Welcome to Baku, Azerbaijan GP, on the coast of the Caspian Sea! The 17th out of 24 races this season. With Baku, this race is a STREET race, that thru Baku, including their classic castles. It's a fast and furious track, and unforgiving of mistakes. I just learned that Baku is the lowest lying national city in the world, 91 feet below sea level! #science
Paddock Buzz first! It's a biggie! Legendary race engineer (he designs F1 cars) Adrian Newey, who had been with Red Bull for the last several years, has signed a contract as Chief Engineer for Aston-Martin! Daddy Lawrence Stroll (Lance is his son who races for Aston), dropped a HUGE sum of money to sign Newey, and in a first, has made Newey part of the team ownership! Daddy Stroll outright owns Aston, and has recently completed building a state of the art factory for Aston, which was one of the deciding factors that Newey considered before signing a multi-year contract. To put into comparison on how huge it is for Aston-Martin to sign Newey for non-racing fans, think of it as say, Taylor Swift choosing who she would endorse for president! Yep, it's that big! Newey starts in March 2025, so we won't see his work results till mid 2025 racing season or certainly with the new regulation built cars in 2026.
Your driver grid with the asterisk next to Williams, as Colapinto has replaced Sargent at Williams for rest of the season. Also Ollie Bearman is racing for Haas due to Magnussen's penalties catching up with him, and having to sit out this race.
One thing I've noticed about this track/street is that there are several "run-off areas" near the turns (20), I'm guessing that it's for the drivers to have an "escape hatch", if a driver approaches the turn to fast, or suffers a wheel lock-up (spoiler- some did!). With that little note in hand, let's get to Practice One- all practices 60 minutes, and the clock keeps ticking even if there is crash, yellow or red flag, or safety car. It will take over 3.7 miles to complete a single lap, and the middle sector is tight and twisty.
P1: Weather is good, 84 degrees, with a slight wind coming off the beach. Drivers warming up their engines and wheels as they get a feel for track conditions and those TIGHT turns.
Already we have driver complaints about "low grip" (tyres gripping the track) due to the sand/dust on the track. Esteban Ocon's power unit basically shut down, but luckily he was near the pit lane and SLOWLY rode back into the paddock; his P1 is done for the day after 22 minutes. We've also had Bottas and Sainz yellow flag it into these run-off areas, but they were able to throw a U-turn and get back on track. We get our first red flag, as LeClerc finds the wall on turn 15, He is ok, but his speed got him into the wall on that turn; his P1 is done.
With less than 20 minutes to go, Williams Colapinto finds the wall coming out of turn 4, skidding the track and sliding into the wall not head-on, but a left side of the car bang. He is okay, but is now the third driver whose P1 is done for the day. We shall see who gets their cars fixed up for P2 in just a few hours.
P2: Note: Sun is much lower in the afternoon here in Baku, so drivers will have to deal with the sun glare. Pit crew for Williams is still working on Colapinto's car, should get it on track after about 15 minutes of practice. After about 11 minutes, LeClerc has told his team that NOPE, not liking what the car is doing, "I'm going back into the garage!" Rare that a driver makes an executive decision like that! Meanwhile, Mercedes' George Russell is in the garage having his engine REPLACED, as the pit crew found particles in his fuel and engine from his P1 drive. That is NOT a good thing. Colapinto is back on track after repairs completed. Russell is now back on track, has about seven minutes to get a couple of practice laps in, but with 2 minutes to go, Mercedes tells Russell to box, as there is a problem with the car. LeClerc did eventually come out, and put in a top 3 practice time.
P3: Cloudy, 78 degrees, and shockingly no wind to start P3. And Will Smith getting jiggy with it with the Ferrari pit crew, but Will is a Lewis fan! 15 minutes in and hardly anyone is on track! Someone who was on track, Ocon of Alpine, once again has stalled out, due to a faulty fuel pump, creating a red flag condition. This time, the car was pushed off onto a runoff area. At this point, I'm stating what seems like the obvious: Alpine cars SUCK! Anyhoo, Red Flag lifted with about 36 minutes to go. About 15 minutes later, Ollie Bearman of Haas tried to correct his steering on turn 1, but instead skidded along the runoff wall, causing another red flag; he is okay, but his P3 is done for the day. No other incidents, so P3 done, and we move onto Qualifying!
