Baku arrives with high intensity and excitement in the air; the championship is still all to play for.
Several cars banged into the wall in the practice sessions, and in the final practice session, it was a windy setup, and this didn’t die away for qualifying.
The Wackiest Qualifying Ever!
The wind is strong in Azerbaijan, and it’s about to cause chaos for the drivers in qualifying.
A yellow flag leads to a red flag for Albon as he is stationary after hitting his front left tyre on the wall and breaking the suspension. A big mistake for the Williams driver, as this could’ve been a stupendous qualifying for them; it’s now all down to Sainz.
Soon enough, Q1 is back on, but only for a few minutes as we watch Antonelli briefly go off the track. Sauber now made contact with the wall with the front wing snapping clean off, no one injured, but another red flag to pause Q1.
Sauber is attempting to fit a new front wing to Hulkenberg’s car to see if there’s a way he can continue on with qualifying.
Colapinto also brushed very close to the wall. It’s a very exciting qualifying, and we haven’t even finished Q1 yet. Many cars still need to set their times and prepare to set some fast times to qualify for Q2.
With 6 minutes to go, it’s time to see which cars will continue and which will be eliminated. Albon will definitely be one of the five drivers out, but who else can get themselves out of the bottom?
Antonelli has had a tricky qualifying so far; he seems to be struggling quite a bit to stay on track, and currently, he’s in last place.
A yellow flag just as the clock stops due to Gasly driving off into the run-off area, and then simultaneously Colapinto crashes into the wall under a red flag, which could lead to some bad penalties from the FIA.
It’s not suitable for Alpine, but Alonso and Bearman sneak through. Along with the Alpine drivers, Hulkenberg, Albon, and Ocon were the last drivers to be unable to finish their laps due to the incidents.
Riveting Red Flags
Already in Q2, we have a brief yellow flag as Hadjar locks up and dives into the runoff area. He gets back on track, but it is crucial that the drivers set times early.
Another red flag, and this time for Bearman, as Haas faces disappointment with the second driver being stationary after losing control on the exit.
We’re finally back on, and all the cars are fighting tooth and nail to stay on track, the strong wind sending cars flying.
Ferrari fans are biting their nails as they watch the drivers, hoping they’ll get through, but only Leclerc does. Hamilton went down to 12th and doesn’t have enough fuel to do another lap, so that’s him done.
Joining Bearman in the elimination for Q2 are Bortoleto, Stroll, and Alonso, with Tsunoda just nudging into 10th place, meaning both Red Bulls will advance to Q3.
A strong qualifying for Sainz as he gets into the top 10. It’s going very well for both Red Bull teams, as they have all four drivers in the top 10.
As Q3 is underway, the weather continues to be an issue, with a few light spots of rain starting to fall. This leads to Leclerc crashing into the wall, bringing out another red flag, and an awful qualifying for both teammates.
Several drivers, Russel, Antonelli, and Verstappen, reported the rain had ruined the track and making it very slippery.
It could be Carlos Sainz’s lucky day as he has set the fastest lap before the red flag alongside both Racing Bulls getting in some times to put them in 2nd and 3rd. Could it stay like this?
Now Q3 is back underway, hopefully the remaining drivers can set some lap times and we can see the real pace of these cars.
Piastri is in the wall within a few corners, a hard crash for Piastri and McLaren’s dreams of being on pole will not be the case this weekend. Piastri rarely makes mistakes, and qualifying is usually smoother sailing for all drivers.
Only 3 minutes to go, and the eight remaining cars are coming out hopeful for the final run of the Baku qualifying.
Norris brushes against the wall on his final lap and crosses the line slower than Sainz, and Russel also goes slower than Sainz. But here comes Verstappen, setting fast sectors and snatching the pole position.
Sainz is in 2nd place, a fantastic qualifying result for him, and Lawson is in 3rd place—Antonelli slots into 4th place, ahead of his teammate in 5th. Tsunoda is in 6th, a great swing for him, and behind him is Norris.
Hadjar is splitting the two McLarens in 8th, and Piastri and Leclerc are taking the last two places.
This qualifying took 2 hours, with six red flags, and seven cars crashed out. On the starting line tomorrow, Vettel is in first, Sainz is in 2nd, and third goes to Lawson.
Wow! I can’t wait to see what the race brings!
Will the Dutchman conquer all?
The lights go out, and Verstappen storms away with Sainz following swiftly behind, and Russel dives on the inside, sneaking past Tsunoda.
Oscar Piastri had a disastrous start from 9th down to last after stalling on the start, and within a few corners, he crashed into turn six after a bad lockup on his front left tyre.
The championship leader is out. What a crazy start for McLaren.
Is Piastri crumbling under the pressure of being the championship leader?
The safety car comes out as Ocon and Albon take advantage of a quick pit stop, and we also see Ocon and Hulkenberg bang wheels just after Piastri crashes.
The safety car ends on lap 5, and Verstappen shoots away, but both Mercedes nearly clash, and Russel has to pull out before he hits the wall, and Tsunoda overtakes him too.
On the restart, Leclerc finds Norris lacking and manages to overtake him, and Norris loses positions but eventually overtakes Hamilton just as Hadjar and Hamilton fight for positions.
Alonso received a 5-second penalty for jumping the start, an unfortunate penalty as he reacted to Piastri going early.
Hamilton fights back a few laps later and is able to overtake Hadjar, which is quite amusing to watch as they swap positions.
On the 10th lap, Russel is desperately trying to get past Tsunoda, and he finally does after a few corners.
Albon pits again onto a hard tyre, hoping the long game will work for him, but on lap 18, there’s contact between Albon and Colapinto. Both seem to keep going. Albon loses an endplate and receives a 10-second penalty for causing the collision.
Antonelli pits, which allows Russel to freely get past and try to fight Lawson for 3rd place. But a few laps later, Lawson pits on lap 21 and comes out just in front of Antonelli. A brutal fight between them as Lawson has cold tyres and Antonelli is all over the back of him, and soon enough overtakes him.
Verstappen is striding away with an 8-second gap from Sainz; he has tremendous pace.
A 2nd bad pit stop in a row for McLaren as Norris has a slow stop, meaning he’s over a second behind Leclerc and will now have to work hard to get past him.
Lawson and Tsunoda are fighting on lap 39, both desperate to prove themselves for the Redbull seat. Verstappen goes into the pit with a 35-second gap.
Norris and Leclerc fight hard for 7th position, with McLaren currently holding the lead. Sainz is 2 seconds behind Russel in 2nd place, and Sainz can regain his place on the podium.
Specks of light rain start to fall with only 10 laps to go; this could cause mayhem, as we saw in the qualifying. This makes no difference for Verstappen as he continues to set fastest laps in first.
After 51 laps of leading the race, Verstappen takes the chequered flag as the fastest driver and shows his clear domination for this race.
Russel following behind in 2nd place and Sainz in 3rd position, a fantastic result for Williams with his first podium. Antonelli and Lawson in 4th and 5th, and Tsunoda stayed in 6th with Norris just behind him and unable to overtake.
A Sensational Drive From Sainz
A smooth operation from Sainz for the Williams Racing team, their last podium was in 2021 with Russel. Ferrari slotted into 8th and 9th, and Hadjar snagged the final remaining point in 10th.
What an interesting top 3, with Verstappen on top and no McLaren in sight. Is it still all to play for for the championship? Only time will tell.
Now, there is a 2-week break before we race in Singapore under the dark night.
See you then!
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