From one set of gruelling streets to another, Formula One’s appetite for street circuits continues to be satiated following a hectic Monaco Grand Prix as it now arrives to Baku City Circuit. Join The Roar for live race updates and rolling coverage from 8:50pm (AEST).
The Azerbaijan Grand Prix plays host to the eighth round of the Formula One world championship, which in 2022 has been a topsy turvy tale for the likes of Ferrari, who started off the season as favourites and now are trailing behind the resurgent Red Bull.
A fine win for 2021 Azerbaijan winner Sergio Perez in Monaco last time out, played the newly re-signed veteran in championship contention, trailing Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc by six points and his Red Bull teammate and reigning world champion Max Verstappen by 15.
No driver has gone back-to-back in Baku since its first race on the calendar as the European Grand Prix in 2016. It is a venue that Red Bull and Mercedes have split the wins at, while Ferrari has always been the bridesmaid.
The 6km street course causes a headache for car setup, as unlike Monaco it blends long straights with low-speed corners, including the infamous narrow Castle section. So across the 51 laps, there will be a need for high wing levels through some corners, but then low wing levels for the long straight.
Leclerc vindicated Ferrari’s Friday pace and claimed his sixth pole of the season, 0.282-seconds ahead of Perez. Sharing the second row will be Verstappen and Leclerc’s Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz.
Red Bull still are believed to have the superior race pace, as has been the case in recent races and with overtaking more of a certainty at Baku – there will be no surprise seeing Perez and Verstappen blasting past Leclerc down the pit-straight.
George Russell slots in behind the top two teams, with an eager eye on maintaining his prized record of finishing every race in the top five this year for Mercedes. Such is the nature of Baku, that surprise results can happen – just ask seventh-placed Lewis Hamilton about last year.
There is Sebastian Vettel too, who is yet to finish outside the top four in Baku having extended that run last year with a shock podium for Aston Martin. The German starts ninth, ahead of both McLarens eliminated in Q2.
Will it be a Sunday where Ferrari can execute a win? Or will the Red Bulls run wild again and, in that case, can Perez become the first driver to go back-to-back?
Another thrilling race awaits on the streets of Baku, so tune in from 8:50pm AEST on The Roar for live blog coverage of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Race Information
Lights out: 9pm (AEST)
Venue: Baku City Circuit, Azerbaijan
TV: Fox Sports
Online: Kayo Sports, Foxtel
Grid
1. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), 2. Sergio Perez (Red Bull), 3. Max Verstappen (Red Bull), 4. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari), 5. George Russell (Mercedes), 6. Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri), 7. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), 8. Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri), 9. Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin), 10. Fernando Alonso (Alpine), 11. Lando Norris (McLaren), 12. Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren), 13. Esteban Ocon (Alpine), 14. Guanyu Zhou (Alfa Romeo), 15. Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo), 16. Kevin Magnussen (Haas), 17. Alexander Albon (Williams), 18. Nicholas Latifi (Williams), 19. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin), 20. Mick Schumacher (Haas)
andrew
Roar Rookie
It was a relief for Dan I'd imagine to finish in the points and ahead of his teammate. Should release some pressure.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
A crushing performance from Max Verstappen and Red Bull, even putting distance between himself and his teammate Sergio Perez. They've got a handy lead now in the driver's standings, with both drivers now one and two in the championship and leading Ferrari by 80-points in the constructor's. Can the Scuderia address their reliability issues, despite the short turnaround to the Canadian Grand Prix in less than 7 days time? They will have to, given that now Mercedes are only 38-points behind them in the standings. Until Montreal, thank you again for tuning in for this live blog on The Roar and take care everybody.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
——– DRIVER’S ——– 150 – Max Verstappen 129 – Sergio Perez 116 – Charles Leclerc 99 — George Russell 83 — Carlos Sainz 62 — Lewis Hamilton 50 — Lando Norris 40 — Valtteri Bottas 31 — Esteban Ocon 16 — Pierre Gasly 16 — Fernando Alonso 15 — Kevin Magnussen 15 — Daniel Ricciardo 13 — Sebastian Vettel 11 — Yuki Tsunoda 3 — Alex Albon 2 — Lance Stroll 1 — Guanyu Zhou 0 — Mick Schumacher 0 — Nico Hulkenberg 0 — Nicholas Latifi
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
----- CONSTRUCTOR'S ----- 279 - Red Bull Racing 199 - Ferrari 161 - Mercedes AMG 65 -- McLaren Mercedes 47 -- Alpine 41 -- Alfa Romeo Racing 27 -- Scuderia AlphaTauri 15 -- Haas Ferrari 15 -- Aston Martin Racing 3 --- Williams Mercedes
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