Driver Eye Candy Time: Fernando Alonso of Aston-Martin- Definitely one of the "Daddies" of the circuit!
A note on how Qualifying works: There are three quick races to determine grid position for the GP race. First quali the last five drivers are cut, second quali again, last five drivers dropped, and 3rd and final quali determines the top ten on the grid and the ever important pole (1st) position. This also applies to the Sprint Qualis, you will just see me use SQ1 to show the difference.
Q1: 18 minutes. Sunny bright afternoon, with no wind, and that sun low enough to cause a glare for the drivers again. All drivers and cars on the pit lane. Slip streaming will be key! So key in fact, I pulled out it's definition: 'Slipstreaming' is an aerodynamic technique commonly used in real-life F1. It occurs when an F1 car is aligned behind another to gain extra speed. This is thanks to the F1 car in the front punching a hole in the air for the F1 car behind them and thus reducing the air resistance applied to the F1 car behind. I will add the car behind get a "tow" from that slip stream, hence the extra speed!
Back to Q1! Soft tyres for all teams except Mercedes, who is riding on medium tyres. Some yellow flags which threw off some qualifying laps, but no incidents...except that McLarens's Norris bails out of his last lap! Shocker!! So your bottom five who will start in the back of the grid are: Norris (!!!!), Riccardo/RB, Bottas and Zhou of Bottas, and Ocon of Alpine, whose car was once again crap on the track! F1 fans shooketh that the 2nd place Norris in the Drivers Cup standings is going to be 17th on the track for the GP on Sunday!
Q2: 15 minutes. We find out one of the yellow flags is what slowed Lando Norris down, and having to pit in Q1. No yellow flags this time, so a quick Q2 without incidents, so the next bottom five are: Both Haas drivers, Bearman and Hulkenberg, RB's Tsunoda, Alpine's Gasly, and Aston-Martin's Stroll.
Q3: 12 minutes. For pole position and rest of the top 10 grid! In the last two minutes, as drivers go for the fastest lap, Williams, whose team has had a great day with both their drivers in the top 10, makes a colossal DUMB mistake in the pit lane as they release Albon's car with the cooling box STILL ATTACHED! Albon has to pull over to the side of the pit lane to let the other drivers pass as HE has to reach back and fling that box off his car, which he does, but the time it took, Albon was not able to complete a lap in time, and will remain in 10th place on the grid! Huge blunder on the Williams pit crew team! After all that, and no flags, we have a top 10 grid! 10th:Albon 9th: Colapinto 8th: Alonso 7th: Hamilton 6th Verstappen 5th: Russell 4th: Perez 3rd: Sainz 2nd: Piastri and taking his fourth pole position in a row at Baku is LeClerc!
Driver Eye Candy time: This is a throwback of Alonso from 2004, and he is still racing today!
Baku Grand Prix: Some news from yesterday, as Alpine's Pierre Gasly was disqualified for " exceeding the instantaneous fuel mass flow" and instead of 13th, will start in the back of the grid. Also, Williams team got fined by the stewards 5,000 dollars for that asinine error regarding the cooling box incident. And another surprise penalty from the stewards, as Lewis Hamilton is dropped to the back of the grid for an engine change.
Clear sunny skies, temps in the 80's, most drivers starting on the medium tyres, with others running hard tyres. And it LIGHTS OUT, with Leclerc holding off Piastri for the lead, Perez jumps up to 3rd, while Russell drops to 6th. Norris has made up three spots and is at 12th. Williams doing well with Colapinto, in his first GP, and Albon, minus the ice-box, in the top ten. Stroll pits on this Lap 1, reporting a punctured tyre, which was caused by bumping tyres with Tsunoda, whose car seems to be feeling the affects, as Yuki has dropped to near the back of the pack, losing several places from where he started. Stroll back on track after having punctured tyre replaced.
