From one concrete jungle to another, Formula One travels to the streets of Baku for the first time since 2019, for a welcome return of the high-speed, high drama Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Catch live blog coverage on The Roar from 9:50 pm AEST.
The streets of Monaco saw Red Bull take the lead of the constructor’s championship for the first time since 2013, while Max Verstappen’s win saw him lead the standings for the first time in his career.
A dismal weekend for the reigning world champions, which included a 43-hour pit-stop for Valtteri Bottas, as well as strategy calls and lack of pace frustrating Lewis Hamilton – has Mercedes on the back foot in Baku.
The six km street course blends long straights with low-speed corners, including the infamous narrow Castle section. Unlike Monaco, teams that boast low-drag and high-power setups will be favoured across the 51-laps.
Also assisting with low drag will be the controversial flexi-rear wing which has been under intense scrutiny this weekend on the Red Bull and Ferrari cars.
With the benefit of a slipstream from Hamilton, it was back-to-back pole positions for Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc – who stunned the field by qualifying ahead of Red Bull and Mercedes for the top spot.
A red flag at the end of Q3 triggered by a crash from first-time top-ten runner Yuki Tsunoda and Leclerc’s teammate Carlos Sainz denied the likes of Verstappen to improve on their final laps and challenge for pole.
Mercedes have struggled throughout practice with their tyre warmup, but Hamilton was able to join Leclerc on the front-row – while Verstappen heads the second row ahead of Pierre Gasly in the AlphaTauri.
There were four red flags during qualifying, with one of them caused by Daniel Ricciardo who crashed out of Q2 and ended up in 13th. McLaren teammate Lando Norris is set to start sixth, but that is pending a steward’s investigation into the Briton breaching one of the red flags.
Overtaking is very possible at this track unlike Monaco and also the probability of a safety car is much higher too, given the number of red flags already seen during qualifying.
There have been no repeat winners from the past four visits to Baku, though Red Bull have won here thanks to former driver Ricciardo. Can Verstappen however add his name to this short winner’s list and claim back-to-back wins?
Catch live blog coverage on The Roar from 9:50 pm AEST as Baku prepares for another fascinating Formula One race.
Lights out: 10:00pm (AEST)
Venue: Baku City Circuit, Azerbaijan
TV: Fox Sports
Online: Kayo Sports, Foxtel
1. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), 2. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), 3. Max Verstappen (Red Bull), 4. Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri), 5. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari), 6. Lando Norris (McLaren). 7. Sergio Perez (Red Bull), 8. Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri), 9. Fernando Alonso (Alpine), 10. Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes), 11. Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin), 12. Esteban Ocon (Alpine), 13. Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren), 14. Kimi Räikkönen (Alfa Romeo), 15. George Russell (Williams), 16. Nicholas Latifi (Williams), 17. Mick Schumacher (Haas), 18. Nikita Mazepin (Haas), 19. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin), 20. Antonio Giovinazzi (Alfa Romeo)
JGK
Roar Guru
Dammit. I recorded the race but it ran out because of the red flag so I missed the restart.
Micko
Roar Rookie
What a dog of a season Bottas is having! :shocked: Can’t see his contract being renewed for 2022 at this rate.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Well that then wraps up this live blog of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Thank you again for tuning in for this absolutely crazy race. Importantly there was no change at the top of the table in the championship standings. Until the French Grand Prix then in a fortnight's time, that's me done for the evening. Ciao.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
-------- DRIVER'S -------- 105 - Max Verstappen 101 - Lewis Hamilton 69 -- Sergio Perez 66 -- Lando Norris 52 -- Charles Leclerc 47 -- Valtteri Bottas 42 -- Carlos Sainz 31 -- Pierre Gasly 28 -- Sebastian Vettel 26 -- Daniel Ricciardo 13 -- Fernando Alonso 12 -- Esteban Ocon 9 --- Lance Stroll 8 --- Yuki Tsunoda 1 --- Antonio Giovinazzi 1 --- Kimi Räikkönen 0 --- Mick Schumacher 0 --- George Russell 0 --- Nikita Mazepin 0 --- Nicholas Latifi
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
----- CONSTRUCTOR'S ----- 174 - Red Bull Racing Honda 148 - Mercedes AMG 94 -- Ferrari 92 -- McLaren Mercedes 39 -- Scuderia AlphaTauri 37 -- Aston Martin Racing 25 -- Alpine 2 --- Alfa Romeo Racing 0 --- Haas Ferrari 0 --- Williams Mercedes
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
