Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
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Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
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Carlos Sainz Jr (Ferrari)
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Sergio Pérez (Red Bull)
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George Russell (Mercedes)
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Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
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Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
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Franco Colapinto (Williams)
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Alex Albon (Williams)
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Oliver Bearman (Haas)
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Yuki Tsunoda (RB)
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Nico Hülkengerg (Haas)
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Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
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Daniel Ricciardo (RB)
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Lando Norris (McLaren)
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Valtteri Bottas (Stake F1)
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Zhou Guanyu (Stake F1)
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Pierre Gasly (Alpine)
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Pit lane: Lews Hamilton (Mercedes)
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Pit lane: Esteban Ocon (Alpine)
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Let’s begin with a question: six months ago at the start of March, when the season got going in Bahrain, who didn’t expect that, come mid-September, we’d be where we are?
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The answer, of course, is “Absolutely everyone”. And as if to prove the point – that what felt like the world’s most predictable sport is now one of its least – an alert flashes up on my phone advising me that Lewis Hamilton will begin today’s race from the pit lane after taking a new engine. Oops!
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But sadly for the almost-goat, that’s a subplot – at best. The main event is, of course, the race for the driver championship, and we’re still in total ignorance as to how that might end. Max Verstappen, champion in each of the last three seasons, is struggling – or his car is – so though he leads the standings by 62 points, with eight races to go he’s vulnerable … if one of those chasing him can find the necessary consistency to take advantage of his car’s deterioration.
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Easier said than done: Lando Norris, the nearest challenger, had a nightmare in qualifying and beings from 15th on the grid. So, while Verstappen is only sixth, he now has a great chance to increase his lead at the top while ticking off another race. We shall see!
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Lights out: 3pm local, 12pm BST
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Main Events
Lap 13/51 Verstappen, who had just been hanging on, seemed to tire of his tyres and pitted in 10th place, slower than he would have liked, with Russell soon following and Hamilton also pitting.
Lap 12/51 Piastri handled the pressure from Perez well and increased his lead over third place, now 1.854s, while Leclerc is in great form and 4.601s ahead of second place. He loves this circuit and, barring something strange happening, he already looks set to win.
Lap 11/51 As the pit stops began and Colapinto pitted in and out, Leclerc set a new fastest lap to extend his lead to 3.745s, with Norris now just 1.936s behind Albon.
Lap 10/51 Hulkenberg overtook Bearman to move up to 11th place. The team orders must have been working, as Leclerc was struggling with the temperature of his rear tyres, but he was still 1.453 seconds ahead of Piastri and in hot pursuit. And Perez was closing in behind him…
Lap 9/51 Leclerc continues to hang on as Norris' tyres are reportedly not yet graining – Norris is on the hard tyre while everyone else at the front except Albon is on the medium tyre.
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Leclerc
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Piastri
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Perez
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Sainz
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Veratappen
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Russell
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Alonso
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Colapinto
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Albon
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Norris
Lap 8/51 Yes, Norris is coming. He easily overtook Bearman to secure the points, but there is still work to be done to have a satisfying weekend. Leclerc now leads by 2.462s and set the fastest lap, and pit stops and tyre strategies will start to unfold shortly.
Lap 7/51 Leclerc is now running well and his lead has grown to 1.805, while Norris is 0.309s behind Bearman and will soon be on the attack…
Lap 6/51 Hamilton is not happy with his tyres but the rest of the Mercedes is doing well and Russell is currently quicker than Verstappen ahead of him, by 1.514s, while Leclerc has opened up a lead of nearly 1.5s.
Lap 5/51 As I said, Stroll has a puncture, probably from the collision with Tsunoda, which is why RB is struggling. Up front, Leclerc is in and out of DRS and his lead over Piastri is now 1.028s.
Lap 4/51 Leclerc never got past Piastri and extended his lead to around 1.1s, while Hamilton, whose car appears to be struggling, is the latest driver to overtake Tsunoda.
Lap 3/51 Piastri closes in on Leclerc and gets within DRS range, Norris has to pass Tsunoda if he needs to and then close the gap on Bearmann, who is five seconds behind, Hulkenberg also passes Tsunoda, and Hamilton, who starts from the pit lane, is in 16th place.
