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Follow Sunday’s action from Baku
Hello everybody and welcome to race day here on the Marca in English live blog for Formula 1‘s 2022 Azerbaijan GP.
The start time today is set for 13:00 CEST, making it a 12:00 BST start or, for those of you joining us from the United States, a very early start time of 07:00 ET and 04:00 PT.
Pole position is always important, so Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc will be delighted to start from the front on Sunday, ahead of the Red Bull pair of Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen.
Carlos Sainz starts fourth, then George Russell, Pierre Gasly, Lewis Hamilton, Yuki Tsunoda, Sebastian Vettel, and Fernando Alonso round out the first 10 starting positions.
We’ll have updates from Baku throughout the afternoon, including plenty of pre-race news as well.
1) Max Verstappen – 150 points
2) Sergio Perez – 129 points
3) Charles Leclerc – 116 points
4) George Russell – 99 points
5) Carlos Sainz – 83 points
6) Lewis Hamilton – 62 points
7) Lando Norris – 50 points
8) Valtteri Bottas – 40 points
9) Esteban Ocon – 31 points
10) Kevin Magnussen – 15 points
1) Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
2) Sergio Perez (Red Bull)
3) George Russell (Mercedes)
4) Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
5) Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri)
6) Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin)
7) Fernando Alonso (Alpine)
8) Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren)
9) Lando Norris (McLaren)
10) Esteban Ocon (Alpine)
Despite starting on the second row, Verstappen fires back to take the Azerbaijan GP in dominant fashion! Perez makes it a 1-2 finish for Red Bull, while Russell continues his run of top five finishes by crossing the line third, ahead of Hamilton and Gasly. Ferrari have a lot to think of ahead of Canada after suffering a crushing double DNF.
Aston Martin call in Lance Stroll, and that’s the fifth retirement of the day. Just three laps remaining as Verstappen looks set to make up for last year’s disappointment in Baku.
Easy pickings for Hamilton next time around, as he makes his way past Gasly at Turn 3. At the back, Latifi is given a five second penalty for ignoring blue flags, but he’s all the way down in 16th.
As things stand, it’s Verstappen leading from Perez, Russell, Hamilton, Gasly, Vettel, Alonso, Ricciardo, Norris and Ocon.
AlphaTauri’s decision not to pit Gasly seems to have backfired, as Hamilton is all over the back of the Frenchman. There’s a big pace difference between the two, and it looks like its just a matter of time before he’s through.
AlphaTauri have taped Tsunoda’s wing shut, meaning he has no DRS moving forward, but will he be allowed to see out the remaining laps of the race? Meanwhile, no changes at the front as Versappen’s lead over Perez sits at over 15s, with Russell 36s down the road.
Problems for the AlphaTauri driver as half his rear wing has just opened. That means he’ll have to head to the pits next time around.
AlphaTauri opted not to pit Gasly or Yuki Tsunoda, and that means they sit fourth and fifth. Unfortunately for the Japanese driver, Hamilton makes short work of him thanks to his fresher tyres.
Another retirement, and it looks like another Ferrari power unit problem. Kevin Magnussen’s car is smoking, and he’s forced to park at Turn 15. That triggers a Virtual Safety Car, and both Red Bulls are in, along with Russell and Hamilton.
His lead over Perez stands at over nine seconds, and they’re both well clear of Russell in third. Gasly sits fourth ahead of Hamilton, who’s complaining his back is killing him due to the massive porpoising from his Mercedes.
A double DNF for Ferrari, which could have massive implications on the World Championship. With Verstappen seemingly on for 25 points today, Leclerc doesn’t hide his disappointment after retiring while leading.
“It hurts, we need to look into it so it doesn’t happen again,” said Leclerc. “I don’t find the right words to describe it. It’s very, very disappointing.”
The Aston Martin driver has another try at Ocon, and this time he makes his overtake stick to take eighth. Hamilton is looking lively as well, passing Ricciardo for fifth.
Heartbreak for Zhou Guanyu, as he’s told to stop due to a technical issue after running in the points. Another Ferrari-powered car forced to retire.
