2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix

2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Race Report

Sergio was cruelly denied his first podium since China after a late-race collision with Sainz sent him into the wall, knocking him out of the top three with only two laps left in the Azerbaijan GP.

added

tough

day

Baku

tyre

and

brake

issues

restricted

Max

fifth

place

the

flag,

behind

McLaren’s

Lando

Norris

with

victory

going

the

Briton’s

team-mate

Oscar

Piastri.

The 2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix

The Two Bulls

Let's Roll

In Old Times

Crew's Watching On

Quick Stop

Max At Base

Single File

Tight Bends

Chased By Ferrari

High Level Views

Checo had put in a pitch-perfect charge in Baku for 49 of the 51 laps, passing Sainz at the start to take third place and then shadowing race leaders Piastri and Charles Leclerc throughout. And when Leclerc’s tyres fell off the cliff in the closing stages, Checo closed in. However, after almost getting past the Ferrari in Turn 1, Checo was forced to back out and Sainz drew alongside. The Ferrari got close and as they powered towards turn two there was contact. Sainz’s rear left connected with the rear right of Checo’s rear right and both were flung into the wall and out of the race.

At the start, pole sitter Leclerc got away well from Piastri but it was the Bulls who made the best start. On the short run to turn one Checo drew level with Sainz, lighting up his front left, before he slipped down the inside and made his way past the Spaniard on the approach to turn two to take second place. Behind him, Max also reacted well to the lights and he profited in turn two, muscling past Mercedes’ George Russell to take fifth place. Further back, after starting from P16, Norris was on a march and by lap four the McLaren driver was up to P11.

At the front, Leclerc was initially unable to break DRS and shake Piastri, while Checo kept watching a brief two seconds off front pair and two-seconds clear of Sainz who had Max 1.6s behind.

Leclerc, though, was simply biding his time, and on lap eight the Ferrari driver turned up the wick. Piastri had no answer and over the following three laps the Ferrari driver was able to build a three second gap to the Australian and to Checo. Max, meanwhile, was reporting that he had “no bite from the car” and on lap 11 the champion found himself a painful eight seconds off fourth-placed Sainz.

We ultimately still had some issues with changes that we made before qualifying and we just paid the price today.

On lap 11, Williams’ Franco Colapinto was the first of the top 10 to make a pit stop and as rivals also began to peel into the pit lane the team opted to pit Max on lap 13. He bolted on a set of hard tyres and rejoined in P10 behind VCARB’s Daniel Ricciardo. Checo followed his team-mate to the pit lane on the following lap and after he taking on a set of Hard tyres he emerged behind long-running Hard tyre starters Alex Albon and Norris.

With Piastri still on track, Checo pushed to make the undercut work, and the gambit briefly looked like paying off. The Mexican was behind Norris, however, and McLaren were swiftly on the radio to tell their driver to hold Checo up through the Old Town.

Checo was frustratingly forced to wait until he had DRS before he could power past Norris and the short delay was enough to allow Piastri to pit and rejoin just ahead of the Red Bull. Further up the track, Leclerc made his own stop for the hard tyre, holding the lead as he returned to the circuit.

Leclerc’s later stop allowed Piastri to close in and at the start of lap 20, the Australian used the massive DRS effect of the pit straight to close in and power past the Ferrari into Turn 1 to steal the lead. Checo, meanwhile, was very much in touch and Checo was soon right on Leclerc’s gearbox.

Behind the leaders, Max, had closed up to Sainz and on lap 22 the champion was within DRS range of the Spaniard. The pair quickly came up on the slower Norris and Albon and on lap 23 Sainz made his way past the McLaren to buy a small gap back to Max who suddenly found himself struggling with braking and stuck behind a stubbornly defensive title rival. And over the following 10 laps, Norris, aided by DRS from Albon, utterly frustrated Max, who slipped to 24 seconds off the lead. The Dutchman was struggling for pace and after reporting that he had no rear grip and that his car was “bouncing around and losing contact” he was soon ambushed by Russell.

Crew's Watching On

At the front, Leclerc was pushing to find a way past Piastri and on lap 33 he mounted his most serious attack since surrendering the lead. The Ferrari driver closed up under DRS on the pit straight forcing Piastri to defend the inside line. The McLaren driver held the lead but the battle allowed Checo to close in and join the battle as the race edged towards two-thirds distance.

Norris finally made his sole stop on lap 38 and he rejoined in seventh place, 15 seconds behind Max. The McLaren driver, with fresh Medium tyres on board, quickly began to post fastest race laps, upwards of 1.5s per lap faster than Max who was unhappy with his tyres, brakes and balance. He would eventually power past the troubled Dutchman with a handful of laps left.

At the front the final third of the race developed into a cat and mouse battle, with Leclerc probing and pushing to provoke a mistake from Piastri and with Checo seeking to profit from the battle.

And when Leclerc suddenly began to slip and slide on worn tyres in the closing stages, Checo saw his chance. He closed in and after almost getting by on lap 49 looked to have more than enough pace to get past over the following two laps. Sainz, though, had other ideas and after joining the podium fight, the Ferrari tried an attack of his own – with disastrous consequences.

With both drivers in the wall, the race was closed out under a Virtual Safety Car. Piastri stretched out to take his second career win ahead of Leclerc, while Russell inherited third place ahead of Norris and with Max in sixth place. Fernando Alonso took sixth for Aston Martin ahead of the Williams pair of Alex Albon and Franco Colapinto. Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton finished ninth and the final point went to Haas’ Oliver Bearman.

The result means that while Max retains his title lead, the team has ceded top spot in the Constructors’ Championship to McLaren. The Bulls now lie second, 20 points behind the Woking team.