RACE REPORT Red Bull again claimed maximum points, as Ferrari faltered in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix with Max Verstappen becoming the sixth different winner on the streets of Baku, ahead of teammate Sergio Perez and Mercedes’ George Russell. Polesitter Charles Leclerc lost the lead by locking up going into the first corner, as Perez nailed his start off the front-row to take control in the early phase of the race. A Virtual Safety Car was triggered on Lap 10 with Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari coming to a halt at Turn 4. Leclerc used this opportunity to pit for hard tyres, as did others – though it was thought it would be too early for these tyres to be taken to the end of the race. Race leader Perez was passed his teammate Verstappen on Lap 15, as the Dutchman got a run with DRS going into the first corner. The Mexican was told too by Red Bull not to race the reigning world champion. The Mexican then pitted on Lap 17, but had a slow stop at 5.7 seconds and was released with Russell in hot pursuit. Verstappen kept his lead after his stop a couple of laps later – though it was a smoking Ferrari of Leclerc on Lap 21 that caught headlines. Another reliability related retirement for Leclerc, saw both Ferraris fail to finish in Baku – ceding a chunk of points to Mercedes in the constructor’s championship as well. With Russell executing another solid drive for third, his teammate Lewis Hamilton overcame severe bouncing problems to secure fourth. The seven-time world champion benefitted from another Virtual Safety Car on Lap 35, as the AlphaTauri cars, Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso all succumbed to their older tyres. Yuki Tsunoda managed to avoid being black flagged from the race, with a malfunctioning DRS flap that saw the team apply bandaid repairs. Regardless, the issue ultimately cost the Japanese driver a points finish – while Gasly’s fifth was the best result for AlphaTauri since Melbourne. The straight-line speed of Alpine kept the McLarens at bay, as an embattled Daniel Ricciardo scored eighth ahead of Lando Norris. The Aussie started the race on the hard tyres and benefitted from the second VSC, while Norris claiming he was quicker than his teammate, was eventually to stay behind. More pain for Ferrari’s power-unit customers too, as Guanyu Zhou bowed out again frustratingly with another gremlin and the same with Kevin Magnussen who also failed to finish last time out in Monaco.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
POST-RACE INTERVIEWS - Hosted by Naomi Schiff VERSTAPPEN - "You can never make up what you lost last year." "A tiny bit lucky with the retirement, but we had a quick car." "To have the one-two as a team as well." PEREZ - "Unfortunately with the VSC stop there was a miscommunication." "At the restart I had too much deg on the medium tyre." "A very good team result." RUSSELL - "Going through a torrid time with the bouncing, glad to bring the car home in P3."
Simoc
Guest
Another Ferrari disaster. Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse. Also the Red Bulls were quicker. Good results for Gasly and Vettel and Ricciardo will be feeling a bit better. But the season is turning into a Red Bull benefit.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
RESULTS FROM THE 51-LAP AZERBAIJAN GRAND PRIX 1 M. Verstappen 2 S. Perez (Fastest Lap) 3 G. Russell 4 L. Hamilton 5 P. Gasly 6 S. Vettel 7 F. Alonso 8 D. Ricciardo 9 L. Norris 10 E. Ocon 11 V. Bottas 12 A. Albon 13 Y. Tsunoda 14 M. Schumacher 15 N. Latifi RET L. Stroll RET K. Magnussen RET G. Zhou RET C. Leclerc RET C. Sainz
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
MAX VERSTAPPEN WINS THE AZERBAIJAN GRAND PRIX! Another different winner on the streets of Baku, as Red Bull claim a fifth consecutive win in 2022. More points for Red Bull in the constructor's championship and P2 for Sergio Perez in the driver's standings with second. And Mr Sunday George Russell keeps up his impeccable record of top five finishes this year with yet another podium.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 51/51: FINAL LAP
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 50/51: Verstappen reporting some issues with his brakes, but then ends up recording the fastest first sector. Might even be on for a fastest lap here.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 49/51: Norris now within DRS range of his teammate, but the laps are running out and the chances of passing Alonso's Alpine are quite slim.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 48/51: Alonso has just set a personal best lap time, which won't be good news for McLaren as Ricciardo is still 1.8 seconds behind the Alpine. Stroll has been retired as well with engine issues.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 47/51: Verstappen cruising out front with 19 seconds over his teammate Perez, who is the one that holds fastest lap honours at the moment.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 46/51: Ricciardo now given the hurry up by McLaren to go after Alonso, who apparently is giving it his maximum.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 45/51: Norris advised that he will be allowed to pass his teammate and have a crack at Alonso, though if he cannot pass the Alpine, he will have to give the place back to Ricciardo.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 44/51: Hamilton nails the pass going into Turn 3 and is ahead of Gasly for fourth. Solid drive from both Mercedes drivers here sitting third and fourth. Gasly was told by his team earlier that fifth will still be good points for them, so in other words not to resist the Mercedes.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 43/51: Hamilton right up on the rear of Gasly now and should have a good run with DRS on this lap.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 42/51: Norris now seems the quicker of the two McLarens, as Ricciardo's medium tyres seemed to have failed him in this stint. The Briton wants the team to get him past his teammate and have a crack at Alonso ahead in seventh.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 41/51: Verstappen told on the radio by his engineer to not use DRS for the rest of the race. In the lead, he will only need to use DRS when he lapping cars. But otherwise it is a wise move for Red Bull to try and protect that troublesome rear wing.