Key events
Lap 34/51: It benefits Russell and Mercedes as these laps with the safety car still out tick down.
The recovery team are still clearing things up after Albon’s crash and the safety car is still out. Hopefully we get back to racing soon, because I think it could be rather exciting. Patience.
Top 10 as it stands after 33 laps:
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Russell
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Piastri
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Verstappen
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Hadjar
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Leclerc
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Hamilton
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Gasly
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Antonelli
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Norris
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Colapinto
A reminder than Stroll, Alonso and Albon are all OUT of the race as DNFs.
Lap 32/51: They’re all back out onto the track and the pack have closed up, with Russell’s huge lead pretty much gone. It could make for an exciting finale to the race.
OK, Verstappen and Hadjar are pitting, a double stack from Red Bull. Piastri also pits.
This is going to be chaotic when all the cars emerge to jostle for position …
Antonelli quickly pits and gets the soft tyres on; Lando Norris does the same after his lockup. Who will benefit from this safety car and will we get a red flag?
We shall find out soon. The top six still haven’t pitted, but Mercedes may bring their race leader Russell in shortly.
Yellow flag: Another big incident – Alex Albon has smashed into the wall and there’s a yellow flag signal out there now. Safety car time …
Oh no, what’s happened to Lando Norris? A big lockup from the McLaren has him spinning in circles on the straight – he’s lost positions, taken a big knock to the tyre and will need to box soon.
Lap 29/51: Leclerc is miles behind Hadjar, so the Red Bulls have third and fourth locked up. They could afford to bring their guys into the pit lane.
Why don’t Red Bull simply bring Verstappen into the pit lane, given his tyre problems? Yeah … I don’t know.
“The softs can clearly do half the race,” vents Verstappen on the radio.
Lap 27/51: Verstappen is again having to defend some attacks from Hadjar. “Can I go for it, or what?” is the – very relevant – question from the Frenchman, who is advised to “keep it clean” by team engineers.
George Russell is about to lap the back-marker, Valtteri Bottas, which shows how much quicker his Mercedes is than those teams at the back of the grid. It’s now a 10-second lead for the British driver, a comfortable day for him, although he’s just revealed he “nibbled” the wall on a recent turn. Shouldn’t be too much of an issue.
Lap 24/51: Hadjar still looks speedy and in better shape than his Red Bull teammate, Verstappen, although the Dutchman is still ahead in third.
Norris, like Verstappen, looks short of speed on the medium tyre and is languishing in P7.
Lap 22/51: So, 20 drivers and 10 teams remain in this race and we’re not far off the halfway mark.
Oh dear, it’s not a pit stop for Alonso, the veteran driver is OUT of the race altogether. A double DNF for Aston Martin and a nightmare weekend for them, with major car issues.
Carlos Sainz in the Williams is the first driver to head for the pit lane. Will that trigger others to do the same? We’ll see – Alonso is also pitting.
Lap 20/51: “Tell him to keep pushing,” says Hadjar to the Red Bull engineers.
The word from the Red Bulls is that their soft tyre is performing better than the medium, so will Hadjar and Verstappen swap positions? Surely Max wouldn’t allow such a thing.
Lap 19/51: Will some of the constructors think about boxing soon? Verstappen will want his tyres changing, but it’s a risk to go onto soft tyres so early.
Hamilton has now gone beyond Norris and into sixth. Lando’s struggles continue.
A little further back, Antonelli has overtaken Ollie Bearman. Maybe the championship leader could get among the serious points here? He’s now 10th.
Lap 16/51: Hamilton looks to have more speed than Norris and the McLaren nearly makes a mistake that lets his fellow countryman through. A battle for sixth spot happening, there.
What annoys me slightly about the TV coverage of these races is we see precious little of the leading car. OK, Russell’s position hasn’t come under much threat, but it would help to see how he is driving, and the gap in physical terms to Piastri.
Lap 14/51: Hmm, maybe Verstappen has stepped off the gas a little; could be related to that tyre issue we heard him complain about. He’s lost some pace and probably won’t challenge Piastri in the next couple of laps – and it’s too early for a pit stop.
Top 10 as it stands:
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Russell
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Piastri
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Verstappen
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Hadjar
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Leclerc
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Norris
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Hamilton
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Gasly
-
Colapinto
-
Bearman
Kimi Antonelli is now 12th, having muscled his way pay Alex Albon.
Lap 12/51: The frenetic feel of the first few laps has calmed down a bit. The biggest threat is still being offered by Verstappen, in terms of overtaking. It won’t be long before Oscar Piastri feels him breathing down his neck.
Lap 10/51: Kimi Antonelli speeds past Esteban Ocon is now P13. Meanwhile, Verstappen – who has been rapid so far – is heard complaining his medium compound tyres are not very good on the Red Bull radio.
We expect a one-stop strategy from pretty much everyone in this race, by the way.
Lance Stroll is out. He parks up with a car issue and is DNF. That’s an 11th DNF of the season for the Aston Martin driver.
Lap 8/51: The next task for Verstappen will be to close on Piastri. The Australian hasn’t been able to trouble Russell yet; with the Mercedes happily out in front.
As for Antonelli? He has gained a couple of places, but is still down in 14th. A win from here would be astonishing.
Hadjar has allowed Verstappen to overtake him, too, so the Dutchman has gained an incredible five places on his qualifying position; he started P8 and is now third.
A podium surely beckons for him given how much speed he’s got. He may have his eyes on a bigger prize.
Lap 6/51: Verstappen has absolutely stormed beyond Leclerc into fourth. What have Red Bull been doing to their cars in the past 24 hours? They look so much faster today than they did in qualifying.
“These Red Bulls could be a bit of a problem,” Piastri is told by an engineer on the McLaren team radio. Yep, they look quick.
