There's always plenty to talk about in the non-stop world of Formula 1, and Flashscore's Finley Crebolder gives his thoughts on the biggest stories going around the paddock in this regular column.
With its scenic backdrop, tight corners and high-speed sections, the Azerbaijan Grand Prix is also one I mark on the calendar, and while Max Verstappen's dominance meant this year's edition of the race wasn't quite up there with the best of them, it was a weekend full of entertainment nonetheless.
That's largely because of what was an utterly chaotic qualifying session that put both McLaren drivers in a spot of bother and set the stage for a weekend that turned out to be full of title drama.
So much so that, by the end of it, some were saying Verstappen has made it a three-horse race again - he now trails Oscar Piastri by 69 points - but I'll need to see the Dutchman make it three wins from three to go that far.
Instead, these are my main takeaways from Baku.
Piastri suffers 'uncharacteristic' meltdown
Three weeks after an engine failure for Lando Norris in Zandvoort seemingly ended the title fight, Oscar Piastri blew it wide open again with a DNF of his own in Baku. This time though, it was the driver rather than the car that suffered a breakdown.
First, the Aussie crashed out of qualifying. Then, he jumped the start at the beginning of the race. Then, he locked up and crashed out a few corners later. It really doesn't get any worse than that.
Given how cool and consistent he's been all season, it would've been a surprise to see him make just one of those errors; to see him make all three in one weekend was surreal, even to his boss.
"With Oscar, we had some issues that were quite uncharacteristic," said McLaren team principal Andrea Stella. "I'm sure he'll learn from it and come back stronger."
The weekend was a stark reminder that, for all his talent and mental fortitude, Piastri is still young, inexperienced and imperfect.
Luckily for him, so too is his teammate.
Lando lets another chance slip
Suddenly, Lando Norris' title chances were alive again. Piastri was in the wall, and the Brit now had the opportunity that he would've been dreaming of to bring the gap between the two back down to single figures.
And then he failed to take it.
To be fair to him, it was entirely his fault that he only finished P7. McLaren didn't give him the best car for the weekend, overtaking two cars effectively glued to each other - Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda - was a big ask, and he most likely would've finished ahead of both if his team hadn't messed up his pit stop.
That being said, he only has himself to blame for needing to fight his way through the pack in the first place; if he'd just kept things clean after Piastri had crashed out of qualifying, the Brit probably would've ended up on the podium come Sunday.
It was also a bit of a surprise to see him not attempt even one risky move on Tsunoda in the closing stages of the race given what was at stake - if he gained one place more, the gap between him and Piastri in the standings would've been less than a race win. Like I said, pulling off an overtake was a tough task, but had it been Verstappen in his position, I think he would've found a way through.
Ultimately, it all felt very familiar. Lando Norris just not having quite enough to grab a title fight by the scruff of the neck and force it into his favour. He didn't last season, when he started 16 places ahead of Verstappen in Brazil but finished behind him after making numerous errors, and he didn't on Sunday.
Sainz and Williams return to the podium
While Liam Lawson was hugely impressive, qualifying P3 and finishing P5 to well and truly put the pain of his disastrous start to the season behind him, the standout story outside of the top teams, for me at least, was Carlos Sainz scoring his first podium of the season.
It's been a rough year for the Spaniard, who has gone from fighting for wins and holding his own against Charles Leclerc at Ferrari in 2024 to struggling to score points and being second fiddle to Alex Albon at Williams in 2025.
In Baku though, he finally looked like one of the best drivers on the grid again
He was one of the few to be quick and keep things clean in tricky conditions in qualifying, securing Williams' first front-row start in four years, and he then converted it into their first podium in four years without too much trouble, easily having enough pace to hold off the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli.
He seemed a lighter man come the end of the weekend, dubbing it the best podium of his career so far, and now has his sights set on taking Williams back to the very top: "This is everything that I care about and I will put the next few years of my life, all my effort, to doing that."
That's undoubtedly a more enjoyable project right now than being part of a Ferrari team that continues to fall well below expectations, and with big things expected of the Mercedes engine Williams will use next season, who knows? Maybe it will be a more successful one.
