Author: Darshan Chokhani

Red Bull ended up 1-2 with Max Verstappen winning F1 Azerbaijan GP from Sergio Perez after Ferrari disaster, as Mercedes’ George Russell was third.

It wasn’t the best of the after start from pole-sitter Charles Leclerc in his Ferrari as a lock-up allowed Red Bull’s Sergio Perez to take the lead in F1 Azerbaijan GP. Teammate Max Verstappen got stuck between the two to remain third from Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz.

Mercedes’ George Russell steadied in fifth from AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, as Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel gained a place on AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda to be eighth, with Alpine’s Fernando Alonso in 10th.

Williams’ Nicholas Latifi, meanwhile, was handed a 10s stop and go penalty as a mechanic was found to be pushing the car on the grid beyond the stipulated time. He was forced to take the penalty in the early stages when there was no need of a tyre change.

As the race started to settle in, Sainz’s wretched luck continued on as his Ferrari died at Turn 3-4 sequence. This caused a Virtual Safety Car period which pushed multiple drivers to pit with Leclerc taking a gamble, but lost some time in a slow stop.

Both the Mercedes and AlphaTauri cars stopped too as the double stack for Hamilton dropped him behind Vettel who gained a place on the Brit in the pits. The Top 10 also featured McLaren’s Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo but team orders talk on.

Ricciardo was on the hard tyres with more pace than Norris, but McLaren asked the Australian to maintain track position. They were sixth and seventh without pitting as Alonso was ahead of them in fifth with Russell slotting in a solid fourth.

Perez continued to lead from Verstappen and Leclerc at the front, as Gasly was eighth behind the McLaren drivers. Alpine’s Esteban Ocon in ninth slowed Vettel and Hamilton, with the German chasing the Frenchman for couple of laps.

He made it through going into Turn 2 but he couldn’t stop the corner to lose out to Hamilton and even Tsunoda. The Brit then started his chase of Ocon as they re-united again after the Monaco tussle, with the Frenchman still to stop.

At the front, Verstappen gained on Perez and passed him for the lead with the Mexican losing pace after his initial stint. He stopped straight up but it was a slow stop and he almost was caught by Russell. He managed to keep him behind though.

Few laps later, Verstappen pitted to come behind Leclerc and ahead of Perez in the Top 3. Russell steadied in fourth as Norris headed Ricciardo and Gasly in the fight for fifth after Alonso stopped. The McLaren drivers were still to pit in this situation.

Hamilton, meanwhile, got ahead of Ocon with the Frenchman having Tsunoda and Vettel on his tail. But the grand prix’s complexion changed after an engine blow out for Leclerc which left Ferrari with a double DNF after Sainz’s hydraulics issue.

With Red Bull 1-2, they were in prime position to extend their lead, as Russell moved up to third. After Norris pitted with Leclerc had the engine issue, Ricciardo moved to fourth but not for long as Gasly eventually passed him to take fourth.

Ricciardo steadied in fifth from Hamilton as Tsunoda cleared Ocon for seventh with Vettel chasing him soon. Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu was up to 10th but a suspected issue forced him retire yet again, which pushed Haas’ Kevin Magnussen in 10th.

In his chase of Ocon, Magnussen’s race ended with another Ferrari engine problem as VSC was deployed after he stopped on track. The Red Bull pair stopped along with Mercedes and Ricciardo in the Top 10. Hamilton was the driver to lose out to Tsunoda.

Ricciardo dropped back too but was in points in ninth and joined ahead of his teammate Norris in 10th with Ocon dropping to 11th. Hamilton didn’t waste much of his time after re-start, as he quickly cleared Tsunoda in his chase for Gasly.

The Japanese driver’s day almost ended after his DRS flap was broken. The team pitted him and used duct tape to close the flap and not use it. This dropped him to outside of the Top 10, with Ocon moving into 10th but long way off from the McLaren pair.

At the front, Verstappen stretched a good lead and was asked not to use the DRS, with Perez long way from Russell. Behind them, Gasly came under pressure from Hamilton and eventually passed him for fourth as Vettel was long way behind in sixth.

Alonso steadied in seventh as Ricciardo dropped off but Norris behind him gained on his teammate. The McLaren chatter continued on the radio about team orders, with the Spaniard enjoying it out in front away from all this.

