ROUND 17 OF 25 · QATAR AIRWAYS AZERBAIJAN GP
BAKU CITY CIRCUIT · BAKU
“Antonelli is twenty years old with a points lead you can see from space, and people still want to argue about it. The kid has been the best driver in the best car all year. Both of those things are allowed to be true at once.”
“Everybody spent two years crying about the engine change and then Mercedes went and built the best one AGAIN. That is not luck, nha gente. That is a room full of engineers who read the rulebook closer than you did.”
“Two American teams on the grid now — Haas out of North Carolina and Cadillac out of Indiana. Three races on U.S. soil. If you have been waiting for a reason to care about F1 in this country, that is it.”
“Everybody wanted the fairy tale in year two of the Ferrari deal. What they got instead is a man in his forties winning in Barcelona and dragging the second-best car further up the table than it belongs. That is not the story people asked for. It is a better one. Respect the man while he is still driving it.”
Brackley built the best power unit of the new formula and it shows on every straight. Antonelli turned his second season into a championship campaign with more wins and more poles than anybody else on the grid, while Russell has won from pole, taken most of the sprint races and still finds himself chasing the other side of his own garage. That is how one team ends up leading both tables.
“They cooked EVERYBODY on the engine rules. Again. Antonelli is twenty years old and driving like he pays the mortgage. Russell won the season opener from pole and has taken most of the sprints — and he is STILL chasing his own teammate. That is the Brady-era Patriots of the new regs.”
The reigning champions carry the number 1 on Norris’ car and a chassis that still works everywhere. Papaya did not get the new rules as right as Brackley did, but Hungary and Zandvoort proved that when the car lands in its window nobody touches them.
“Defending champs with the 1 on the nose and they are chasing, not leading. Norris still wins when the car is right — but "when the car is right" is doing heavy lifting in that sentence, nha gente.”
The only team never to miss a season, and the year two of the Hamilton project. Leclerc took Silverstone, Hamilton took Barcelona, and Maranello has the pace to win on a good weekend — it just has not strung enough of them together to fight Mercedes.
“Hamilton in red, year two, and he is still pulling more out of that car than it has any right to give. Leclerc gave Maranello Silverstone, Lewis gave them Barcelona — and in between, this team keeps finding new ways to make Sunday hurt.”
First season as its own engine manufacturer with Ford, and the results say the chassis is better than the power unit. Verstappen has dragged this car onto podiums it has no business seeing. The second seat is still the hardest job in the sport: Isack Hadjar started the year in it and scored a Monaco podium, then Liam Lawson came across from Faenza mid-season.
“They built their own engine from scratch and handed it to the best driver alive. Max is still finishing second and third in a car that is not the fastest thing out there — that is the whole scouting report. And they are STILL rotating the second seat.”
Vowles’ rebuild has the most decorated name in the midfield running the same Mercedes power as the championship leaders, with Sainz and Albon one of the most experienced pairings on the grid. The points have not followed yet — Grove is scrapping near the bottom of the constructors’ table — and the line-up is not the reason.
“Nine constructors titles and a decade in the wilderness. Vowles has two proven drivers and the same engine that is winning the championship sitting in the back of the car — and they are still down at the wrong end of the table. Brick by brick is fine, but the excuses are gone.”
The most expensive bet on the grid: a new campus, a works Honda deal, Adrian Newey on aerodynamics and Alonso at 45 still willing to drive the thing. The 2026 car has not repaid it yet.
“Newey, works Honda, brand-new factory, and Alonso refusing to retire until it pays off. Somebody eventually gets rich off all that money. The question is whether Fernando is still in the car when it happens.”
Enstone gave up its own engine to become a Mercedes customer for the new formula, and Gasly’s pole at Monza was the loudest signal yet that the trade was the right one. Colapinto brings Argentina with him everywhere he goes.
“Gasly put an ALPINE on pole at Monza. Read that again. They shut the engine shop, bought Mercedes power, and immediately looked like a real race team.”
Still the most productive driver academy in the sport, and it proved it twice this season: Lawson was promoted into the second Red Bull mid-year, and Lindblad came straight out of F2 as a teenager and started out-scoring drivers with a decade on him. Tsunoda came back to Faenza in car 22 once the senior seat opened up.
“The farm team. That garage in Faenza has produced more real F1 drivers than some of the big money operations, and they did it on a fraction of the budget.”
The American team out of North Carolina, running Ferrari power and the leanest operation in the paddock. Bearman’s second full season is carrying the garage — the bulk of the team’s points are his, in a car that has to be perfect to score at all.
“An American team, built in North Carolina, going wheel to wheel with Maranello and Milton Keynes. Bearman is the one to watch — that kid is going to end up in a red car.”
Ingolstadt bought the Sauber entry and turned it into a full works program for the first year of the new engine rules — its own power unit, its own money, and a long runway. Year one is about learning.
“A German car company showing up with its own engine in the first year of the new rules. Hulkenberg finally has a project worth the wait. Give it two seasons before you judge it.”
The eleventh team, and General Motors’ way into Formula 1. Lowdon hired two race winners with a quarter-century of grand prix starts between them instead of rookies, which tells you the plan is to build a real team rather than a story.
“Second American team on the grid and they did it RIGHT — two proven winners in the cars, not two kids with sponsors. Checo and Bottas are getting paid to build something from nothing.”
The new power unit splits roughly 50/50 between the internal combustion engine and a 350kW electric motor, up from about 120kW under the old rules.
The complex heat-recovery motor is gone, which is what made the formula cheap enough for Audi, Ford and Cadillac to commit to it.
Narrower, shorter and around 30kg lighter, with active aerodynamics front and rear replacing DRS to claw back the straight-line speed the electric split costs.
Every car runs a drop-in fuel made from non-food biomass or carbon capture — the technology transfer argument that brought the manufacturers back.
Started 2026 alongside Verstappen and stood on the Monaco podium before losing the drive mid-season.
Promoted from Faenza into the second Red Bull, carrying car 30 with him.
Returned to the junior team in car 22 once Lawson moved up.
Celtics, Patriots, Red Sox and Bruins with the live wire running across the top.
Cabo Verde born, Dorchester raised, Marine veteran, JUCO All-American — and the voice on every take here.
Live timing, championship points and the calendar come off the official results feeds. Commentary is Nelito's own.