Report: Battling to P13 in Baku

Alex went from the back row to P13 at the 2025 Azerbaijan Grand Prix

Published

21 SEP 2025

Est. reading time

3 min

Alex Albon charged from the back row to P13 at the flag in an Azerbaijan Grand Prix that saw uncharacteristically low attrition.

After a tricky Qualifying session, Alex lined up in P19 with the bit between his teeth. He avoided a slow-moving Oscar Piastri at the start, before the Safety Car was deployed when the Australian found the wall at Turn 5.

Reporting a flat spot over the radio while still running P19, Williams took the opportunity to put Alex onto fresh Mediums for the restart. Esteban Ocon in the Haas cycled through his tyres to make his mandatory stops, meaning Alex was up to P18 once the race went green again.

Settling into his stint, Alex made a move on Pierre Gasly on Lap 15. At the end of that tour, he was told to box opposite the three cars ahead. With them staying out, Alex duly pitted.

Fitting the Hard compound to run to the flag, Alex rejoined and soon found himself battling Franco Colapinto two laps later. The pair went wheel-to-wheel through the opening sector but tangled at Turn 5.

Alex lost a front wing endplate and was handed a 10-second penalty for his role in the incident.

Head down, Albono began his charge back through the field – first dispatching Fernando Alonso on Lap 23 to take P17.

With the Hard tyres holding up well, he gained another spot when Ollie Bearman stopped and soon reeled more drivers into his pit window.

Gasly was re-passed the following lap to take P15, then P14 on Lap 35 with a move on Ocon. Nico Hulkenberg was next a lap later, Alex braking late to make it stick on the Sauber. P12 followed when Lance Stroll stopped.

Alex climbed to P11 with four laps remaining by passing Gabriel Bortoleto, before pushing to open up a 10-second gap to cover his penalty.

Ultimately, two drivers finished within that window and Alex dropped back to P13 at the chequered flag. But there was still cause for celebration, as he quickly joined the team in Parc Fermé after Carlos Sainz secured a brilliant P3 – Williams’ first podium in four seasons, testament to how far the team has come during Alex’s time at Grove.

”First of all, today was a great result for the team and for Carlos, it has been a long time coming,” Alex commented after the race.

“Carlos executed a really clean weekend, and the car was quick and so it was great to see that result.

“Unfortunately for me, I think yesterday’s Qualifying put us on the back foot for the Race.

“I expected us to be fast today, and we were quick on track when we were able to be in clean air, but the degradation was quite low today so that limited our progress when we were in the DRS train and it got a bit scrappy at times.

“It’s a very different track in Singapore so we will analyse everything from this weekend and hope to score good points the next time out.”