RACE REPORT A chaotic conclusion to the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, which saw race leader Max Verstappen crash out four-laps from the end of the race and give Sergio Perez the win – following a red flag and standing restart. Two tyre failures for Verstappen and earlier for Lance Stroll headlined the affair, as both cars suffered failures on the left-rear of their hard compound tyres. The race started with pole sitter Charles Leclerc leading from Lewis Hamilton and Verstappen, before an early pass from the Mercedes for the lead saw the Ferrari begin to drop down the order. Mercedes pit Hamilton on Lap 12 and endured a slow stop, due to the AlphaTauri of Pierre Gasly coming down the pit-lane in the path of the Briton. With the time lost for Hamilton, when Verstappen pitted on the next lap – he was able to jump the seven-time world champion. As did Perez, who after a solid start from sixth was now running behind his teammate Verstappen and the leading Aston Martin of Sebastian Vettel who had a long first stint on the softs. Hamilton then proceeded to pester Perez, while Verstappen extended his lead prior to the Safety Car coming out on Lap 31 for Stroll’s high-speed crash on the pit-straight. Following the restart, Vettel jumped two spots on his 7-lap fresher hard tyres and was in contention for a spot on the podium behind Hamilton – who set about passing the Red Bull of Perez again. A miserable run for Valtteri Bottas saw him drop out of the top ten, before failing to get his tyres fired up after the first Safety Car. As a result he was overtaken by both Alfa Romeo cars and ultimately relegated to twelfth. The standing restart with two laps remaining in the race saw Hamilton go hot into Turn 1 and lockup – taking himself out contention to score in the race. This elevated Vettel and Gasly up into second and third, with Aston Martin scoring their maiden podium. Lando Norris jumped up to fifth also, troubling Leclerc and Gasly on the final lap of the race – but settled for a solid fifth ahead of Fernando Alonso who also benefitted. Points were scored too by Daniel Ricciardo after another miserable qualifying, as well as a first point of 2021 for Kimi Räikkönen in tenth for Alfa Romeo.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Cheers Damo. I actually had it published a couple of weeks back, but whether it is now relevant because of the delay is another question. :laughing: https://www.theroar.com.au/2021/05/26/my-wish-list-for-supercars-gen3/
Damo
Guest
Yep, my bad. I missed it. Though a lot has already happened since then.
Micko
Roar Rookie
He released it the other day, no?
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
POST-RACE INTERVIEWS - Hosted by Paul di Resta PEREZ - "So, so happy." "Very sorry for Max, he had a tremendous race and deserved the win." "We were close to retire the car but we finished the race." "This is definitely a strong boost of confidence." VETTEL - "I think it means a great deal. A tough start for us." "I had really good pace to overcut Yuki [Tsunoda] at least." "I'm over the moon, we didn't expect this." "The car felt good." GASLY - "Incredible, I don't know what to feel." "In the end we did it!" "Incredible to get that podium." "We had to get the elbows out and I just wanted that podium."
Damo
Guest
Oh man, this race :laughing: Thanks again Jawad, still waiting for your Supercars Gen 3 article :silly:
Micko
Roar Rookie
Well done Checo! :happy: :thumbup: First podium for AM. And Gasly now completes the full hattrick of podiums! :stoked:
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
RESULTS FROM THE 51-LAP AZERBAIJAN GRAND PRIX 1 S. Perez 2 S. Vettel 3 P. Gasly 4 C. Leclerc 5 L. Norris 6 F. Alonso 7 Y. Tsunoda 8 C. Sainz 9 D. Ricciardo 10 K. Räikkönen 11 A. Giovinazzi 12 V. Bottas 13 N. Latifi 14 M. Schumacher 15 N. Mazepin 16 L. Hamilton 17 G. Russell RET M. Verstappen (Fastest Lap) RET L. Stroll RET E. Ocon
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
SERGIO PEREZ WINS THE AZERBAIJAN GRAND PRIX! What a race and what a result too for Sebastian Vettel, scoring Aston Martin's first ever podium in F1. And Pierre Gasly is back on the podium for AlphaTauri in third!
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 51/51: FINAL LAP Leclerc has a go at Gasly coming down the pit-straight, but despite getting ahead for a moment - Gasly keeps himself ahead. Now Norris wants in on this battle with Leclerc and Gasly, as he jumps up places on the restart into fifth.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 50/51: Perez leads away and Hamilton goes way too hot into Turn 1 and locks up! He is out of the race too. Gasly now up into the podium places!
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
The light is green AND WE ARE RACING AGAIN!
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 49/51: PER HAM VET GAS LEC TSU NOR SAI RIC ALO RÄI GIO LAT BOT RUS MSC MAZ is the order for the restart then. 10-second stop/go penalty for Latifi for a Safety Car infringement, having continued down the pit-straight when instructed to tour the pits earlier.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Teams have been allowed to change their tyres, which might be of benefit to Vettel who's got a fresh set of soft tyres to use.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
A couple of minutes away then from the restart. Sounds like there will be a standing restart with a two-lap sprint to the end of this one.