No Safety Car or Virtual Safety Car after Leclerc’s retirement, and all signs point to Verstappen extending his championship lead today. The fight is now for third, with Russell ahead of Gasly, who picks off Daniel Ricciardo for fourth.
For the second time in three races, Leclerc is out after his Ferrari engine lets go! The Monegasque manages to bring his car back into the pits, but that is a big disappointment for the Scuderia as Red Bull now sit one-two.
A new set of hards for Verstappen, and that’s a tidier stop from Red Bull – 3.5s. That means Leclerc now leads, with Verstappen second ahead of Perez. Further back, Hamilton has finally cleared Ocon and now sits eighth, under five seconds back of Gasly.
This time, it’s from Red Bull! Perez comes in for a fresh set of hards, but it’s a very slow stop – 5.7s. Leclerc has moved up to second, while Perez rejoins just in front of Russell.
After closing right up to the back of Perez, the World Championship leader uses his DRS and takes the lead into Turn 1!
The German made a great move to get past Esteban Ocon, but he locks up and goes straight on at Turn 3. That drops him down to 12th, and allows Hamilton to move up to 10th after seemingly losing out during those early pit stops.
It’s a 5.4 second stop from Ferrari, as one of the mechanics kicks the tyre in frustration. He’s down in third, 12s back of Verstappen. Red Bull opted not to pit either of their drivers, but will decision come back to haunt them later in the race?
The Spaniard has stopped in the run off area of Turn 4, and it looks like something has failed on his Ferrari! That’s the end of his race, and the Virtual Safety Car has been deployed as a result.
DRS is now open and Verstappen is starting to put the pressure on Leclerc. The two have dropped Sainz, who is close to four seconds back. Further back, Kevin Magnussen makes a tidy move on Alex Albon to claim 15th.
Nicholas Latifi has been handed a 10 second stop/go penalty for a starting grid infringment. He’s currently down in 19th. At the front, Perez’s lead sits at over 2.4 seconds, while Verstappen is just over a second back of Leclerc as DRS is now enabled
Brilliant start from Perez as he dives down the inside to take the lead from Leclerc, who locked up and ran wide. Behind them, Verstappen remains ahead of Sainz, while Sebastian Vettel has passed Yuki Tsunoda for the only other change in the top 10.
There are a mix of medium and hard compounds in terms of the starting tyres today, though everyone in the top 10 is on the mediums.
Air temperature is 25 Degrees Celsius, while the track temp is 48 Degrees as we approach the start. In terms of tyres, Pirelli has brought the C3, C4 and C5 rubber. Drivers have a few strategies available to them today, as the one-stop and two-stop strategies aren’t too far apart in terms of time.
Starting down in seventh, Hamilton isn’t overly confident he’ll be able to turn things around today. The seven-time World Champion only has one podium finish all season – third, which came all the way back at the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix.
“I’ve tried literally everything with this car. A good portion of the time the stuff I’ve ben trying has not worked out well, but it is what it is. We’re faced with this reality and we just have to keep with it.”
Let’s take a look at the full starting grid for this Sunday’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix. It’s Leclerc and Perez on the front row, with Verstappen and Sainz slotting in just behind. Pierre Gasly is sixth, having split the two Mercedes’ of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton.
Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen line-up second and third on the grid. The two have combined to win the last four races, and it was the Mexican who took last year’s edition of the race after starting sixth. No one has repeated victory here before though…
For the fourth race in a row, it’s Charles Leclerc who starts from pole position once again. However, the Monegasque hasn’t taken victory since Australia back in April. Can he change that in Baku today?
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc will be delighted to start from the front on Sunday, ahead of the Red Bull pair of Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen.
Carlos Sainz starts fourth, then George Russell, Pierre Gasly, Lewis Hamilton, Yuki Tsunoda, Sebastian Vettel, and Fernando Alonso round out the first 10 starting positions.
© Junio 2022 Unidad Editorial Información Deportiva, S.L.U. All rights reserved.
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