Latifi was handed a 5s penalty for ignoring blue flags, as Aston Martin pulled in Lance Stroll to retire due to engine issue. At the front, Verstappen cruised to F1 Azerbaijan GP win from Perez, who ended up second with the fastest lap in Red Bull 1-2.

Russell took another podium in third with Hamilton ending up fourth despite his back problem. Gasly took a fine fifth from Vettel as Alonso was seventh with Ricciardo eighth after Norris was told to hold position in ninth from Ocon.

Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas was 11th with Williams’ Alexander Albon behind him in 12th, Tsunoda 13th, Haas’ Mick Schumacher 14th and Latifi in 15th – where everyone from 11th until the last ended up a lap down on the leaders.

DNF: Stroll, Magnussen, Zhou, Leclerc, Sainz.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc took F1 Azerbaijan GP pole from Red Bull pair of Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen in an intense qualifying.

Q1:

After FP3 was delayed, the start of F1 Azerbaijan GP was delayed too for the two hours mark to be fulfilled. It was a traffic jam to get out as a pit incident involving Haas pair was noted to be investigated after the session by the FIA stewards.

There was incidents involving both the Aston Martin cars with Sebastian Vettel having an early off, but teammate Lance Stroll had two. At the right-hander, the car didn’t turn at all as he managed to continue on after reversing without any major damage.

The tyres were flat-spotted certainly which led to another bigger incident at Turn 2, this time at the left-hander where he just rammed onto the barrier. It brought out the red flag with about two and a half minutes to go for others to make it out.

On-track, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen set the pace with a 1m42.722s from teammate Sergio Perez as Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was third. The re-start was mayhem on out lap with everyone trying to outdo each other to make it on time.

Everyone did make it but some of them couldn’t generate enough temperature to attack the lap. While the AlphaTauri duo got into the Top 10, Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas made it into Q2 from the knockout zone, with Haas’ Kevin Magnussen (1m44.643s) in 16th.

Williams’ Alexander Albon (1m44.719s) was 17th in the end but he was pissed about the tactics from Alpine’s Fernando Alonso, who went off in the left-hander. Nicholas Latifi (1m45.367s) was behind him in 18th with Stroll (1m45.371s) and Haas’ Mick Schumacher (1m5.775s) rounding the 20 drivers.

Q2:

The second part in F1 Azerbaijan GP qualifying was close between the Red Bull and Ferrari pair at the front, but for Aston Martin’s Vettel, it was another moment at the left-hander where the car seemingly didn’t turn with a BBW fail message on the dash.

The stewards, meanwhile, put Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton under investigation for driving unnecessarily slowly at Turn 12. There was an off moment for AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda at Turn 2, while McLaren’s Lando Norris having one at Turn 15.

Replays showed Tsunoda having a minor wall brush, as Red Bull’s Perez set the pace with a 1m41.955s lap from the Ferrari pair of Leclerc and Carlos Sainz. The lap where the Mexican went fastest saw a minor brush with the wall but he managed to continue on.

It wasn’t a good end for the McLaren pair with Norris (1m43.398s) ending up only 11th, missing the Top 10 by 0.022s, with Daniel Ricciardo (1m43.574s) behind him in 12th. Alpine’s Esteban Ocon (1m43.585s) was 13th with Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu (1m43.790s) in 14th and Bottas (1m44.444s) in 15th.

Q3:

The third part in F1 Azerbaijan GP qualifying started off interestingly as the two Ferrari cars led the Red Bull pair, where Sainz headed Leclerc by 0.047s in provisional pole position. Perez slotted in third despite a wall brush with Verstappen in fourth.

The best of the rest spot was with AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly, as he headed Mercedes’ George Russell. The second run saw no improvement from Sainz which dropped him to fourth after his initial lap of 1m41.814s in the first run.

But teammate Leclerc smashed himself to F1 Azerbaijan GP pole with a 1m41.359s lap as a last lap dash from Red Bull’s Perez put him in second with a 1m41.641s lap which was enough to beat his teammate Verstappen (1m41.706s) in a straight fight.

Russell (1m42.712s) managed to take fifth from Gasly (1m42.845s), as Hamilton (1m2.924s) put himself in seventh from Tsunoda (1m43.056s), Vettel (1m43.091s) and Alonso (1m43.173s) in the Top 10.

https://twitter.com/F1/status/1535645611806150656/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1535645611806150656%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fformularapida.net%2Fwp-admin%2Fpost.php%3Fpost%3D163944action%3Deditclassic-editor

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc set the pace in F1 Azerbaijan GP from Red Bull pair of Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen.

