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Formula 1
Azerbaijan GP
F1 Azerbaijan GP Live Commentary and Updates – Race
Minute-by-minute updates for the 2023 Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix
F1 is in Baku for round four, with Charles Leclerc beating the Red Bulls to pole in both qualifying sessions for the sprint and grand prix.
But after Leclerc lost out to Sergio Perez in the sprint race, the Ferrari driver will aim to fight back with a second shot from pole for the main race.
As part of the 2023 sprint race weekend format tweaks, the starting grid was decided by Friday’s qualifying session rather than the finishing order in the sprint race.
But both Esteban Ocon and Nico Hulkenberg will start from the pitlane due to car changes in parc ferme conditions.
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Verstappen and Perez trade fastest laps which sees the gap stabilise at 1.1s. Leclerc hasn't lost touch with the Red Bulls and is only 1.1s off Perez.
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The Aston politeness continued after Stroll's earlier radio message, with Alonso saying his team-mate can "have a go if he wants", despite Stroll saying he was happy to sit behind his stablemate.
Pit stop
Tsunoda and Piastri now stop from 10th and 11th as the midfield runners continue to pour into the pits.
Verstappen and Perez lap times are split by just 0.006s on that last tour and they both pull out almost a full second on Leclerc. The fight at the front is very much a Red Bull internal affair now.
Pit stop
Hamilton pits from fifth, having been hounded by Alonso for the last few laps. He comes out in 13th, behind a train of cars.
Pit stop
Meanwhile, Russell has been released as Norris has also now stopped.
Perez cuts Verstappen's lead by half a second and is now within DRS range of his Red Bull team-mate.
Pit stop
Verstappen pits from the lead at the end of lap 10. The race is on at Red Bull.
Yellow flag
We've got our first driver in trouble and it's de Vries who has locked up and gone straight on.
Safety car
Oh, and de Vries has been unable to get going and the safety car has been deployed!
Has this safety car come at the perfect time for Perez? He's about to pit under the safety car.
Pit stop
Perez duly pits under the safety car, followed by Leclerc, Sainz and Alonso. Busy in the pitlane!
Pit stop
And it's so busy that Stroll and Russell enter the pits side-by-side!
Perez gets back out on fresh hards in the lead! Leclerc is also up to second, with Verstappen losing out under the safety car and drops to third.
Replays have now shown what happened to de Vries and he just clipped the inside wall at Turn 5 and broke his front-left suspension. Very poor error from the Dutchman as his miserable season continues.
So, the safety car triggered by de Vries has handed Perez a golden opportunity to win this race. He's got equal tyres to those behind him and, more importantly, Leclerc between him and Verstappen.
Russell was another big winner under the safety car, taking a cheap stop and leapfrogging Stroll in the pits to move up to sixth place.
Safety car
The safety car is coming in this lap.
Ocon and Hulkenberg, who started on the hards, are now up to eighth and ninth from their pitlane starts as they are the only drivers yet to pit.
Green flag
Perez leaves the restart very late on the straight but does enough to keep the lead. Verstappen dives by Leclerc at Turn 3 to gain second place!
After losing out in the pits, Stroll now jumps back ahead of Russell into Turn 2 to reclaim sixth.
Alonso, the wily operator, nips by a napping Sainz to take fourth place at Turn 6!
Hamilton was another to really lose out with the timing of that safety car as he had just stopped - but he has now cleared Ocon and Hulkenberg on the restart, so is up to eighth.
And Hamilton now charges past Russell into Turn 1. The seven-time champion is on a mission here!
Perez is getting a wiggle on to break free from Verstappen as he sets a new fastest lap to pull his lead to 1.5s. But is trouble to follow, he's been noted for an unsafe release on his pitstop.
DRS is enabled again, as Verstappen puts in a new fastest lap and cuts Perez's lead down to 1.3s at the start of lap 16.
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"Well that was a **** restart, sorry guys," says Russell over the radio as he has now lost some of the ground gained by that safety car.
Perez can breathe a small sigh of relief as he won't be investigated over an unsafe release. Just the threat of Verstappen from behind to worry about now...
But there could be more trouble for Russell as his side-by-side moment entering the pits with Stroll has also been noted by race control.
Yet the stewards have looked at that very quickly and say no further investigation is necessary so Russell's in the clear.
Stroll clips the wall exactly where de Vries tagged his AlphaTauri and ended his race. The Aston appears OK and remains sixth but that'll be a worry for the rest of the race.
Perez and Verstappen are effectively matching each other for pace so the gap remains at 1.3s - they are almost a full second per lap faster than Leclerc in third.
Replays have shown Magnussen having a huge slide at Turn 1 as he attempted to pass Zhou with a lunge down the inside. The Haas very nearly hit the barriers there but just got away with it, but has to cede the place to the Alfa.
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"Tell Lance my brake balance suggestion. As I am now, I think it's a good help," Alonso reports over team radio. The Alonso-Stroll love story continues - move over Taylor Swift.
Ocon is the latest to get very, very close to the wall - but just gets away with it. We're not even halfway through this race yet, so plenty of time for more victims to be snared.
Perez is keeping Verstappen at bay so far, the gap now inching towards 1.4s on lap 20. This one is developing nicely.
Stroll had a huge slide at Turn 16 and that's enough for Hamilton to pounce along the straight and move into sixth. Seems Alonso's brake balance suggestion didn't work there...
Behind the Red Bulls, Leclerc is settled in third 2.8s ahead of Alonso, but it won't be a comfortable position in front of the relentless Spaniard.
This race is settling down now, with tyre management the priority given the slightly earlier pitstops due to the safety car period. Perez's lead is 1.1s over Verstappen as we approach half distance.
Further back, there's a large train of cars behind Ocon in ninth. Hulkenberg has just attempted a pass on the Alpine at Turn 3 but to no avail. This could get interesting.
By: Autosport Staff
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