Azerbaijan Grand Prix Winners: Every Baku Race Measured
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Every Azerbaijan Grand Prix winner, measured: nine races at Baku, three won from pole
Nine Formula 1 races have been held at the Baku City Circuit since 2016. Only three were won from pole, Charles Leclerc started first four years running without winning, and Daniel Ricciardo won from tenth. Every winner, grid slot, safety car and red flag, measured.
Charles Leclerc started the Azerbaijan Grand Prix from pole four years running, from 2021 to 2024. He did not win any of them.
That is Baku in one line. Nine Formula 1 races have been held on the Baku City Circuit, and only three were won from pole. The winner has come from as far back as tenth on the grid. A full safety car has come out in five of the nine, and a safety car or a virtual one in eight. The tenth race is on Saturday 26 September 2026.
Every radio message from six of those races, 2018, 2019 and 2021 to 2025, is in our
The 2016 race was called the European Grand Prix. No race was held in 2020.
The numbers
3 of 9 races won from pole: Rosberg in 2016, Bottas in 2019, Verstappen in 2025.
Lowest winning grid slot: 10th, Ricciardo in 2017. Perez won from sixth in 2021.
Most wins: Perez and Verstappen, two each. Red Bull have won five of the nine, Mercedes three, McLaren one.
Leclerc: pole four years in a row, 2021 to 2024, and results of fourth, retired, third and second.
A full safety car in 5 of 9 races, and a safety car or virtual safety car in 8. Only the first race, in 2016, had neither.
2 red flags: 2017 and 2021.
Fewest finishers: 13 in 2018, and 14 in 2017.
The safety cars
Year
Safety cars
Virtual safety cars
Red flag
2016
0
0
No
2017
3
0
Yes
2018
2
0
No
2019
0
1
No
2021
2
0
Yes
2022
0
2
No
2023
1
0
No
2024
0
1
No
2025
1
0
No
From race control messages for 2018 onward; 2016 and 2017 from race reports.
The pattern is not random. Baku combines a flat-out run of more than two kilometres with a castle section where the walls are seven metres apart, so a small mistake ends against concrete, and almost no tyre wear, so every team runs a similar one-stop plan. When a safety car comes, it hands whoever has not yet stopped a cheap pit stop. Why the circuit works like that is in the Baku City Circuit explained.
2017: Ricciardo from tenth
The race that made Baku's reputation had three safety cars and a red flag. Daniil Kvyat stopped on track, Kimi Raikkonen's car dropped debris on the main straight, and the two Force Indias collided, before the race was stopped on lap 22 so marshals could clear the track. Ricciardo, tenth on the grid, came through the restarts to win. Lance Stroll finished third for Williams, his first podium.
2021: the red flag with two laps to go
Max Verstappen was leading comfortably when his left rear tyre failed on the main straight with a handful of laps left. The race was red-flagged and restarted from a standing start for a two-lap sprint. When Lewis Hamilton heard about the crash, his first question was for Verstappen:
"Is he okay?" His engineer: "Yeah, he's fine." At the restart Hamilton locked up at turn 1 with a brake setting accidentally switched on, and went straight on, out of the points. He apologised to the team:
"Oh, I'm so sorry guys." Sergio Perez won for Red Bull, from sixth on the grid, and thought of his team mate first:
"Thank you guys. Thank you, and I'm very sorry for Max". Sebastian Vettel was second for Aston Martin from eleventh, and Pierre Gasly third.
Leclerc and pole
Leclerc has been fast in Baku from the start. As a rookie for Sauber in 2018 he finished sixth, his first points in Formula 1. From 2021 he took four straight poles for Ferrari, and each race slipped away in a different way: fourth in 2021, retirement with a power unit failure in 2022, third behind two Red Bulls in 2023, and second in 2024, when Oscar Piastri passed him and held on. In 2025 he started tenth and finished ninth. His 2026 season is measured in Charles Leclerc's 2026.
What 2026 changes
The 2026 race is the first held on a Saturday, and the first with the new cars, so the lap record and the pole times will look different: our forecast and the session times are in the Azerbaijan GP 2026 preview. The championship going in is in the 2026 standings.
What this measures, and what it does not
Winners, grid positions, poles and finishers come from Formula 1's official timing data via FastF1.
Safety cars, virtual safety cars and red flags are counted from race control messages for 2018 onward. Race control data is not available for 2016 and 2017, so those two rows come from race reports.
Quotes are taken only from lines where the speaker label and the words agree.
Frequently asked questions
Who has won the most Azerbaijan Grands Prix?
Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen, with two each. Perez won in 2021 and 2023, Verstappen in 2022 and 2025.
Who won the 2025 Azerbaijan Grand Prix?
Max Verstappen, from pole, for Red Bull. George Russell was second and Carlos Sainz third for Williams.
How often is there a safety car at Baku?
A full safety car has come out in five of the nine races, and a safety car or virtual safety car in eight. The 2016 race is the only one with neither.
Has Charles Leclerc won in Baku?
No. He took pole four years running, from 2021 to 2024, and his best result is second, in 2024.
Sources
Winners, grid positions, poles, finishers and race control messages from 2018: Formula 1 timing data via FastF1
Every radio message quoted: our own team radio archive
Follow Baku live
Baku is the race that turns on a single safety car, and race control calls it before anyone explains it on the broadcast.
The Formula Dream app plays live driver radio as it is broadcast, transcript beside the audio, and collects every FIA document of the weekend as it is published. There is also a live timing Dashboard, currently in beta, with flag and safety car alerts.
Free, no subscription, no ads, independent. Not affiliated with Formula 1.
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