Lap 4/51: Hadjar attempts another move, but cannot get around Leclerc, who had the pace to see off the Red Bull … well, only for a time. Hadjar eventually gets his man! The Red Bull is into third, behind Piastri and Russell.
His teammate Verstappen seems to have a bit of pace, too.
Lap 3/51: Most of the drivers at the front of the race have chosen soft tyres, other than Russell, Norris and Verstappen, who are on mediums. Hadjar has regained his P4 spot from Norris, and Verstappen has now gone beyond the Brit, but there’s a lot of jostling for places at the moment, positions changing all the time.
Norris overtook Hadjar on the straight going into the second lap, a great move by the McLaren. Verstappen sneaks inside Hamilton so climbs into P6, with Hamilton caught off guard, there.
Lap 2/51: Russell leads, then, followed by Piastri, then it’s Leclerc, Norris, then Hadjar.
Antonelli is down in 17th, so has actually lost a place, rather than working his way up the field. Plenty of racing to do, of course, and that’s the first lap done.
The first corner is upon us very quickly at Baku, and it’s Piastri who squeezes ahead of Leclerc to take second spot and Norris is up into third, too. A good start for the McLarens as Russell steers clear of trouble to remain in first.
Lights out
… and away we goooooo!!!
51 laps to come. Let’s see what happens on the all-important first turn.
According to said broadcaster, the winds have dropped in Baku and we’re set for rather favourable racing conditions on a track that, although twisty, can lend itself to overtaking well. It’s always a gorgeous setting in Baku with the 6km-long track right in the heart of the old city.
Some good views and pictures to be had.
Swedish House Mafia is now blaring out on the track, as Russell gets on his Mercedes scooter to head for the track and shares a few – and I mean only a few – words with Sky Sports.
If you want the vibe following at home, go for it:
Fair play, the Azerbaijan anthem is an absolute banger. And it has just been terrifically performed on track.
If you remember, last year, before lights out, George Russell and Lando Norris were seen giggling as a group of local children belted the anthem out with plenty of passion.
We’re about to get the anthems and all the pre-race pomp and ceremony. The drivers and teams are making their on-track adjustments before it all starts.
Lando Norris hasn’t been a particularly happy bunny this season. He described McLaren’s lack of pace as “pretty pants” in the lead-up to this Grand Prix, and fifth on the grid to start the race reflects that mediocre performance by the reigning world champion.
With Piastri qualifying third, can Norris rein in his teammate and finish on the podium this weekend? It would seem doubtful, in truth.
Whether races take place in the Middle East towards the end of the season, or not, could affect this season’s F1 world championship. Kimi Antonelli leads his Mercedes teammate George Russell by 81 points with nine meetings remaining, as it stands. If that number was reduced the Italian could close it out even sooner than might be expected.
Formula One is pressing ahead with its original plan to finish the season with races in Qatar and Abu Dhabi, although a contingency is understood to be in place to host a final round in Imola if the volatile situation means both meetings have to be cancelled.
“I personally want to go. I love going to the Middle East,” said Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton. “From what I have read, things seem OK out there, but I don’t have all the information and I don’t know what the risk levels are. I trust in Stefano [Domenicali, F1’s chief executive] to make the right decision for the sport. And I do hope we get to go there.”
“Today’s a big opportunity,” says Antonelli, speaking to the broadcasters. “The car is very quick, so hopefully we can gain a lot of places.”
The 20-year-old is a confident young man.
Is there any chance Kimi Antonelli can win this race from way back on the grid? Well, at Monza he came back from 19th to take victory and Baku, with its long straights, has similarly generous opportunities for overtaking. But he cannot afford to be caught in incidents in the midfield.
“Race smart in the early stages tomorrow and I am sure he has the pace to climb his way back up the field,” said the Mercedes deputy team principal, Bradley Lord.
His teammate, George Russell, said: “You can’t discount Kimi. You know, started 19th in Monza and now he’s in 16th, so, yeah, he should be leading by a few laps early this time.” He added: “He’s been flawless this season. It’s the first mistake he’s made in a qualifying or race this whole year.”
Reminder of qualifying positions
Here’s how the grid looks at the start of the race:
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Russell (Mercedes)
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Leclerc (Ferrari)
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Piastri (McLaren)
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Hadjar (Red Bull)
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Norris (McLaren)
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Hamilton (Ferrari)
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Gasly (Alpine)
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Verstappen (Red Bull)
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Sainz (Williams)
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Colapinto (Alpine)
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Bearman (Haas)
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Lawson (Racing Bulls)
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Albon (Williams)
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Ocon (Haas)
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Lindblad (Racing Bulls)
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Antonelli (Mercedes)
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Bortoleto (Audi)
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Hulkenberg (Audi)
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Alonso (Aston Martin)
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Perez (Cadillac)
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Stroll (Aston Martin)
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Bottas (Cadillac)
Preamble
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix – with a rare Saturday race day for us all to enjoy. The big story from qualifying yesterday was runaway World Championship leader Kimi Antonelli crashing out, meaning he will start today’s race 16th on the grid, handing the initiative to his Mercedes teammate George Russell, who claimed pole position.
Antonelli said his crash was “stupid” but also “a good way to come back to earth” after a stunning few weeks for the young Italian driver, who won the Italian and Spanish Grands Prix to take his tally to eight race wins so far this season.
Second fastest in qualifying in Baku was Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc second, with Oscar Piastri third.
The race gets under way at 3pm local time in Azerbaijan, which translated to midday UK time. We’ll bring you all the relevant buildup, followed by lap-by-lap updates, well near enough anyway. Can Antonelli pull off the improbable in Baku, can Russell close the gap to the championship leader, or can one of the Ferraris or McLarens make an impact? Let’s find out.
