Welcome to the live coverage of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix 2022, taking place at the Baku City Circuit
Charles Leclerc will start in pole position for the sixth time this season and he’ll be flanked by Red Bull’s Sergio Perez.
Championship leader Max Verstappen will start in third place while Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz sits in fourth spot – making it an all Ferrari-Red Bull top four for the race.
Not far behind the two top teams are Mercedes racers George Russell (starting fifth) and Lewis Hamilton (starting seventh). The Mercedes drivers had clear porpoising issues in qualifying, but still put their cars in position to make the GP a bit more interesting.
The AlphaTauri duo of Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda will start in sixth and eighth spots respectively.
Here’s how the complete grid looks like ahead of the race in Baku –
| Position | Driver (Team) |
|---|---|
| 1 | Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) |
| 2 | Sergio Perez (Red Bull) |
| 3 | Max Verstappen (Red Bull) |
| 4 | Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) |
| 5 | George Russell (Mercedes) |
| 6 | Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri) |
| 7 | Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) |
| 8 | Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri) |
| 9 | Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin) |
| 10 | Fernando Alonso (Alpine) |
| 11 | Lando Norris (McLaren) |
| 12 | Daniel Riccardo (McLaren) |
| 13 | Esteban Ocon (Alpine) |
| 14 | Zhou Guanyu (Alfa Romeo) |
| 15 | Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo) |
| 16 | Kevin Magnussen (Haas) |
| 17 | Alexander Albon (Williams) |
| 18 | Nicholas Latifi (Williams) |
| 19 | Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) |
| 20 | Mick Schumacher (Haas) |
It’s 27 degrees in Baku, which is hot but there’s been hotter, as the Azerbaijan national anthem blares out.
The start time today is set for 16:30 IST, making it a 12:00 BST start or, for those of you joining us from the United States, a very early start time of 07:00 ET and 04:00 PT.
Not long now, and the grid is cleared as the drivers get ready to attack the lights.
Lights Out! Perez takes the early lead from Leclerc.
2/51 Verstappen is going 15kph quicker than the Ferraris on the straight, and that tells the difference in racing terms. Leclerc may have locked up and allowed Perez to get through but at least he closed the gate on Verstappen.
3/51 Nicholas Daniel Latifi, the only driver not to score a point this season and Lewis Hamilton’s nemesis, gets a 15-second penalty for his engineer not clearing the track properly at the start.
5/51 Verstappen has the DRS as he attacks Leclerc on the straight, but the man from Monaco keeps ahead. Why always those two in these races? Perez has time and space to head out in front.
6/51 Hamilton, in sixth, is closing on Pierre Gasly. Verstappen is closing on Leclerc who is also now closing on Perez. Verstappen is being told to use the overtake button by his team, which may be part of the problem in his failure so far to get past Leclerc.
7/51 Verstappen so far not getting close to Leclerc and goes close to one of those tight walls around this rather tight track. When they whip past the castles in a chicane, it looks like a hairpin in a small country town, the type you need to beep at when turning round the corner.
8/51 Leclerc and Verstappen continues to be the key battle, while Hamilton has dropped off Gasly. The word from Ferrari to Leclerc is that Perez is struggling with traction up front.
9/51 Not much overtaking so far, like a mini-Monaco. Verstappen’s team tells him to “be a little bit patient”. Oh dear, Sainz has gone, and smashed off at turn four, and there’s a yellow flag. That looks to be it for him. “Something has failed,” he tells the radio. He’s not having much luck. Looks like his power cut out.
10/51 The virtual safety car is on, and Leclerc comes in, to go on the hard tyres. He drops back to third, and could have been far quicker in the pit. The team was a bit slow. He had a problem with the front jack. Hamilton also comes in, and he drops to 11th.
12/51 Verstappen is going quicker than Perez, flying along. George Russell, having pitted, is in fourth, whereas the Red Bulls haven’t.
14/51 Hamilton has a go at overtaking Ocon, but the Mercedes doesn’t have enough speed.
15/51 Verstappen takes the lead, nice and easy as he speeds past Perez, who doesn’t offer up any defence, having been told not to by the team radio. With Leclerc taking up the fastest lap, and having gained six seconds, the Ferrari is the threat to Verstappen now.
16/51 Carlos Sainz goes back to the pits, looking morose after his car gave up on him when in fourth.
17/51 The Red Bull team spring into action for Perez, though take their time at 5/7 seconds, and Perez is slow out of the pits. That puts Leclerc in second, and Russell is closing on Perez with real speed. “Hydraulics” is the given reason for Sainz’s exit.