The FP2 session in F1 Azerbaijan GP saw more offs than the first session as porpoising was a bit less but still there for most of the drivers. The off list started with McLaren’s Lando Norris in early stages along with Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel at different corners.

Haas’ Kevin Magnussen too had one early in the session while teammate Mick Schumacher had one later. Williams’ Alexander Albon’s brush with the wall had a heavy impact on his front-right which ended his session as he suffered visible damage.

It was a strange one, as replays showed Alpine’s Esteban Ocon having a wall brush on the left-rear but he managed to continue on. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc too joined the off party along with Red Bull’s Sergio Perez, who had two offs at different corners.

The second one ruined the soft tyre run for teammate Max Verstappen and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, with the Spaniard eventually not doing one at all. His teammate Leclerc headed FP2 in F1 Azerbaijan GP with a 1m43.224s lap despite brief power scare.

He led Perez (1m43.472s) and Verstappen (1m43.580s), with Alpine’s Fernando Alonso (1m44.142s) slotting in fourth from Sainz (1m44.274s), with AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly (1m44.315s) in sixth ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell (1m44.548s).

The other AlphaTauri of Yuki Tsunoda (1m44.567s) was eighth from Alpine’s Ocon (1m44.609s) and McLaren’s Norris (1m44.771s) rounding the Top 10. The Aston Martin pair sandwiched Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton in 12th, with Vettel ahead in 11th.

Teammate Lance Stroll was 13th who had a late off, with McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo in 14th from Alfa Romeo pair of Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu with the duo not having the pace to challenge the Top 10 around the Baku circuit.

Haas’ Magnussen was 17th from Williams’ Albon with Schumacher in 19th and Latifi 20th. There were some late dramas with Tsunoda having a wall brush, while Sainz had an off moment with Leclerc going on about power trouble until the chequered flag.

https://twitter.com/F1/status/1535277772326699008/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1535277772326699008%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fformularapida.net%2Fwp-admin%2Fpost.php%3Fpost%3D163909action%3Deditclassic-editor

Red Bull’s Sergio Perez ended up fastest in FP1 of F1 Azerbaijan GP with Max Verstappen in third behind Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.

The porpoising issue was on display again in FP1 of F1 Azerbaijan GP with multiple cars bouncing on the straights which was affecting their overall pace. It was expected to be a problem considering the nature and characteristics of the circuit.

The troubles, meanwhile, continued for Haas’ Mick Schumacher and Williams’ Nicholas Latifi, with both losing whole of the FP1 session. The former had a leak on his car, while the latter’s car stopped briefly which forced him to stop at the side.

The Virtual Safety Car had to be deployed to clear them. Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll had multiple incidents which included a brush with the wall and also a small off. There was a small wall moment for Red Bull’s Perez too but it didn’t hurt him as much.

He set the pace with a 1m45.476s lap from Ferrari’s Leclerc (1m45.603s) and Red Bull’s Verstappen (1m45.810s), with the other Ferrari of Carlos Sainz (1m46.012s) slotting in fourth. A late dash from Alpine’s Fernando Alonso put him in fifth with a 1m46.571s lap.

This dropped Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton to sixth with a 1m46.667s lap, with AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda (1m46.696s) seventh. A late lap from Mercedes’ George Russell (1m46.705s) put him in eighth, pushing AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly (1m46.830s) to ninth.

The Frenchman caused a late yellow flag after a huge lock-up and off moment. A late lap from Alpine’s Esteban Ocon (1m46.917s) put him in 10th with McLaren’s Lando Norris only 11th from Aston Martin’s Stroll, who set his best lap on the medium tyres.

Haas’ Kevin Magnussen was 12th with Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel in 13th – setting his best lap on the medium tyres – with Alfa Romeo pair of Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu having a difficult run in 16th and 17th, respectively.

Williams’ Alexander Albon was 17th with McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo only 18th after an early fast lap, as Latifi and Schumacher were classified 19th and 20th. The PU list, meanwhile, was also updated by the FIA ahead of the session with seven drivers taking new ICE.

