Azerbaijan

Lewis Hamilton admits he had a “strange experience” in the Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix after fearing he would lose control of his porpoising Mercedes ...

That was the most painful race I've experienced, the toughest race I've experienced. "You don't really ever think about keeping it out of the wall at that high speed. But, honestly, George didn't have the same bounces that I had, he had a lot less bouncing. "Yeah, because the thing was bouncing so much sometimes,” he said. "So the battle with the car was intense. "There were a lot of moments where I didn't know if I was going to make it," he said.

Lewis Hamilton reassured his fans after the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. The Briton was struggling to get out of his car and Toto Wolff wondered aloud if Hamilton ...

''I've had acupuncture and physio with 'ang' (Angela Cullen) and 'am'. We have to keep fighting. ''Yesterday (Sunday) was tough and had some troubles sleeping but have woke up feeling positive today. ''Good morning world'', the seven-time world champion opens his Story on Instagram page.

Red Bull boss Christian Horner insists the position swap between Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez that changed the lead of the Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand ...

So as a team, we need to prioritise that.” If one car is quicker, you know, concede, and let's focus on getting the best result for the team.” So it's just a question of: guys, let's not put each other against the pitwall here.

'No holy cows': Wolff. The sight of a seven-time world champion in the prime of his life wincing from back pain and grabbing onto a helping elbow as he ...

"For Yuki the mechanical damage meant we were forced to stop and repair the issue, losing many positions," said the team's performance head Guillaume Dezoteux. "We apologise to him, he did a fantastic job this weekend." With a dozen more points in the bank he approaches another tricky weekend of street fighting in Montreal with a grand total of 62 to leave him sixth in the Max Verstappen-led drivers' table, with his teammate on 99 in fourth. The sight of a seven-time world champion in the prime of his life wincing from back pain and grabbing onto a helping elbow as he gingerly got out of his car at the end of Sunday's race will live long in the memory.

Edd Straw delivers his verdict on the performances of all 20 Formula 1 drivers across the Azerbaijan GP weekend.

Aiming to run on hards to the end, he was behind Ocon, who had yet to pit, when he retired because of a failure in the power unit – denying him a likely points finish. Had to rely on his first-run time for his grid position thanks to being towards the back of the queue after the restart, starting his lap by necessity too close to Zhou and aborting when it was clear he’d lost far too much time as a result. But regardless of that, looked off Vettel’s pace in Baku, albeit with the caveat that the team felt he was battling a power unit issue costing pace and pushed too hard to compensate. Executed qualifying strongly, breezing through to Q3 and then putting the car sixth. Ran eighth after getting ahead of Tsunoda in the first part of the opening lap then opted to stop under the VSC on lap nine. Held 10th early on and gained a place when Sainz retired, but despite starting on mediums didn’t stop under the VSC and instead ran to lap 18 before making his stop. Made it to Q3 but didn’t think there was much more pace in the car, although a tenth would have been enough to pick off Vettel ahead. Started on hards and ran long, taking mediums under the second VSC, and was comfortably clear of Bottas in the battle for the final point. Pulled another qualifying special out of the bag having been half-a-tenth off Sainz on his first lap. Held off Verstappen early on and came in for a stop under the early VSC. He led by 13 seconds from Verstappen on tyres nine laps older than the Red Bull driver when his power unit gave out. Ran what team boss Toto Wolff called “a different floor solution” to Russell in qualifying as Mercedes continued to troubleshoot its problems, ending up a couple of tenths slower. Looked to have the edge on pace over Verstappen, particularly in the middle sector.

Max Verstappen made up for his 2021 Azerbaijan Grand Prix heartbreak by coming out on top this time around and thus becoming the sixth different winner in ...

But the McLaren driver looked to have turned a corner as early as FP2 and continued to make progress through the weekend, matching his team mate Lando Norris for pace. That dropped him out of the points and there was no way back. The team later said his struggles were triggered by an engine configuration issue. But they have improved things dramatically, and the reward has been three one-twos in five races. Now they lie 80 points adrift of rivals Red Bull after their first double retirement since the 2020 Italian Grand Prix. While he lost the lead at the start, an aggressive early pit stop during a Virtual Safety Car hauled him back into contention.

Max Verstappen led a Red Bull 1-2 at the Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix as title rivals Ferrari imploded with a double retirement.

BAKU: Three storylines from Sunday's (Jun 12) Azerbaijan Grand Prix: "NO HOLY COWS": WOLFF The sight of a seven-time world champion in the prime of his life ...

