The ninth running of Formula One’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix is ready to go on Sunday afternoon local time in Baku, under what are expected to be rainy conditions at Baku City Circuit, with four-time world champion Max Verstappen taking the pole position after a wild qualifying session that saw points leader Oscar Piastri of McLaren crash out.
Piastri rammed into a barrier after apparently misjudging his speed at the third turn on the narrow course through the streets of the Azerbaijan capital, with just four minutes remaining in Qualifying 3.
The Australian who has already won seven of the 17 races so far on the 2025 circuit — most recently just three weeks ago in the Dutch Grand Prix — ended up in the ninth position on the starting grid.
Ferrari’s Charles LeClerc also collided with a wall earlier in the third qualifying round and was consigned to position No. 10 on the grid.
Start Time and TV Channel in United States
The race is scheduled to get the green light at 3 p.m. Azerbaijan Time on Sunday, September 21 — which is eight hours ahead of United States Eastern Time. That means fans in the U.S. will need to tune in at 7 a.m. Eastern to watch the race from the beginning.
West coast F1 fans will have to set their Sunday morning alarms even earlier, with a 4 a.m. start time in the Pacific Time Zone.
The race will be broadcast live by ESPN, and streamed live on the new ESPN Unlimited app, which requires a subscription to access.
Starting Grid Order
With Verstappen at the front, Haas driver Esteban Ocon will bring up the rear after being disqualified from the qualifying rounds when race stewards found irregularities with his car in their technical examinations following Saturday’s qualifiers.
Ocon had originally finished 18th in qualifying times.
With that change, here’s how the final starting grid will be set up:
1 Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
2 Carlos Sainz (Williams)
3 Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls)
4 Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes)
5 George Russell (Mercedes)
6 Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull)
7 Lando Norris (McLaren)
8 Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls)
9 Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
10 Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
11 Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
12 Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari)
13 Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber)
14 Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
15 Ollie Bearman (Haas)
16 Franco Colapinto (Williams)
17 Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber)
18 Pierre Gasly (Alpine)
19 Alex Albon (Williams)
20 Esteban Ocon (Haas)
Qualifying Round Chaos
The qualifying rounds were stopped by red flags six times, a new Formula One record. McLaren’s Lando Norris, a five-time race winner this year who ranks second to his teammate Piastri in the overall driver standings, managed only seventh on the qualifiers.
“It was just a mistake from my side, from our side, to go out of the pit lane first,” Norris said later. “If there was a yellow flag or a red, we would have looked like the heroes, but now I kind of look like the loser.”
Betting Odds on the Azerbaijan F1 Race
For fans planning to place a friendly wager on Sunday’s race, the odds as published by Sports Betting Dime see Italian Grand Prix 2025 champion Verstappen as the favorite at -225 to win and -800 to get to the podium, that is, in the top three finishers.
Norris, despite his seventh place starting position is next at +550 to win and -350 to reach the podium, followed by Piastri at +1,200 to take the checkered flag, and -225 to get to the podium.