While Verstappenn, Perez, Ricciardo, Stroll, Albon and Latifi took their second, Bottas took his third. In terms of new TC, Verstappen, Ricciardo, Stroll, Albon and Latifi took their second, while Leclerc and Schumacher took their third of the season.

The MGU-H list saw a second unit for Verstappen, Ricciardo, Stroll, Albon and Latifi. At the same time, the MGU-K list had Verstappen, Perez, Stroll, Ricciardo, Albon and Latifi take their second, with Vettel on his third.

https://twitter.com/F1/status/1535232344487088134/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1535232344487088134%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fformularapida.net%2Fwp-admin%2Fpost.php%3Fpost%3D163895action%3Deditclassic-editor

Sergio Perez survived rain, red flag and late charge to win F1 Monaco GP with Max Verstappen third behind Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz.

What looked like a dry start turned into a wet one with the FIA delaying the F1 Monaco GP start with the rain pouring down. The race director gave them time to change the tyres to full wet as the rain started getting heavier as predicted.

After a delay, the formation started behind the safety car but with the rain getting heavier, the race was red-flagged. After a long delay, the race finally got going behind the safety car. With the cars behind the safety car, Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll had a wall brush.

He had a puncture to dive into the pits while Williams’ Nicholas Latifi had a moment at the hairpin. There was an unsafe release situation from Aston Martin side as Latifi, Stroll and AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly pitted to switch onto the intermediate tyres.

After few laps, Haas’ Mick Schumacher also pitted for intermediates, as Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc led the F1 Monaco GP from Carlos Sainz, Red Bull pair of Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen and McLaren’s Lando Norris in the Top 5.

Mercedes’ George Russell was sixth with teammate Lewis Hamilton eighth behind Alpine’s Fernando Alonso. His teammate Esteban Ocon passed Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel for ninth. With Gasly starting to set a good time on intermediates, others started to pit.

His tyres tarted to come alive as he started to pass the cars ahead on the wet compound, but the leaders had the plan to switch onto the dry tyres rather than choose the intermediates. That didn’t work out though as they switched to intermediates.

Sainz stayed out to switch onto dry tyres but Perez caught him up while Leclerc and Verstappen started to catch them too. Russell remained out to be fifth with Norris, Alonso, Hamilton, Ocon and Stroll in the Top 10.

But there was contact between Hamilton and Ocon when the Brit stopped for intermediate tyres and the Frenchman didn’t. The former tried a move on the latter at Turn 1 but the two collided as the Mercedes continued to chase for few laps after that.

He finally got ahead in the pits as there was drama up front as well. Both Ferrari and Red Bull drivers went for a double stack to switch onto the hard tyres. The gamble for Sainz almost paid off but Perez pounced onto the lead due to his intermediate stint.

While Sainz didn’t get the lead but he got ahead of his teammate Leclerc, who lost three places to be fourth behind Verstappen. The Monegasque was furious but both Red Bull drivers were in a spot of bother for pit exit situation.

Russell jumped Norris for fifth with Alonso seventh, Hamilton eighth, Ocon ninth and Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas in the Top 10. The race was nuetralised with Virtual Safety Car which changed to full Safety Car for a crash for Haas’ Mick Schumacher.

He lost control near Swimming Pool section and smashed onto the barrier where his car cut into half with the rear cut. This was a double retirement for Haas after a water pressure leak on Kevin Magnussen’s car. The Dane had just stopped a couple of laps ago, as the F1 Monaco GP was red-flagged for the barrier to be repaired.

Post red flag:

With the barrier repaired, the F1 Monaco GP started under rolling start. The grid had a mixture of tyres with some on medium tyres and some on hard where Perez led Sainz, Verstappen, Leclerc, Russell, Norris, Alonso, Hamilton, Ocon and Bottas in the Top 10.

It was train at the front but Alonso slowed the pack behind him where he was lapping nearly 3s slower than others, holding up Hamilton, Ocon, Bottas and others behind. The Frenchman had a 5s penalty for causing a collision with Hamilton earlier in the race.

As Albon retired with a mechanical issue, Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu had a massive save on the exit of the tunnel where he nearly collided with AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda. Inside the Top 10, Alonso finally started to increase his pace as Norris took a free stop.

The race at the front started to close in with Perez struggling with tyres. That brought Sainz, Verstappen and Leclerc into the game with the four stuck together within a second of each other which raised the intensity of the grand prix in closing stages.