Another member of the grid left Baku in a far happier frame of mind. With a dozen more points in the bank he approaches another tricky weekend of street fighting in Montreal with a grand total of 62 to leave him sixth in the Max Verstappen-led drivers' table, with his teammate on 99 in fourth. Lewis Hamilton had warned Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff before lights out that there was a danger his car's bouncing, which returned with a vengeance on the streets of Baku, might force him into an early retirement.

Lewis Hamilton was visibly suffering with his back at the end of a punishing Azerbaijan Grand Prix, which reopened the debate over the physical effects ...

Nonetheless we were fully alert to the first significant developments of the afternoon, and the early appearance of two glum Ferrari drivers.After the chequered flag had dropped, Hamilton was the last of the drivers to speak to us. She greeted me with a huge hug and we briefly chatted about female representation in the paddock – a subject we are both passionate about. Heading down to the grid for the start of the race, I bumped into Angela Cullen, Hamilton’s physiotherapist, who has been kept busy by the punishment Mercedes’ stiff car and Baku’s bumpy track has dealt to the world champion’s back. This year it has been further reduced due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, as the two countries form a chunk of its tourism market. Walking through the revolving doors I was immediately greeted by a beaming Harry Bull, the McLaren PR, patiently waiting for his driver Lando Norris to head for the first press conference. I sat to his right, a Netflix camera in my face as he spoke candidly in response to a series of questions regarding his next steps in F1, his hands were clasped tightly on his lap.

After a double-retirement for Ferrari at this year's Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Red Bull marched to a comprehensive 1-2 finish, while porpoising was back on the ...

This means his fine weekend form to out-qualify and pull away from team-mate Valtteri Bottas early in the race will not be recorded by the history books. But this meant he was bearing down on Norris and asking to be let through before his medium-shod team-mate pitted, which ignited a team orders saga both drivers played down afterwards, as Norris was correspondingly fast late-on, when Ricciardo had gotten ahead under the Magnussen-stoppage VSC. None of it solves the problem, but it serves to highlight just how divided the paddock is on the issue. This must be read in line with the understanding, pushed by certain quarters, that a proposed rule change to the 2022 regulations that would’ve led to the cars being run higher than they are currently was dropped because consensus could not be reached. But this must be balanced against there already being something of solution for the worst effected teams: give up performance to reduce the bouncing. And so, the energy was transferred to the driver’s bodies even more than usual. Meanwhile, the seven-time world champion had to produce a series of passes on Esteban Ocon, Daniel Ricciardo and both AlphaTauris after an early double-stack stop where he was jumped by Sebastian Vettel. At the time of writing, Ferrari can’t say what caused Leclerc’s engine issue in Baku, but it is understood to be separate to Sainz’s car dropping out with a hydraulic problem. But were it not for his team-mate crashing in Q3, it’s conceivable that Verstappen would’ve gone on to qualify ahead of Perez – even if Leclerc was likely untouchable on pole. Things could turn around in the title stakes for Ferrari, but Red Bull’s recent form for improving over a season’s duration will be tough to beat even with Verstappen’s sheer tenacity theoretically discounted. It is at least fast, and Leclerc seemed to be having an easier time than expected against Red Bull’s straightline prowess running the “depowered” (lower drag) rear wing Ferrari had introduced but not raced in Miami. His pace post pitstop, where front and rear jack issues cost Leclerc time, was strong. That leaves the Dutchman with a 21-point standings lead over team-mate Sergio Perez, which is a stunning turnaround from the 46 he was in arrears of title rival Charles Leclerc after round three in Australia.

Verstappen led a Red Bull 1-2 in Sunday's Azerbaijan GP in a potentially key moment of the title race after Leclerc endured another dose of race day misery.

AlphaTauri left 'the Land of Fire' with a bitter-sweet taste though after Yuki Tsunoda was deprived of what looked a likely sixth place finish when he was forced into an unscheduled pitstop after his rear DRS mechanism broke. Another member of the grid left Baku in a far happier frame of mind. Lewis Hamilton had warned Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff before lights out that there was a danger his car's bouncing, which returned with a vengeance on the streets of Baku, might force him into an early retirement.

Reigning Formula One world champion Max Verstappen took a strong grip on the 2022 title race after his fifth win of the season.

