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Key occasions
Q2 resumes: Again below method with 10 minutes to go; Verstappen at the moment leads from Leclerc – and the Ferrari runs broad to mess up his probabilities of overtaking the Crimson Bull.
In case you’re questioning, the document for purple flags in a single qualifying session is 5. That occurred at Imola in 2022 and São Paulo in 2024, with rain inflicting havoc on each events.
A fourth purple flag! And Ollie Bearman is out after colliding with the wall at flip two. “Sorry guys,” he tells his Haas pit crew. “So silly.” Clearly the windy circumstances – and probably the lowish solar – are inflicting loads of drivers issues.
Q2 is below method! One other 15-minute session which is able to trim the sphere down from 15 drivers to 10. An early yellow flag as Isack Hadjar leads to the identical run-off space that trapped Gasly in Q1.
It appears Gasly was affected by one other tailwind gust – and Colapinto crashed moments later, maybe after spying his teammate within the run-off space. One other powerful day for the Argentinian, who’s in a battle for his seat with Alpine.
In response to crew principal Flavio Briatore, it’s between Colapinto and the Estonian reserve driver Paul Aron. “My solely curiosity is to attempt to take the perfect driver out there and do the perfect job with us,” the Italian instructed the-race.com. “I want one other one or two races to see, however truthfully right this moment I don’t know.“ Gasly is below contract till 2028.
Standings after Q1
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Lando Norris (McLaren)
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Max Verstappen (Crimson Bull)
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Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
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George Russell (Mercedes)
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Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls)
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Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari)
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Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
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Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
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Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
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Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes)
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Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls)
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Yuki Tsunoda (Crimson Bull)
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Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber)
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Carlos Sainz (Williams)
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Oliver Bearman (Haas)
Eradicated: Franco Colapinto (Alpine), Nico Hülkenberg (Sauber), Esteban Ocon (Haas), Pierre Gasly (Alpine), Alex Albon (Williams).
Q1: A minute to go, and Lando Norris is the brand new chief, simply 0.009s forward of Max Verstappen. And the session ends with a 3rd purple flag after a disastrous lap for Alpine: Pierre Gasly loses grip into flip 4, and Franco Colapinto hits a wall. Each are eradicated.
Q1: George Russell momentarily tops the standings earlier than being changed by Leclerc – whereas Mercedes teammate Antonelli rescues his qualifying bid by posting a clear lap, leaping as much as sixth.
Q1: Everybody bar the Crimson Bulls and McLarens are on gentle tyres with simply over 5 minutes left. Antonelli, Bortoleto, Stroll and Hulkenberg are the quartet attempting to get out of the hazard zone; Alex Albon posted a time however is already out after his pricey crash.
Q1 resumes: We’re again below method with 6min 36sec left within the first session. Antonelli is having a couple of points, not least a tailwind gust which threw him off line – he’s the one driver but to set a lap time.
Crimson flag! We’re at a standstill once more, after Nico Hülkenberg collides with a wall at flip 4. Piastri had simply posted his first lap, and it’s faster than Leclerc – however Lewis Hamilton is the brand new chief, with Ferrari bringing their follow tempo to qualifying thus far.
Q1: Approaching the midway mark of this stop-start session, the place Lecelerc nonetheless leads with a lap time of 1:41.982. The Ferraris are on softs, whereas the McLarens and Crimson Bulls are on medium tyres.
Q1 resumes: Kimi Antonelli has his title taken for a yellow flag infringement – the Italian claims he didn’t see the flag, however he could find yourself getting a grid penalty for that.
Watching the varied garages frantically tinker with their automobiles’ setup, I really feel a bit like I’m dwell running a blog a busy day at Kwik-Match. Anyway, we’re again below method …
Q1 paused: As we wait to renew in three minutes or so, Esteban Ocon is reporting {that a} fallen department is caught below his rear tyre. All taking place early on. Oscar Piastri didn’t get time to put up a full lap earlier than the purple flag for Albon, and will probably be wanting to get again on the market.