Despite some moments, Perez held off Sainz to win F1 Monaco GP with Verstappen and Leclerc in the Top 4 where they were separated by 1.4s. Russell was fifth from Norris with Alonso in seventh from Hamilton, Ocon and Bottas in the Top 10.

With the penalty to Ocon, Bottas moved up to ninth with Vettel making it into the Top 10. He dropped to 12th behind Gasly, with McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo in 13th, Stroll 14th, Latifi 15th, Guanyu 16th and Tsunoda 17th – where everyone from Latifi to Tsunoda ended up a lap down.

DNF: Albon, Schumacher, Magnussen.

UPDATE: Ferrari has lodged a protest against both Perez and Verstappen for ‘allegedly failing to stay to the right of the yellow line at pit exit’. During the grand prix, the Mexican was noted for this incident, while an unclear video of the Dutchman was aired but no other notification was shared post that. Team is expected to meet the stewards at 19:15 local time.

Charles Leclerc took F1 Monaco GP pole in a Ferrari 1-2 from Carlos Sainz as Red Bull’s Sergio Perez was third despite late crash.

Q1:

The first part in F1 Monaco GP qualifying was smooth with no big incidents. The Ferrari pair led the way with Charles Leclerc setting a 1m12.569s lap from Carlos Sainz as Mercedes’ George Russell slotted in third after a late improvement.

Just as the business end of the session kicked-off, there was a red flag after AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda brushed the barrier at the exit of the tunnel around the chicane. He limped back into the pits with a puncture on the front-left.

The red flag disrupted the session for the drivers in the bottom half who were left with little time to make it into Q2. The improvements from others left AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly in a bad position as he got knocked out in 17th with a 1m13.660s lap.

His teammate’s wall brush eventually cost him with Williams’ Alexander Albon also knocked out in 16th with a 1m13.611s lap. His teammate Nicholas Latifi (1m1.403s) was 19th behind an angry Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll (1m13.678s) and ahead of Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu (1m15.506s) who didn’t make in time to start his final flying lap.

Q2:

The second part in F1 Monaco GP started with a close fight between Red Bull’s Sergio Perez and the Ferrari duo where the Mexican led the duo who were separated by 0.033s. The order changed post the initial run as Leclerc was fastest with a 1m11.864s lap.

He missed the weigh bridge but stopped before entering the pits and was pushed back. The Monegasque led Perez by 0.090s with Sainz slotting in third. The knockout zone saw a late push from Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel put others at risk.

AlphaTauri’s Tsunoda missed out in 11th with a 1m12.797s lap as a late push from Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas (1m12.909s) did not help to make it into Top 10 where he ended up 12th as Haas’ Kevin Magnussen (1m12.921s) was 13th from McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo (1m12.964s) and Haas’ Mick Schumacher (1m13.081s).

Q3:

The final part in F1 Monaco GP saw Ferrari’s Leclerc set the initial pace with a 1m11.376s lap which was 0.2s faster than teammate Sainz and also Red Bull’s Perez, who once again was quicker than teammate Max Verstappen in the Top 4.

The best of the rest was a duel between McLaren’s Norris and Alpine’s Fernando Alonso, who shared the fifth spot. But before the final runs could come in, the session was red-flagged after a crash for Red Bull’s Perez before the entry to tunnel.

It caught out Sainz (1m11.601s) too with others caught in the traffic jam when the session was not re-started. It handed a F1 Monaco GP pole to Leclerc with the Spaniard making it a 1-2 finish from Perez (1m11.629s) and Verstappen (1m11.666s).

Perez lost the rear and hit the barrier, while Sainz was unsighted and a last-minute brake moment into the corner led him to hit him. The Spaniard noted that he didn’t have the time to react after missing the yellow flag marker.

McLaren’s Norris (1m11.849s) was best of the rest in fifth with Mercedes’ George Russell (1m12.112s) slotting in sixth ahead of Alpine’s Alonso (1m12.247s), Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton (1m12.360s), Aston Martin’s Vettel (1m12.732s) and Alpine’s Esteban Ocon (1m13.047s) in the Top 10.

https://twitter.com/F1/status/1530567179468427265/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1530567179468427265%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fformularapida.net%2Fwp-admin%2Fpost.php%3Fpost%3D163404action%3Deditclassic-editor