Albon made two stops and was halted towards the end when the teams saw something in the data that caused concern. Aston Martin pulled level with Haas on 15 points after taking the fourth-highest tally of the day. Latifi picked up an immediate penalty after overshooting his grid slot and being pushed back against the rules by a mechanic. The Monegasque switched from medium to hard tyres on lap nine when the virtual safety car was deployed but it was a long one. Ricciardo started 12th and finished ahead of Norris on track for only the second time this season. Russell remains the only driver to have finished in the top five in every race. The car performed well on the straights and the drivers benefited from Ferrari’s retirements. The drivers were on different strategies and team orders were applied twice with the Australian quicker in the opening stint on the hard tyre but told to stay behind. Pérez then had a long pit stop on lap 17, dropping behind Leclerc with Verstappen in two laps later. Sainz retired on lap nine with a hydraulics problem. “You always have to stay on it because something else might happen and you have to prevent these issues from happening.” Verstappen, meanwhile, had moved past Pérez, who was bidding to become the Baku race’s first repeat winner.

Follow the updates and see the highlights from the 2022 Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Max Verstappen still leads Charles Leclerc in the drivers' world championship ...

Lap 5: Verstappen is getting closer and closer to Leclerc every lap with DRS whilst Carlos Sainz in P4 continues to fall further away from the Dutch driver as a result. 45 mins to lights out: Ferrari's Charles Leclerc provided the entertainment for fans yesterday as he put his car P1 for today's race. RACE START: And we're off in Baku! It's an amazing start from Perez as he snatches the lead away from Leclerc into the first corner. Quite a few are wearing their cooling vests as Baku swelters in the sun. Lap 15: VERSTAPPEN LEADS! The Dutch driver puts in a mega lap and makes up over a second on his team mate. There's a huge flurry of action in the pit stop now as most cars come in. Lap 13: Vettel is now off the track as he looks to overtake Alonso down the back straight. Lap 21: LECLERC IS OUT! As the Ferrari man comes down the straight his engine goes up in smoke. Lap 39: It's a rarely seen black and orange flag for Tsunoda as the DRS on his rear wing appears to snap in half under pressure. Lap 32: Hamilton is on the team radio complaining of severe back pain as his Mercedes porpoises continually down the two long straights. It was a strange decision at the time from AlphaTauri to not pit Gasly during that second virtual safety car and it's proved the French drivers downfall in the battle for fourth spot here. Lap 43: So out front, Verstappen is in commanding control of this race with less than ten laps to go.

Max Verstappen led a bruising Red Bull 1-2 to win Formula 1's 2022 Azerbaijan Grand Prix once Ferrari had endured a disaster as polesitter Charles Leclerc ...

Schumacher crossed the line in 14th. Red Bull reacted by pitting Verstappen for a second time to take on a set of hard tyres to the flag, finally nailing a 2.7s stop, before Perez made his stop for hards on the same lap 34. But a rear-left delay meant more time was lost in the pitlane thanks to a 4.4s stop, to give Verstappen a lead of 10s when the four-minute VSC interluded was over. Red Bull called Verstappen in for his jump to hards only two laps later, and he too endured a sub-par 3.5s service to rejoin in the lead with a 13s deficit to Leclerc – managing overheating rear tyres - as Perez nicked fastest lap from the Ferrari while running 4s behind Verstappen. Perez completed the first lap with 1.3s in hand over Leclerc to immediately escape the DRS zone and extended that by half a second over the next two tours to cement first place. Verstappen was able to have a look up the inside of Leclerc but thought better of it as Sainz tried to get in on the act before dropping adrift of the leading three cars.

Red Bull's Max Verstappen won the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on Sunday, after his Ferrari Formula 1 world championship rival Charles Leclerc retired from the ...

He had tried to pass Esteban Ocon’s Alpine at Turn 3 early on but overshot the corner and had to spin turn, dropping to 12th. Verstappen, Perez, Russell and Hamilton stopped again, with Gasly and Tsunoda staying out, the latter gaining a spot from Hamilton. Perez pitted for fresh hards on lap 17 but also suffered a slow stop and rejoined in third, just ahead of Russell. Verstappen stopped on lap 19, meaning a nine-lap fresher tyres advantage over Leclerc as he rejoined 13s behind him. Perez extended a 2s lead by the time DRS was activated, while Verstappen began to pressure Leclerc for second on lap five. Sainz then pulled off at Turn 4 with a hydraulic failure on lap nine, causing a virtual safety car that Leclerc, Russell, Hamilton, Vettel and Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri) decided to pit under.

