After an impassioned Italian Grand Prix the teams headed off to Baku, Azerbaijan for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Baku is a fascinating street circuit consisting of a range of long straights and tight narrow corners, making it one of the most interesting track layouts and the newest street circuit since its introduction in 2016. This race also marks a crucial point in this year’s championship fight, both in the constructors’ and drivers’ championships.
Going into the race weekend, McLaren was close on Red Bull’s tail, with a chance to take the lead in the constructors’ championship. McLaren driver Lando Norris had an opportunity to close the gap between him and Red Bull driver Max Verstappen. With only seven races remaining after Azerbaijan, the race could prove crucial for the championship battles between McLaren and Red Bull.
However, the biggest news of the weekend came before tires hit the track. Two days before the First Practice of the race weekend, Aston Martin announced the signing of Formula 1 legendary designer Adrian Newey. Having designed a staggering 14 championship-winning cars, Newey is regarded as the greatest designer the sport has ever seen. The news came as a shock because after an illustrious career and partnership with Red Bull, Newey is leaving them in their time of need. Leaving Red Bull isn’t even the biggest shock of the whole situation; what’s baffling is Newey choosing Aston Martin over Ferrari and Mercedes, signing a multi-year deal with the British team. The deal not only makes him a shareholder in the team, but also includes a base salary of $30 million including bonuses. This makes him the highest paid non-driver in Formula 1 history and the third highest paid individual in the sport, only behind Verstappen and Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton.
With the announcement of Newey’s move, the race weekend finally got underway. Haas driver Kevin Magnussen was served a one race ban following the Italian Grand Prix and was replaced by Ferrari Academy driver Oliver Bearman, who had already proven he was a talented driver when he scored points in his Formula 1 debut when he filled in for Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
Free Practice 1 (FP1) started the weekend off with a bit of drama; Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc locked up and went straight into the barriers at turn 15, subsequently bringing out the first red flag of the session. Williams driver Franco Colapinto, who took part in his second race weekend of his Formula 1 career, spun into the barriers at turn four, causing the second red flag of FP1. Free Practice 2 (FP2) saw Leclerc and other drivers continue to struggle on the dusty streets of Baku. In the final Free Practice session of the weekend, McLaren and Ferrari proved to be the two fastest cars on the grid. Alpine driver Esteban Ocon suffered from engine and power unit issues once again after retiring due to a similar issue in FP1. Bearman also struggled in the session as he just narrowly clipped the barriers after running deep into turn one, wrecking his Haas and causing a red flag.
Qualifying is where the drama unfolded into chaos. Q1 saw Norris take a shocking exit, as he only managed to qualify in P17. Bearman narrowly missed out on a Q3 appearance by just a tenth of a second, qualifying in P11. Colapinto, however, managed to get into Q3 and qualify in P9. His teammate, Alex Albon, was unable to set a final time because one of his crew members left the cooling fan attached to his car. The bizarre situation resulted in Albon only managing to qualify in P10. Leclerc managed to take pole for the fifth straight year in Baku. McLaren driver Oscar Piastri was close behind, as he joined Leclerc on the front row of the grid.
Even after qualifying was over and before the race was set to start, the chaos continued. Alpine driver Pierre Gasly was disqualified from Qualifying after the FIA found a fuel flow breach in his car. His teammate, Ocon, was forced to start from the pitlane after he had to change his power unit. Hamilton was also forced to start from the pitlane after changing his engine and his suspension set-up. Finally the chaos looked to have subsided heading into race day, but boy was I wrong.
Leclerc got off the line quickly, maintaining the lead into turn one and holding Piastri at bay, with Red Bull driver Sergio Perez overtaking Sainz to move into third place close behind the leaders. The lap one drama didn’t stop there, as Aston Martin driver Lance Stroll and Visa Cash App RB driver Yuki Tsunoda collided after Stroll sent it too deep into a corner. Stroll got a puncture from the incident and was forced to pit, while Tsunoda had a massive gaping hole in his side pod, forcing him to retire for the second race in a row on lap 15.
After a rough start to the season, Perez seems to have found his old form once again, as he, Leclerc and Piastri led the pack. After a controversial last few races for the McLaren team and drivers, the “Papaya Rules” were revealed. This means that both Norris and Piastri were free to race each other regardless of the championship standing. It was shocking when Norris helped Piastri by holding up Perez during the race. Because of Norris’ help, Piastri was able to push ahead of Perez and go after Leclerc even more. Piastri made good use of the opportunity, as he made a brilliant overtake, going late as can be on the brakes into turn one, just managing to get ahead of Leclerc.
Still hanging onto Piastri, Leclerc was soon joined by Perez, making it a three-way battle for the lead. The three would go on to fight for over 25 laps, with Piastri showcasing impressive defensive driving against Leclerc. Piastri and Leclerc, who had pulled away from Perez, began an enthralling and intense battle. Both drivers pushed to the absolute limit, imitating some “Tokyo Drift” tactics at times. In the midst of all of the chaos at the front of the pack, Albon somehow went unnoticed and managed to stay close to the top six in his Williams, which is impressive given the development gap between the top teams and the others. Stroll also went unnoticed, but for the wrong reasons, as he continued to struggle and was forced to retire with a brake issue on lap 46. As the final laps grew close Norris made a crucial overtake on his championship rival Verstappen on lap 49 of 51, a move that could end up costing Verstappen the championship.
As the drivers went down the main straight for the second to last time, Piastri pulled away from Leclerc due to the Ferrari driver’s tires losing all of their grip. This left Leclerc, Perez and Sainz to battle for the final podium places. The two Ferraris and Perez raced toward turn one on the penultimate lap. As Perez tried to make a move on Leclerc, he gave Sainz just enough room to squeeze past. Both Sainz and Perez were still scraping as they rounded turn two, accelerating, trying to catch Leclerc. Both drivers coming closer together, trying to get the slipstream from Leclerc, they collided. Both of them smashed into the barriers down the second straight in dramatic fashion, ending their podium dreams. A virtual safety car was called out to finish what was an astonishing race, Piastri taking his second victory in Formula 1. Leclerc finished second and Mercedes driver George Russell inherited third place.
Leclerc, for the fifth year in a row, started from pole in Baku and didn’t win the race. He just can’t put it all together when it matters most. Colapinto finished in eighth, scoring the first points of his Formula 1 career. Bearman also managed to score points, as he finished tenth, becoming the first driver in Formula 1 history to score points on his debut for two teams in one season. Norris had a mega drive from starting 15th to finishing in fourth and gaining some valuable points for his championship fight against Verstappen. Hamilton, who started from the pit lane, managed to crawl his way up into the points as well as he finished ninth, setting yet another milestone along the way, as he has now raced over 100,000 kilometers in Formula 1.
McLaren has come a long way from the start of last season after being last, to now leading the Constructors’ Championship this season. It’s been a crazy turnaround from the Papaya team as they now lead the Constructors’ Championship. Close fighting like what happened in this race is what Formula 1 fans have been dreaming about. A three-way fight for first with drivers all from different teams is a huge sign of how far and exciting this season has come compared to the last few years of racing. From utter dominance from Red Bull over the last few seasons to now having consistent and enthralling battles between multiple teams for race wins, I can’t wait to see how this season finishes out.
Next, the teams will head to Singapore for yet another fast-paced street circuit race, which should turn out to be a sensational Singapore Grand Prix.
