainly there. With that being said, this weekend we're going to Baku, a track where the Brit has excelled in the past in F2 and last season with the American team in F1 as well.

The driver ended up jumping into the limelight with how he secured pole position in 2 with a bent steering wheel and then achieved a double of winning both the feature and the sprint race at that time. Ollie Bearman tends to do well around Baku, and it would be worth keeping an eye on him this weekend.

#3 Red Bull to take a step back from Monza performance levels

While Helmut Marko seems very excited about what's next for Red Bull after a dominant Monza, they might have to step on the brakes a bit this weekend. Max Verstappen has not been the best around Baku in general, but the stop-start nature could help the car.

The lack of fast-speed sections does go against the car's strengths in general, and we could see the car maybe take a step back in Baku compared to how brilliant it was in Monza.

#2 Charles Leclerc is a wildcard for the F1 Azerbaijan GP

In this decade there have been four F1 Azerbaijan GPs. All four of them have had Charles Leclerc on pole position, irrespective of how good or bad Ferrari's seasons have been. The driver has a special affinity for this track and quite often has produced some special laps.

At the same time, his Sunday results leave much to be desired as he is yet to win a race on this track. Ferrari should be decent here, but with a car that seems to be too unpredictable, it's hard to make any bold claims over what the driver could achieve here.

#1 Lando Norris to win the 2025 F1 Azerbaijan GP

The softer compound brought by Pirelli plays into McLaren's inherent strength of keeping the tires in the working window while others struggle. Tire degradation could be an interesting addition to the race on Sunday and hence give an even bigger advantage to the Woking-based squad.

With that being said, when it comes to picking between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, the Brit has often been brilliant around this track, while the Aussie won the race last season. Lest we forget, however, the win was also a result of Norris not being in contention, as he started the race from the back.

This time around, if both of them are having straightforward weekends, we're backing Norris to beat Piastri and win the F1 Azerbaijan GP.