F1: Max Verstappen leads Azerbaijan GP with both Ferraris out – live updates!

40/51 Tsunoda is advised to not use DRS, as he drops to thirteenth after that Heath Robinson job. Seems just like the FIA aren’t comfortable, and the Japanese driver is prone to be known as again.

39/51 The prediction is that in 5 laps, Hamilton will likely be on Gasly’s story. Tsunoda comes down the straight, and his workforce are bringing out tyres, after which they tape the wing again collectively with gaffer tape.

38/51 Perez eases off in his chase of Verstappen. Tsunoda is given a black and orange flag to return in, although the Japanese driver carries on regardless.

37/51 Perez units a quickest lap, although he’s nonetheless a way behind Verstappen. Tsunoda’s automotive appears to be like to be jiggered, the rear wing wanting harmful. That ought to be the top of his race quickly sufficient. It’s in half.

36/51 Hamilton chases down Tsunoda, and the DRS will get the job performed, if most likely doesn’t assist his dangerous again, as he bounces previous. Gasly is subsequent in sight.

35/51 Magnussen’s automotive remains to be by the observe and so the digital security automotive remains to be in session. Tsunoda’s tyres making seen indicators, and so Hamilton behind him and Gasly, the 2 pit refusals, ought to have the ability to make up floor

34/51 Magnussen’s woes open up a digital security automotive and both Red Bulls are available in to vary tyres. Russell goes in, and so does Hamilton, although Gasly doesn’t. Hamilton drops to sixth. Red Bull’s pits had been both performed effectively.

33/51 And that’s that for Magnussen, and a yellow flag. His Haas overheated in that overtaking of Haas.

32/51 A view from inside Kevin Magnussen’s automotive as he makes an attempt to blam previous Ocon exhibits how briskly they’re going by the streets of Baku. Awesome stuff. Magnussen takes tenth, the ultimate level.

31/51 Lando Norris overtakes Bottas to go twelfth, it’s been fairly a race down within the midfield if there’s a procession up entrance.

30/51 Verstappen’s hole on Perez is nearly 9 seconds. Too straightforward for him and Red Bull. His workforce inform him to not go too onerous. “You know what it’s like to lose a race here.”

29/51 Lewis Hamilton squawking about his dangerous again in that Mercedes. Oh pricey. The previous porpoising is inflicting him and George Russell issues.

28/51 Ocon is among the few to not have pitted. Charles Leclerc speaks: “It hurts, we really want to look into it to see it doesn’t happen again. It’s really disappointing. We didn’t change too much, if anything to make it better. I have no news, I don’t know what’s going to happen.” Four poles in a row, and no wins. Last driver to do this was Juan Paplo Montoya in 2001.

27/51 Fernando Alonso, whose Alpine is screaming alongside, goes as much as ninth, passing Ocon, who’s dropping again within the subject.

26/51 Ricciardo, on the tougher tyres, is hoping to carry on to fifth however has Hamilton for firm, and is handed by the Mercedes.

25/51 George Russell is setting sooner instances and appears heading in the right direction for third in his Merc. He’s three locations forward of Hamilton as Vettel ultimately overtakes Ocon, this time it’s a clean job.

24/51 Guanyu Zhou within the Alfa Romeo is advised he has to retire. “You’re joking, guys,” says the Chinese driver. The battle is on for eighth as Vettel chases down Ocon, who has been an issue for a couple of drivers as we speak.

23/51 With Ferrari unreliable, and Mercedes in such a multitude, the title is Verstappen and Red Bull’s to lose. The defending world champion is setting quickest laps.

22/51 Verstappen has the race in his palms, and with Russell sat up in third, we flip to the minor locations, with Gasly overtaking Ricciardo for fourth. Celebrations within the Alpha Tauri storage.

Leclerc’s engine fails and he is out!

20/51 Thomas Stratford will get in contact: “Hey John, happy Sunday. Do you remember that old cartoon Wacky Races? Every episode would involve Dick Dastardy and Muttley seemingly getting themselves into a promising position to finally claim victory before somehow screwing it up at the end. I doubt Ferrari would welcome the comparison but given their ongoing mishaps this season…”

19/51 Verstappen pits, far smoother than Perez, and Leclerc goes into the lead. Perez is now setting the quickest lap on these tougher tyres, and that’s most likely excellent news for Verstappen, and dangerous for Leclerc.

18/51 Fernando Alonso, who’s now the longest serving driver ever in F1, is in fifth, with Lando Norris, slightly youthful on his tail. Here we go, Hamilton lastly will get previous Ocon, and may now chase Gasly.

