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F1 Azerbaijan GP Live Commentary and Updates - Race day

Live commentary and updates from Formula 1's Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku

By: Jake Boxall-Legge, Megan White, Stefan Mackley

Summary

  • Perez wins Azerbaijan GP after two-lap dash to the flag
  • Vettel best of the rest in second from Gasly and polesitter Leclerc
  • Race red-flagged with three laps to run after long-time leader Verstappen suffers high-speed tyre failure
  • Hamilton drops to the back of the field after running off at T1 on restart when second
  • Stroll crashes out also due to rear tyre failure
Leaderboard
  1. Perez, Red Bull
  2. Vettel, Aston Martin
  3. Gasly, AlphaTauri
  4. Leclerc, Ferrari
  5. Norris, McLaren
  6. Alonso, Alpine
  7. Tsunoda, AlphaTauri
  8. Sainz, Ferrari
  9. Ricciardo, McLaren
  10. Raikkonen, Alfa Romeo
Status: Stopped
And that's it from us! We'll see you in two weeks' time for...Paul Ricard?! Oh, JOY...
Here's the race report if you fancy reliving that little slice of madness! https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/azerbaijan-gp-race-report/6541151/
Perez: "I'm so, so happy for today. Normally, Baku's pretty crazy...first of all, I have to say I'm sorry for Max, he had a great race. We were close to retiring the car but luckily we managed to finish."
Vettel: "It means a great deal. It's been a tough start, but it's been a great race and we had good pace. The restart worked brilliantly for me, got another two positions there. Great day, I'm over the moon."
Gasly: "Incredibly, honestly I don't know what to say! The car's been incredible all weekend, we've been there in every session [...] We had to get the elbows out!"
Perez now rocks up, fashionably late to the post-race celebrations. Big hugs from Helmut Marko and Christian Horner.
"Hahahahahaaaa! Yes, yes yes yes - great job! That's a podium man, that's a WRAP!" - this is a Vettel we've not seen in some time.
"That was epic, Checo, epic" says race engineer Hugh Bird.
The rest of the order is as follows: LEC, NOR, ALO, TSU, SAI, RIC, RAI, GIO, BOT, SCH, MAZ, HAM, LAT
Perez has to stop the car at Turn 1.
Sebastian Vettel takes second - and Pierre Gasly finishes third! What a podium this is!
Sergio Perez crosses the line to win the Azerbaijan Grand Prix!
Leclerc breezes past Gasly for third, but Gasly gets past again! This is a stunning battle between the two for the final podium place - with Norris in this mix!
"I'm so sorry guys," Hamilton says - that makes it equals pequals in the title fight again.
Perez has forged a lead ahead of Vettel, with Gasly now up to third!
Hamilton drops ALL the way down to 16th place, he had nothing when he hit the brake pedal.
And we're away once again! Hamilton locks up and goes straight on at the start - and that helps Perez to keep the lead!
Russell boxed before the restart - not sure why at this point.
You could cut the tension with a cricket stump...
Perez and Hamilton will begin this final sprint on used soft tyres - Vettel has a brand new set.
Latifi will have to serve a 10 second stop/go penalty after the race restarts for failing to drive through the pitlane when the race was red-flagged.
The cars are out of the pitlane, ready to take to the grid.
"You gotta remember this is a marathon, not a sprint," Hamilton says. "Totally agree, Lewis," Toto Wolff says.
So it'll be Perez and Hamilton on the front row, ahead of Vettel and Gasly. Latifi has to move back to P15 on the grid.
Race start reveal: it's a standing start!
We'll be back underway in 10 minutes' time. The question is: standing start or rolling?
The race will resume at 10 past the hour.

The IndyCar field has their say:

 
 
McLaren's Paul James asked FIA boss Michael Masi to complain that Tsunoda didn't slow down for the initial double-yellows. Masi retorts that none of the drivers slowed down for them.
Pictures on the screen of Stroll's tyre, where the sidewall has just given up the ghost. Pirelli will have two post-mortems to conduct after the race.
"Michael, I know you're busy, but we had zero warning on that tyre" - Red Bull's Jonathan Wheatley told Michael Masi. "Consider throwing a red flag so everyone can change tyres".
The track is apparently now clear, and the teams should be able to change tyres under this red flag.
"I think it's a tyre failure," Christian Horner tells Helmut Marko. "They were at the end of their life."
We're not sure at this point whether we'll get a restart - there's still three laps left to run.
Latifi under investigation for not using the pit lane under the red flag.
We have a red flag.
Absolutely galling for Verstappen, who had done absolutely everything right today. Heartbreak in the Red Bull garage - on his side of the garage at least.
On the main straight, Verstappen's left-rear tyre has let go, and he's out!
Verstappen! The leader's crashed out!

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