Championship Climax, Piastri to the Dark Side, Ferrari Fantasy, and more ahead of this weekend's US GP in Austin

Wow, my predictions a couple of weekends were terrible. Piastri definitely didn't win, but there's certainly argument he should have been on the podium (we'll go deep into detail on that later), picking Stroll was probably one of the stupidest things I've ever done, and of course I forgot George Russell existed ahead of the race he performs flawlessly at.

Singapore was, as we expected, nowhere close to being as entertaining as Baku, but it still held its share of surprises. I think it's important to get the winning story out of the way first. Well, GEORGE RUSSELL WON. Yes, I guess it's not that impressive considering that he has already won a race this season and has been one of the best drivers this season relative to his car, but Singapore was not the track Mercedes was supposed to excel at. Street circuits are much better for the MCL39, as their tight corners allow McLaren to take advantage of the car's strong downforce. Still, Russell taking pole and leading the entire race to win was an amazing delivery weeks in the coming for the Englishman.

For me, the more exciting news comes in the drivers' championship. Verstappen again finished the highest out of the three championship contenders and gained points on both Piastri and Norris. However, both Papayas almost crashed out of the race on the first lap when we witnessed an almost exact replica of a situation from the 2018 race when the two Force Indias went into the corner side by side. The difference? Perez forced Ocon into the wall and ended his race, but the combination of Piastri backing off and Norris giving his teammate a little bit of space allowed the two to avoid a collision. Norris was allowed to keep the spot and never let it up on the way to a podium.

Without further ado, let's get into our recap and predictions.

What happened at the 2025 Azerbaijan Grand Prix?

We've already covered most of the storylines, but I wanted to finish up the Piastri story and highlight a couple of other drivers. Piastri could be in for a massive split with McLaren after the past couple of races in which the team has seemed to favor his teammate. In Monza, Norris had a slow pit stop during which he lost his position to Piastri, who was then instructed to give the position back to Norris "for the fairness of the title fight." However, in Singapore, Norris pulled off his dangerous overtake on Piastri to take third but was not instructed to give the position back to Piastri. Things seem to be getting tense between the Aussie and his constructor, and he even disconnected the team radio during the constructors' championship celebration out of frustration.

Elsewhere, Antonelli had another great weekend, finishing in fifth and extending his lead over Albon for seventh in the drivers' championship. Ferrari were able to secure points for both cars, while Bearman and Alonso also scored points finishes. Sainz gained nine and Albon six places in the Williams cars after disqualification that forced them to start at the back of the grid, and the team even took home a single point from a disappointing weekend.

Podium Predictions

Here are my predictions for the podium finishers at the 2025 United States Grand Prix:

United States Grand Prix Sprint

1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)

   
   

2. Oscar Piastri (McLaren)

   
   

3. Lando Norris (McLaren)

United States Grand Prix

1. Oscar Piastri (McLaren)

   
   

2. Lando Norris (McLaren)

   
   

3. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)

Five Spicy Hot Takes

Now, let’s spice things up with some bold hot takes for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, rated from 1 to 5 spicy pepper emojis:

1. 🌶️ - Verstappen will win the Sprint. Max Verstappen is potentially the best race starter and qualifier on the grid, and nothing is more important for a sprint race. Verstappen has won the race three times already at COTA in his career and has traditionally excelled at sprint races. In fact, Verstappen has won over half of the sprint races held. Like, ever.

   
   

2. 🌶️🌶️ - The Papayas don't fight...yet. I know that after a couple of weekends ago this predictions seems a little strange, but I think that Piastri hasn't completely turned to the dark side or become fully selfish yet. I have a feeling he won't need to be battling with Norris as my prediction is that the Aussie will lead most of the race calmly, but I still think that Piastri will follow team orders to not crash into Norris if those orders arrive.

   
   

3. 🌶️🌶️🌶️ - Ferrari get a glimpse of last year. It's hard to remember, but last year Ferrari finished, out of nowhere, 1-2 at the US Grand Prix, with Verstappen in third. It was an outlier, but it is important to remember just how good their two drivers are in the right car and especially at this track. Hamilton has won FIVE times at COTA in his career, which is the record. Ferrari has no chance of what it did last year, but I could see Leclerc on the podium.

   
   

4. 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ - Someone loses their seat. I want to deviate from racing for just a second. The time is coming for driver lineups to be announced officially for next season, and while the official confirmations are expected in either Mexico City or Sao Paolo, I think something, whether official or a leak, will be revealed this weekend.

   
   

5. 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ - An excelent weekend for Sauber. Maybe not for Hulkenberg, has he hasn't had a good weekend since the magic in Silverstone that delivered him the long-awaited podium, but I think at least for Bortoleto. I think Gabi will finish not only inside of the top ten, but inside of the top five, for his highest career finish.