17/51 The Red Bull workforce spring into motion for Perez, although take their time at 5/7 seconds, and Perez is gradual out of the pits. That places Leclerc in second, and Russell is closing on Perez with actual pace. “Hydraulics” is the given cause for Sainz’s exit.

16/51 Carlos Sainz goes again to the pits, wanting morose after his automotive gave up on him when in fourth.

15/51 Verstappen takes the lead, good and simple as he speeds previous Perez, who doesn’t supply up any defence, having been advised to not by the workforce radio. With Leclerc taking over the quickest lap, and having gained six seconds, the Ferrari is the risk to Verstappen now.

14/51 Hamilton has a go at overtaking Ocon, however the Mercedes doesn’t have sufficient pace.

13/51 The phrase from the Lando Norris-McLaren radio is that it is a one-stop race although the warmth might trigger issues. Oh pricey, Question Time’s Sebastian Vettel screams after Esteban Ocon, after which spins the automotive, after which loses a spot to Yuki Tsunoda.

12/51 Verstappen goes faster than Perez, flying alongside. George Russell, having pitted, is in fourth, whereas the Red Bulls haven’t.

11/51 Verstappen not comfortable that Leclerc has taken the cease, although there’s an enormous hole opened, round 13 seconds. The gamble is that the Ferrari’s tyres final until the top of the race. With Sainz out, it’s all on Leclerc.

10/51 The digital security automotive is on, and Leclerc is available in, to go on the onerous tyres. He drops again to 3rd, and will have been far faster within the pit. The workforce was a bit gradual. He had an issue with the entrance jack. Hamilton additionally is available in, and he drops to eleventh.

9/51 Not a lot overtaking up to now, like a mini-Monaco. Verstappen’s workforce tells him to “be a little bit patient”. Oh pricey, Sainz has gone, and smashed off at flip 4, and there’s a yellow flag. That appears to be like to be it for him. “Something has failed,” he tells the radio. He’s not having a lot luck. Looks like his energy minimize out.

8/51 Leclerc and Verstappen continues to be the important thing battle, whereas Hamilton has dropped off Gasly. The phrase from Ferrari to Leclerc is that Perez is struggling with traction up entrance.

7/51 Verstappen up to now not getting near Leclerc and goes near a kind of tight partitions round this slightly tight observe. When they whip previous the castles in a chicane, it appears to be like like a hairpin in a small nation city, the sort it is advisable to beep at when turning not far away.

6/51 Hamilton, in sixth, is closing on Pierre Gasly. Verstappen is closing on Leclerc who can also be now closing on Perez. Verstappen is being advised to make use of the overtake button by his workforce, which can be a part of the issue in his failure up to now to get previous Leclerc.

5/51 Verstappen has the DRS as he assaults Leclerc on the straight, however the man from Monaco retains forward. Why all the time these two in these races? Perez has time and house to go out in entrance.

4/51 Perez is blazing away on the entrance, whereas in eleventh and 12tn Ricciardo and Norris battle it out, the 2 workforce members. Sainz is getting distanced from Verstappen, in the meantime, and there’s a Leclerc sandwich up on the entrance.

3/51 Nicholas Daniel Latifi, the one driver to not rating some extent this season and Lewis Hamilton’s nemesis, will get a 15-second penalty for his engineer not clearing the observe correctly at the beginning.

2/51 Verstappen goes 15kph faster than the Ferraris on the straight, and that tells the distinction in racing phrases. Leclerc might have locked up and allowed Perez to get by however at the least he closed the gate on Verstappen.

1/51 And away we go, the inexperienced flag waves, and Perez instantly steals the lead from Leclerc who locked up, after which Verstappen holds off Sainz, who has a couple of nibbles. Perez tries to hurry away, what a begin for the Red Bull second-stringer. Great piece of driving from final 12 months’s winner, opening up a spot of 1.3 seconds. The Red Bulls clearly have the tempo.

The parade lap will get underway, the drivers warming up/cooling their tyres. The tyre technique will play its half in as we speak’s warmth within the Land of Fire. It is reportedly 48 levels within the pit lane. Phew, what a scorcher.

Not lengthy now, and the grid is cleared because the drivers get able to assault the lights.

Nico Rosberg was banned from media duties at this 12 months’s race resulting from his refusal to have a Covid vaccine.

Into the grid stroll, the place George Russell admits Mercedes are missing a little bit of pace and bemoans his automotive smashing into the bottom. Perez on being second on the grid: “If i get it, I go for it.” Verstappen: “It’s a bit warmer, hopefully we have a good tyre deck.” Toto Wolff on the porpoising: “We really need to find a solution to that. It’s really compressing the spine.” He even suggests Lewis Hamilton won’t full the course however says “this is not just a Mercedes thing”.

