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 backs everyone up on the long main straight to try to minimise the time he is sat still on the grid. There's only 18 cars to line up but it does feel like an age after the polesitter lines up. Here we go...
It is a very slow getaway for the formation lap at the back of the pack but all away smoothly, while Hamilton sits at the end of pitlane ready for the start with Ocon in tow.
Leclerc leads away the formation lap as the TV director picks out a young fan holding up a sign the reads: "Leclerc I skipped school to see you". That kid must have a hard life, school on a Sunday!
Starting tyres: Albon, Ricciardo, Norris, Zhou, Gasly and Ocon all start on hards, everyone else is starting on medium tyres.
What looks to be a sensor below Russell’s exhaust getting urgent glue repair work on the grid. All looks ready for the start.
So, Leclerc vs Piastri on the front row on a street track - where have we seen that before? At least the Australian will have more of a chance of attempting an overtake than the eye of a needle requirement at Monaco.
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-24, Oscar Piastri, McLaren MCL38, Carlos Sainz, Ferrari SF-24, the rest of the field at the restart
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
The DJ has taken over the tunes and nobody can hear each other on the grid over the music, so the drivers have headed back to their cars for the final preparations and a bit of peace and quiet. Just 10 minutes until lights out.
National anthem time: Azerbaijan's song has often stood out for lyrical reasons - everyone knows where we are racing given the booming "Azerbaijaaaan, Azerbaijaaaan" at the start. A Tom Hardy-looking chap gives it a firm, operatic rendition: 8/10, proper anthem.
Azerbaijan GP starting grid: 1. Leclerc 2. Piastri 3. Sainz 4. Perez 5. Russell 6. Verstappen 7. Alonso 8. Colapinto 9. Albon 10. Bearman 11. Tsunoda 12. Hulkenberg 13. Stroll 14. Ricciardo 15. Norris 16. Bottas 17. Zhou 18. Gasly Pitlane. Hamilton, Ocon
Let's talk race strategy as the grid settles down. Pirelli, and pretty much everyone else in the paddock, expects a simple one-stop race - starting on the mediums or the hards and then switch compounds to reach the finish. The soft tyres aren't expected to feature this afternoon given the hot temperatures on a slightly too abrasive track for the C5 rubber.
The pitlane is closed and we have 18 drivers on the grid - with Hamilton and Ocon tucked up inside their garages before the pitlane start - as the starting grid takes shape under a bright and sunny sky. Our eyes on the grid, Alex Kalinauckas, reports that Gasly and Perez made it to the grid early after just a sighter lap, while the safety car itself was late to the front of the grid held up by lots of team kit and personnel.
Photo by: Alex Kalinauckas
But that's not all, Gasly was thrown out of qualifying for a fuel flow infringement so he's been dumped to the back of the grid.
All that has fractionally helped Norris, who was due to start 17th, but instead he will blast off from 15th on the grid after his nightmare Q1 exit in qualifying.
If you went about your day straight after yesterday's dramatic qualifying then there is a bit of catching up to do...
Both Hamilton and Ocon are starting from the pitlane for various changes made post-qualifying. The British driver has taken on a host of new power unit parts, ordinarily just a grid drop, but as the changes were made post-qualifying it meant the parc ferme rules were not followed and that results in a pitlane start. Ocon has undergone a similar 'change it all' approach but given he qualified last anyway, the pitlane start wasn't so surprising.
Good day one and all! The Baku pitlane is open and the cars are on the way to the grid - the Azerbaijan GP is coming up.
By: Autosport Staff