Lap 12 has Alonso, who had been a "cork" in 6th place, holding back several other drivers from making advancements, takes his first pit stop, allowing Albon and Norris to move up to seventh and eighth place. LeClerc, Piastri and Perez leading, with Sainz, Verstappen and Russell in the next group behind the leaders. By lap 16, we've had several pitstops that have shuffled the grid a bit: LeClerc has a commanding eight second lead, his Ferrari teammate Sainz in 2nd, Albon now 3rd, Piastri in 4th, Perez in 5th, Norris 6th, Verstappen 7th Russell 8th. Tsunoda is the first driver to retire his car for the RB team, a DNF for Yuki.
On Lap 20, we have a lead change, as Piastri dives forward and cuts in front LeClerc to take the lead, which Piastri has held onto, barely for the last ten laps. Both drivers have Perez waiting to pounce in third. Meanwhile, there is a train of Albon, Norris and Verstappen that are nose to tail close to each other thru Lap 30; Albon and Norris have not pitted yet to change over from hard to soft tyres. Albon has pitted on Lap 33 to change over to fresh medium tyres and hits the track in 11th, but with those fresh tyres; just waiting for when Norris makes his first pit stop. Up front, Paistri and LeClerc are having A RACE in these last 12 laps, with LeClerc ALMOST passing Piastri on several laps-it's a nail biter up front with 20 laps to go! Lap 38 finally has Norris pitting, and coming out on the track in 7th.
Five laps to go, and it's STILL neck and neck between Piastri and LeClerc, with Perez and now Sainz joining the party for the podium! Just behind them, Norris and Verstappen are also neck and neck for 6th place! Stroll of Aston-Martin retires his car on lap 47. Lap 49 finds Piastri putting some distance between himself and LeClerc, as LeClerc's rear tyres have basically exhausted themselves, allowing Perez to challenge, with Sainz right behind Perez! Norris has passed Verstappen to slide into 6th place! Perez makes his move on Lap 50, but so does Sainz, and for a few seconds, the two Ferrari's are 2nd and 3rd, when all of a sudden COLLISION, as Sainz and Perez collide and slam into the wall! Both drivers okay, but that shakes up the the Baku GP race finish line, as Aussie Oscar Piastri wins this Grand Prix, having raced an almost sublime race, holding off 2nd place finisher, Charles LeClerc, with Mercedes' George Russell taking the 3rd place on the podium. Oscar's McLaren teammate, Lando Norris comes in 4th, Verstappen/Red Bull 5th, Alonso/Aston-Martin 6th, Albon and Colapinto of Williams 7th and 8th, and Bearman and Hulkenberg of Haas round out the last two spots for points. Lando gets an extra point for fastest lap of the day, while Oscar is voted on by fans as Driver of the Day!
WHEW! Oh, Supermodel Naomi Campbell was the one waving the checkered flag! OH! with how the teams finished and with the points distribution for the top ten teams, we now have a new Constructer's Cup team leader: McLaren, who haven't been in the top spot since 2014! These last seven races are going to be intense, much like this race in Baku!
Post-race, the F1 stewards decided that the collision was a "racing incident", ie no dirty tricks/foul play, no fines or penalties to wither driver or team.
The dramatic crash in the race for 2nd place on Lap 50 of 51!
Cool, Calm and Collected is the best way to describe Oscar's Baku race. To make it an even sweeter win, Oscar's mom flew from Australia to Baku, and sees her son win his second Grand Prix! Notes: This was Colapinto's first F1 Grand Prix racing for Williams, and is the first Argentina driver to score points since 1982 when Carlos Reutemann did it. Haas Ollie Bearman makes F1 history as the first driver to score points for two different teams (recall he filled in for Sainz for Ferrari early this season, and now Haas) in his first two F1 Grand Prix starts! Congrats, Ollie! After all that on track drama, it's off to another street race circuit next week in Singapore!
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