This is an unusual Formula One weekend, since we had qualifying on Friday, when Charles Leclerc beat Max Verstappen to pole position. This implies that Ferrari will start the race ahead of the Red Bull.
Then, on Saturday, there was the season’s first sprint race, which Sergio Perez won but did not influence the starting order for Sunday’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
It should be a drama, considering this is one of the most unexpected races on the Formula One calendar, with five different winners in the past five years.
So keep this tab open to stay up to date on the newest news from Azerbaijan.
Sergio Perez ran a nice and fantastic run. He won the race today after winning the sprint yesterday! He becomes the only driver to win twice at Baku Street Circuit! It’s a good day for Red Bull, as they grab a 1-2 and practically all of the points, with Verstappen second, Leclerc third, Alonso fourth, and Sainz fifth. Russell squeezed in the quickest lap at the end to get an extra point.
Ocon has yet to pit, and people are congregating in the pitlane. This has grown chaotic, and Alpine has had a bad weekend.
Russell pits for soft tires and comfortably maintains eighth place. He’s going for the fastest lap. Hulkenberg eventually pitted after 50 laps on the hard tyre.
The race is nearing to a finish; Verstappen records the fastest lap, but his colleague is still 2.9 seconds ahead. Hamilton remains close to Sainz, with just over a second separating them. Meanwhile, Alonso can’t seem to catch Leclerc in the battle for the final podium position.
Finally, Lando Norris passes Hulkenberg with a stunning maneuver at turn 7.
Perez now leads his colleague by more than 3.7 seconds. If he wins today, he will become the first two-time winner in Azerbaijan.
With only 10 laps to go. Ocon and Hulkenberg have yet to pit; they’ve maintained up a good speed on their first set of hard tyres. If they pit now, they will both finish at the bottom of the race.
Hamilton appears to be on track to regain fifth place. Sainz makes a little mistake in his Ferrari, but Hamilton is unable to overtake him. But he’s within DRS, so another conflict may be forming.
Russell enters the Mercedes garage with a significant lead over Ocon. He can go for the fastest lap!
Despite leaving Leclerc, Alonso is in a battling attitude.
Zhou has been instructed by the Alfa Romeo pit wall to enter the pits and retire the car with a problem.
Bottas in his Alfa Romeo has pitted three times as he switches to mediums. Others are having a good time. For example, Sainz has been instructed to proceed until the conclusion.
Perez and Verstappen have both made close contact with the wall, but they are easily leading by more than 16 seconds over the rest of the pack.
Verstappen is on the radio, moaning about his engine breaking, as the gap between him and Perez grows.
Hulkenberg smacks the wall but gets away with it again.
We’re halfway through this 51-lap race. Perez leads, followed by Verstappen and Leclerc.
Gasly halted early in the race and has just stopped again. He’s all the way down at P19. Today is not a good day for the Frenchman.
Verstappen is not yet able to use DRS, but he is getting close. It may be an intriguing battle coming for the lea.Hamilton and Stroll had a close race, but Hamilton uses DRS to grab Stroll back.