Crimson flag! Alex Albon has clattered right into a nook, broken his entrance left tyre and is out of qualifying. The session has stopped with 11min 33sec to go; Charles Leclerc had simply set a quickest time on purple gentle tyres.
Q1: Carlos Sainz is the early chief, with all 20 drivers now out on the circuit. The wind is blowing a good bit of foliage and particles round, whereas Sauber’s Nico Hülkenberg nearly clipped a wall and has posted the slowest time thus far.
Q1 is below method
Early automobiles out on the observe embrace the 2 Williams – however Oscar Piastri’s McLaren received’t be going anyplace simply but. Mechanics appear to be changing one thing on the entrance of his automobile – nonetheless loads of time for him to get by this primary session although.
Azerbaijan GP secures calendar spot till 2030
The Azerbaijan Grand Prix will keep on the Formulation 1 calendar till no less than 2030 after receiving a four-year contract extension. The contract for the road circuit had been resulting from expire after subsequent yr’s race, but it surely has been confirmed right this moment {that a} new deal has been agreed.
Azerbaijan was seen as a shock venue on its debut in 2016 however has develop into often known as one in all F1’s extra unpredictable circuits. Off the observe, holding a race right here additionally raised issues over the nation’s human rights document. Amnesty has reported “a pointy decline in respect for human rights” in Azerbaijan over the past yr.
Listed here are the newest drivers’ championship standings:
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Oscar Piastri (Aus) McLaren 324pts
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Lando Norris (GB) McLaren 293pts
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Max Verstappen (Neth) Crimson Bull 230pts
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George Russell (GB) Mercedes 194pts
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Charles Leclerc (Mon) 163pts
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Lewis Hamilton (GB) 117pts
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Alexander Albon (Thai) 70pts
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Kimi Antonelli (It) 66pts
Extra on Saturday’s remaining follow, the place Lando Norris set the tempo and winds picked up. The title-chasing British driver had a hefty bang into the wall which introduced an early finish to his operating in Friday’s second follow however his McLaren escaped with none important injury.
Norris was the primary of the front-running drivers on observe on Saturday however swiftly complained that his automobile felt “sketchy”. He initially struggled to search out tempo however surged to the highest of the charts within the closing levels to finish the session 0.222sec away from Max Verstappen.
Championship chief Oscar Piastri, who like Norris additionally banged into the wall on Friday, had one other troubled session as he narrowly prevented one other collision with the obstacles earlier than additionally taking to the run-off space at flip one. The Australian, who leads Norris by 31 factors within the standings, was third-fastest and over two tenths behind his teammate.
Baku lived as much as its moniker because the “Metropolis of Winds” as 20kmph gusts swept throughout the road circuit on the shores of the Caspian Sea.
Lewis Hamilton, quickest on Friday, was fourth for Ferrari. His team-mate Charles Leclerc, who will bid for a fifth consecutive pole place in Baku, appeared to have real tempo earlier than a nudge towards the wall and he ended the session down in tenth. PA Media
Preamble
It was on the streets of Baku a yr in the past that McLaren started to emerge as Formulation One’s main power. Oscar Piastri received his second grand prix, Lando Norris fought by the sphere and McLaren overtook Crimson Bull within the constructors’ championship.
Twelve months on, McLaren have accelerated away from their rivals. They might safe the constructors’ title on Sunday and the one actual query left is which one in all their drivers will win the world championship. Piastri has racked up one other seven GP wins since to steer the race from Lando Norris.
The Briton’s return to Baku this weekend has been a combined bag – he suffered a “pricey” crash in follow on Friday, when the dual Ferraris of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc had been quickest. “Total we appear fairly sturdy – but it surely appears to be like like McLaren are in one other world,” was Leclerc’s gloomy prediction.
Norris lived as much as these expectations in right this moment’s remaining session, with Max Verstappen second and Piastri third. Leclerc’s temper won’t change a lot even when he tops qualifying right this moment; Leclerc has been on pole for the final 4 journeys right here, however has by no means received the primary race. Qualifying will get below method at 1pm (BST), 4pm native time.