It’s 27 levels in Baku, which is scorching however there’s been hotter, because the Azeri nationwide anthem blares out.

Gary Naylor has been admiring the surroundings: “Sunrise over the Caspian from Baku’s Old City is quite a sight, but it looks like they’ve put quite a few obstacles in the way of one of humankind’s most ancient views.”

Last 12 months’s Azeri GP was extremely dramatic, chances are you’ll recall.

The race was received by Red Bull’s Sergio Pérez, an excellent drive for his second F1 victory, but it surely was overshadowed by the drama whereby both title protagonists, Hamilton and Max Verstappen, failed to attain some extent. Verstappen suffered a tyre failure late within the race, costing him a possible win, and Hamilton made a extremely uncommon error to drop from second to fifteenth on the penultimate lap. Both incidents will elicit critical investigations.

Lewis Hamilton continues to battle, however that doesn’t imply he received’t maintain combating for what he believes in.

The FIA president, Mohammed ben Sulayem, precipitated controversy this week when he was quoted pointing out that within the days of Niki Lauda and Alain Prost they only obtained on and drove, whereas trendy drivers use F1 as a platform, referencing the likes of Hamilton, four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel and Britain’s Lando Norris talking out about human rights, LGBQT+ help and psychological well being.

F1 schism with FIA deepens after controversial selections in MonacoRead extra

In Azerbaijan on Friday, Hamilton underlined he had no intention of stepping again and urged extra drivers to change into concerned. “Formula 1 continues to be an important platform to use our voices,” he stated.

“For every single one of us here to do more, to speak out more, to spark more conversations. Creating a more inclusive environment is so important, and focusing on creating better diversity within your organisation and within the sport. But it’s moving at a slow pace. I encourage all drivers to be more outspoken and speak about what they care about.”

Tony Dodgins reported on yesterday’s qualifying.

Leclerc, too, is dynamite across the difficult 3.7 miles, and is the primary man to take multiple pole place on the observe. A characteristic of the season has been Ferrari’s superiority over a single lap however Red Bull’s benefit in race trim, with stronger straight-line pace and extra benign tyre utilization usually permitting Verstappen to overtake Leclerc.

Yet Leclerc, who solely suffered by the hands of questionable Ferrari race technique in Monaco, stays optimistic. “The pole lap felt really good,” he stated. “I’m excited for the race. Tyre management is a big thing here and when we brought out a car upgrade in Spain we made a step forward, which we didn’t get to see in Monaco. I’m excited for the race.”

F1 Drivers’ Championship 2022 standings forward of Baku

• 1 Max Verstappen Red Bull 125
• 2 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 116
• 3 Sergio Perez Red Bull 110
• 4 George Russell Mercedes 84
• 5 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 83
• 6 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 50
• 7 Lando Norris McLaren 48
• 8 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo 40
• 9 Esteban Ocon Alpine 30
• 10 Kevin Magnussen Haas 15
• =11 Daniel Ricciardo McLaren 11
• =11 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri 11
• 13 Fernando Alonso Alpine 10
• 14 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri 6
• 15 Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin 5
• 16 Alex Albon Williams 3
• 17 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 2
• 18 Guanyu Zhou Alfa Romeo 1

Final Positions after Qualifying:

• 1 Charles Leclerc (Mon) Ferrari 1min 41.359secs
• 2 Sergio Perez (Mex) Red Bull 1:41.641
• 3 Max Verstappen (Ned) Red Bull 1:41.706
• 4 Carlos Sainz Jr. (Spa) Ferrari 1:41.814
• 5 George Russell (Gbr) Mercedes GP 1:42.712
• 6 Pierre Gasly (Fra) Scuderia AlphaTauri 1:42.845
• 7 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) Mercedes GP 1:42.924
• 8 Yuki Tsunoda (Jpn) Scuderia AlphaTauri 1:43.056
• 9 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Aston Martin 1:43.091
• 10 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Alpine 1:43.173
• 11 Lando Norris (Gbr) McLaren 1:43.398
• 12 Daniel Ricciardo (Aus) McLaren 1:43.574
• 13 Esteban Ocon (Fra) Alpine 1:43.585
• 14 Guanyu Zhou (Chn) Alfa Romeo Racing 1:43.790
• 15 Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Alfa Romeo Racing 1:44.444
• 16 Kevin Magnussen (Den) Haas F1 1:44.643
• 17 Alexander Albon (Tha) Williams 1:44.719
• 18 Nicholas Latifi (Can) Williams 1:45.367
• 19 Lance Stroll (Can) Aston Martin 1:45.371
• 20 Mick Schumacher (Ger) Haas F1 1:45.775

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