Lap 2/51 On the main straight, Nozza easily passes Hulkenberg and then applies DRS to Tsunoda, giving Leclerc almost a second lead. With Bearman gaining a second every second, Nozza needs to get past quickly.
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Leclerc
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Piastri
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Perez
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Sainz
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Max Verstappen
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Russell
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Alonso
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Colapinto
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Albon
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Bearman
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Tsunoda
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Norris
Lap 1/51 The race starts and Leclerc makes a good start and takes the lead while Perez passes Sainz and Vera Stappen passes Russell! But what about Norris? Someone please tell me. Ah yes, he moves up two places to 13th.
It's a short distance to the first corner, You're ready to go!
It's all about the Constructors' Championship. Red Bull currently lead the standings with 446 points, while McLaren, who haven't won since 2008, are close behind on 438 points and Ferrari are not far behind on 407 points.
And then we depart.
Formation lap It's almost here.
It's windy in the windy city However, it's unclear which direction the winds are blowing from. We'll let you know as more news comes in.
Do you think Leclerc has what it takes to win here? Ferrari are looking good but Piastri believes they have a good chance of beating them at the start.
Max Verstappen is #F1 I was in the race before I even put on my Leeds United shirt on July 9th! 🤯
No wins ❌
No pole❌
Front row start 😬
Two podiums 👀
It's a jinx! #BBCF1 #AzerbaijanGP pic.twitter.com/Z4KSteDyWz
— Today's Match (@BBCMOTD) September 15, 2024
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Oliver Bearman looks happy Why not? “The 19-year-old is not only racing at this level, but outqualifying his team-mate Nico Hulkenberg. He will feel invincible and the world is his to own. Good for him.”
Anthem time!
It's sunny and nice in Baku today – and it's warm. The excitement is building as the cars gather on the grid.
Another potential contributing factor: The last four races at this circuit have had a safety car or virtual safety car, and I think the Nozza boy will embrace it today.
Let's not forget that today there are drivers who follow team orders. Piastri will have been instructed to do all he can to impede Verstappen at McLaren, while Perez will have to let his team-mate go first, assuming George Russell gets past first.
Charles Leclerc, on the other hand, will be very relaxed about overtaking situations. But he also knows that his four consecutive pole positions in this race have yet to translate into a race win.
The problem the drivers have, especially Norris, is that overtaking is not easy at the Baku City Circuit. He believes strategy will be particularly important, but at the same time he knows that if he can get a clean run at any time, his car is quick enough to do some damage.
grid
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Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
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Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
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Carlos Sainz Jr. (Ferrari)
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Sergio Perez (Red Bull)
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George Russell (Mercedes)
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Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
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Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
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Franco Colapinto (Williams)
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Alex Albon (Williams)
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Oliver Bearman (Haas)
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Yuki Tsunoda (RB)
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Nico Hulkenberg (Haas)
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Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
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Daniel Ricciardo (RB)
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Lando Norris (McLaren)
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Valtteri Bottas (F1 stakes)
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Zhou Guanyu (Stake F1)
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Pierre Gasly (Alpine)
In the pit lane: Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
Pit lane: Esteban Ocon (Alpine)
preamble
Let's start with a question: when the season started in Bahrain six months ago in early March, who would have expected that we'd be in the situation we are in now, in mid-September?
The answer, of course, is “absolutely everyone.” And then, as if to prove the fact that what felt like the most predictable sport in the world is now one of the least predictable, a notification appeared on my phone informing me that Lewis Hamilton would be starting today's race from the pit lane with a new engine. Oops!
But unfortunately for the driver closest to the goat, it's a supporting role at best. The main event, of course, is the race for the Drivers' Championship, but how that will end remains a mystery. Max Verstappen, champion for the past three seasons, is struggling – or rather, his car is struggling – which leaves him vulnerable with eight races to go, despite a 62-point lead in the standings – if any of the drivers chasing him can find the consistency needed to take advantage of his car's deterioration.
That's easier said than done. His closest challenger, Lando Norris, had a nightmare qualifying and will start from 15th on the grid, meaning Verstappen is stuck in 6th place but has a golden opportunity to extend his lead at the top with one more race to go. We'll see!
Lights out: 3pm local time, 12pm BST