18/51 Fernando Alonso, who is now the longest serving driver ever in F1, is in fifth, with Lando Norris, rather younger on his tail. Here we go, Hamilton finally gets past Ocon, and can now chase Gasly.
19/51 Verstappen pits, far smoother than Perez, and Leclerc goes into the lead. Perez is now setting the fastest lap on those harder tyres, and that’s probably good news for Verstappen, and bad for Leclerc.
Leclerc’s engine fails and he’s out!
21/51 Oh no, oh Ferrari, Charles Leclerc’s engine has gone, too, and that’s game over, into the pits he goes and retires. There’s smoke coming from the gearbox, and that looks to be that for the race, and probably the championship.
22/51 Verstappen has the race in his hands, and with Russell sat up in third, we turn to the minor places, with Gasly overtaking Ricciardo for fourth. Celebrations in the Alpha Tauri garage.
24/51 Guanyu Zhou in the Alfa Romeo is told he has to retire. “You’re joking, guys,” says the Chinese driver. The battle is on for eighth as Vettel chases down Ocon, who has been a problem for a few drivers today.
25/51 George Russell is setting faster times and looks on course for third in his Merc. He’s three places ahead of Hamilton as Vettel at last overtakes Ocon, this time it’s a smooth job.
26/51 Ricciardo, on the harder tyres, is hoping to hold on to fifth but has Hamilton for company, and is passed by the Mercedes.
27/51 Fernando Alonso, whose Alpine is screaming along, goes up to ninth, passing Ocon, who is dropping back in the field.
29/51 Lewis Hamilton squawking about his bad back in that Mercedes. Oh dear. The old porpoising is causing him and George Russell problems.
33/51 And that’s that for Magnussen, and a yellow flag. His Haas overheated in that overtaking of Haas.
34/51 Magnussen’s woes open up a virtual safety car and both Red Bulls come in to change tyres. Russell goes in, and so does Hamilton, though Gasly does not. Hamilton drops to sixth. Red Bull’s pits were both done efficiently.
35/51 Magnussen’s car is still by the track and so the virtual safety car is still in session. Tsunoda’s tyres making visible signs, and so Hamilton behind him and Gasly, the two pit refusals, should be able to make up ground.
36/51 Hamilton chases down Tsunoda, and the DRS gets the job done, if probably doesn’t help his bad back, as he bounces past. Gasly is next in sight.
37/51 Perez sets a fastest lap, though he’s still some way behind Verstappen. Tsunoda’s car looks to be jiggered, the rear wing looking dangerous. That should be the end of his race soon enough. It’s in half.
40/51 Tsunoda is told not to use DRS, as he drops to 13th after that Heath Robinson job. Seems like the FIA are not happy, and the Japanese driver is likely to be called back.
41/51 Verstappen is asked to slow down and then tells his Red Bull team that he doesn’t want to cool the tyres down. Nice luxury to have for him. They tell him not to use DRS for the rest of the race, as they try to avoid a mishap like last year.
43/51 Hamilton is on the tail of Gasly now, quicker than expected, and Latifi is lapped by Hamilton, as the Mercedes is forced the long way round. Gasly is told to take the points by his team, and not risk anything.
45/51 Latifi has a second 15-second penalty for ignoring blue flags. He’s in last place anyway.
46/51 Alonso, in seventh, is trying his best to hold off Ricciardo, who is urged by his team to get stuck into the Spaniard.
47/51 Ricciardo and Alonso is where the action is, as Verstappen cruises to a win.
48/51 “The seats gone cold,” says Hamilton. What’s that about? Who knows. Something to do with his back pain? Lance Stroll, who was 15th, is called in to retire. His team don’t like what they see in the readouts. That’s six retirees today.
49/51 Norris and Ricciardo are chasing each other now, a battle of eighth chasing down seventh, two McLaren teammates. Ricciardo can’t get past Alonso who can’t get past Vettel, who span off and recovered before.
50/51 Worry from Verstappen in the cockpit. Something wrong with the brake pedals, he tells the Red Bull team. “It doesn’t feel right,” he says but will probably soldier on. Norris is told to retain position behind Ricciardo and isn’t happy.
MAX VERSTAPPEN WINS THE AZERBAIJAN GP!
No fastest lap from the winner, but no disaster like last year. Perez follows him home with George Russell and Lewis Hamilton making it a Mercedes 3/4. It’s a big win for Red Bull on a day of disaster for Ferrari, counting the cost of those Sainz and Leclerc retirements. Gasly takes fifth, Vettel sixth, Alonso seventh, Ricciardo holds on to eighth, with Norris in ninth, and Ocon takes the final point in tenth.
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