Winless Verstappen Returns to Baku Scene of 2025 Domination
The short version
- Verstappen is winless after 14 rounds of the 2026 season and sixth in the standings with 145 points.
- He won the 2025 Azerbaijan GP from pole, leading all 51 laps and winning by over 14 seconds.
- No driver has ever won consecutive Azerbaijan Grands Prix in nine races at Baku.
- Red Bull, the only top-four team without a 2026 win, is focusing budget on 2027 car changes.
- The race runs Saturday, September 26, moved a day earlier for Azerbaijan's Day of Remembrance.
Max Verstappen heads to the Azerbaijan Grand Prix sixth in the standings and still searching for his first win of the 2026 Formula 1 season.
Max Verstappen reaches the 15th round of the 2026 Formula 1 season without a victory, sitting sixth in the drivers' standings on 145 points. The Azerbaijan Grand Prix on September 26 brings him back to the Baku City Circuit, where he won from pole 12 months ago, led all 51 laps and beat George Russell by more than 14 seconds for his sixth career Grand Slam.
Red Bull are the only team in the top four of the constructors' fight without a race win this year. Verstappen has criticized the RB22 openly, describing the car at Monza as a car made of paper, and team principal Laurent Mekies has said some fixes require design and chassis changes that can only arrive in 2027 as the budget focus shifts to next year's car.
History offers a mixed omen. No driver has ever won back-to-back Azerbaijan Grands Prix across nine races at the circuit, with seven different winners, and only Verstappen and Sergio Perez have two victories apiece. Charles Leclerc took four straight poles at Baku from 2021 to 2024 without converting any of them.
Verstappen mounted a late revival in 2025 with wins in the United States, Las Vegas, Qatar and Abu Dhabi, finishing two points behind champion Lando Norris, but Red Bull's spending is now directed toward 2027. Saturday's race was moved forward one day due to Azerbaijan's annual Day of Remembrance.
Written by the Matchday Live desk from reporting by Yahoo Sports.
Read the original report at Yahoo Sports ↗