F1 Azerbaijan GP Live Commentary and Updates - Race
Minute-by-minute updates for the 2024 Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Charles Leclerc starts on pole for Ferrari and is joined on the front row by McLaren’s Oscar Piastri – while title challenger Lando Norris endured a nightmare qualifying having dropped out in Q1 and starts from 15th.
Max Verstappen will look to take advantage of that but he also needs to make up ground starting in sixth for Red Bull.
The Azerbaijan GP starts at 12pm BST.
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Leclerc pits from the lead, well clear of the Piastri vs Perez tussle, and comes out in second on hards and only behind team-mate Sainz who is yet to pit.
Tsunoda is out following his opening lap contact with Stroll. He had a gaping hole in his right sidepod which would have been costing him time hand over fist.
At the end of lap 15 Piastri pits, takes on his hards, and gets out ahead of Perez to keep what will be second place when the pitstops shake out - Norris does his team-mate a huge favour!
Gasly, Russell and Ricciardo go three-wide into Turn 1 with Ricciardo losing out. Russell progresses to the lead of the battle in a stunning move for the highlights reel.
McLaren asks Norris, who is yet to pit, to hold up Perez in order to help Piastri. Given all the pre-weekend talk of McLaren team orders to help Norris, this situation is ironic.
Red Bull has targeted the undercut for Perez on Piastri in the fight for second place. The next lap around the Australian doesn't pit in response, so could that open up the opportunity for the Mexican?
Next time around Perez pits and comes out in sixth place, taking on hards, to keep ahead of both Haas cars.
Recovering from his stop, Verstappen is back up to ninth after using DRS to pass Ricciardo into Turn 1.
That bite complaint Verstappen referred to is how the car responds when turning in, which on a street circuit means having to get the nose in around lots of understeer. Verstappen’s style is much less aggressive than Perez’s, which is why he has historically struggled more in comparison to his team-mate in such circumstances. But having been over six seconds behind Perez and well off the Ferrari of Sainz in between too is very unusual territory for Max.
Staying out while others have stopped, Norris is now into the top six.
It's a double stack for Mercedes as Hamilton follows Russell in. A slow 3.6s stop and he's away again.
At the end of lap 12 both Verstappen and Russell pit, swapping their mediums for hards, and the Dutch driver comes out in 10th and Russell returns in 12th.
Leclerc is continuing to comfortably build his lead, which is up to 4.5s, having added almost a full second on lap 12.
Sensing the danger, Alonso stops from seventh to cover the undercut potential of Colapinto. It's hards for the Aston Martin driver as well.
Verstappen complains his Red Bull has "zero bite" which may explain why he is almost a second slower than Sainz last time around. The Dutch driver is five seconds back on the Spaniard.
In comes Colapinto from eighth. A 2.7s stop as Williams fit hard compound tyres for an under cut on some of those ahead.
Piastri does appear to be using too much of his rear tyres when asking for the power, resulting in slides on corner exits, so that all adds up. Leclerc leads by 3.4s, while the McLaren driver now needs to keep an eye on Perez behind who has almost sneaked into his DRS range.
Hulkenberg sails into 11th. The well-trodden DRS move into Turn 1 but that looked fairly well orchestrated.
Norris has been updated on the tyre conditions and informed that he's doing "a better job than the other car", with Piastri suffering with rear tyre degradation.
Leclerc is really starting to drop Piastri now - his main gain each time is coming in sector one, where the drivers have to be careful not to hit the gas to hard out of the 90-degree turns of risk destroying the tyres.
Next up behind Bearman is Haas team-mate Hulkenberg. It's possible that the team could look to put him onto a two-stop to separate the cars.
The leading Ferrari adds another two-tenths of a second to his advantage over Piastri, while the McLaren driver is told he is switching to Plan B. More of a strategy call than a radio switch to the 'She Said' singer.
Into the points for Norris as he takes advantage of a small Bearman error to draw level on the main straight, and complete the move into Turn 1.
Leclerc responds with a fastest lap of 1m48.052s to pull out eight-tenths of a second on Piastri. His lead is up to 1.4s at the start of lap seven of 51.
Next time around Piastri, with DRS once again, takes three-tenths out of Leclerc's lead to keep with six-tenths over the start/finish line. The pair have slightly dropped Perez in third.
On lap four Leclerc and Piastri set identical fastest lap times of 1m48.408s to ensure the gap stays literally the same as the last lap.
Replays could hold the answers for both Stroll and Tsunoda, with the pair making contact into Turn 4 on the opening lap.
There’s so much detritus from leaves on the approach to Turn 3 as the pack flashes by each time - remember F1 is visiting Baku much later in the year, so those leaves will be nearly at the point they’d be dropping off anyway. But the track surface has been a major talking point for the drivers - they say it’s been much dirtier and dustier than usual.
Tsunoda looks to have a problem here. He's dropped back behind Ricciardo and Gasly now.
On lap three Leclerc posts a fastest lap in response to Piastri's earlier effort, so he has moved out of DRS range of the McLaren.
Despite having DRS on Tsunoda, Norris is unable to pass on the start straight, but he cuts back and makes the move at Turn 2, retaining DRS for the next straight.
Hulkenberg follows past the RB who was powerless to defend without DRS.
...but Piastri cannot get within striking range of the leader so keeps in check in second place at the start of lap three. Perez remains third ahead of Sainz, Verstappen and Russell.
Having started from the pits, Hamilton is also beginning to make progress, passing Zhou and now in 17th, chasing his former Mercedes team-mate, Bottas.
Leclerc cannot wriggle out of DRS range from Piastri over the wiggle middle section of the circuit, so he's under threat on the long straight...
DRS for Norris as he hunts Tsunoda. Passing the RB quickly is crucial with Bearman 3.6s ahead.
Another position gained for Norris as Stroll pits with a puncture.
It has also been a solid start for the two Williams drivers, with Colapinto and Albon retaining eighth and ninth.
Perez gets by Sainz for third too, so both Red Bulls make up a spot each on the opening lap. At the start of lap two DRS is enabled.
Immediate progress from Norris who has flown up the order to 13th, ahead of Hulkenberg.
Leclerc nails his start to keep the lead from Piastri, while further back Verstappen nips ahead of Russell to take fifth place into Turn 3. All away fairly smoothly elsewhere.
By: Autosport Staff