Max Verstappen led Sergio Perez to a Red Bull one-two at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix after Ferrari suffered a disastrous afternoon that saw both Charles ...

Leclerc regained the lead when Verstappen pitted on lap 18, with their differing strategies appearing to set up an intriguing battle. Perez's lack of pace was somewhat surprising following a brilliant performance to win in Monaco last time and an impressive showing throughout practice and qualifying in Baku. "It hurts. In the constructors' championship, Red Bull's lead over Ferrari grows to 80 points. "I'm pleased to be standing on the podium as a team we've got to be there at the end to pick up the pieces." For Russell, he maintained his record as the only driver to finish in the points at every race this season, as the 24-year-old secured the third podium of what is proving to be a highly impressive debut campaign with the team.

Max Verstappen extended his lead at the top of the Formula One drivers' championship as he won the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Leclerc is well behind, 11 seconds, but he is faster than the Red Bull pair. In third at the start he seized on the mistakes from Ferrari and closed in on his teammate, brushing him aside with superior race pace. Verstappen then hunted down his rival and teammate to take the lead.

Ferrari suffered more misery on Sunday as Carlos Sainz lasted less than 10 laps of the 51-lap Azerbaijan Grand Prix - and Charles Leclerc later had to ...

Leclerc has started on pole in the last four races including this one but has now not won any of those. After the pit stop I had a terrible out-lap behind a lapped car. A mix of mistakes and misfortune have dogged the former McLaren driver, with this his third retirement of the season. Ferrari suffered more misery on Sunday as Carlos Sainz lasted less than 10 laps of the 51-lap Azerbaijan Grand Prix - and Charles Leclerc later had to retire on lap 21 too. Ferrari wrote on Twitter after Sainz's retirement: "Unfortunately #Carlos55 had a problem and stopped." A virtual safety car was deployed following Sainz's issue which saw Leclerc, after pitting, temporarily drop down to third.

The Azerbaijan Grand Prix was a big debacle, especially for the teams with a Ferrari engine. Four of the six cars with a Ferrari engine retired, ...

Sebastian Vettel, Fernando Alonso, Daniel Ricciardo, Lando Norris and Esteban Ocon grabbed the remaining points. Where the Austrians were still struggling with reliability problems at the beginning of the season, it is now Ferrari that keeps making mistake after mistake. Four of the six cars with a Ferrari engine retired, while Red Bull Racing managed to take full advantage with P1 for Max Verstappen and P2 for Sergio Perez.

Red Bull's Max Verstappen won the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on Sunday, as his world championship rival Charles Leclerc was forced to retire from the lead.

He had tried to pass Esteban Ocon's Alpine at Turn 3 early on but overshot the corner and had to spin turn, dropping to 12th. Verstappen, Perez, Russell and Hamilton stopped again, with Gasly and Tsunoda staying out, the latter gaining a spot from Hamilton. Verstappen stopped on Lap 19, meaning a nine-lap fresher tyres advantage over Leclerc as he rejoined 13s behind him. Verstappen reeled in Perez and passed him for the lead at Turn 1 on Lap 15, while Leclerc was catching them both on his new rubber. Sainz then pulled off at Turn 4 with a hydraulic failure on Lap 9, causing a virtual safety car that Leclerc, Russell, Hamilton, Vettel and Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri) decided to pit under. Perez extended a 2s lead by the time DRS was activated, while Verstappen began to pressure Leclerc for second on Lap 5.

Max Verstappen has a 21-point lead in the drivers' championship after his victory in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Sergio Perez has moved up to second place.

Max Verstappen led a Red Bull one-two in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix after retirements for Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, giving Mercedes' George ...

That was the cue for leaders Verstappen, Perez and Russell to take a free pit stop, while Ricciardo and Ocon decided to make their sole stops of the race having begun on hard compounds. Gasly defended sensibly over the next lap and only lost P4 to Hamilton going into Turn 3 on the following tour. Alex Albon took 12th, pitting during the first VSC and completing a two-stop race. AlphaTauri’s Gasly was also on the pace, his hard tyres (fitted during the VSC) helping him take P4 off Ricciardo on Lap 21. Yuki Tsunoda had also pitted during the VSC and passed Ocon for P7 on the same lap. The second train was led by hard-tyred starter Esteban Ocon from ninth ahead of Lewis Hamilton and a gaggle of midfielders. One lap later, Leclerc’s race went up in a puff of smoke and he crawled back to the pits to retire. Red Bull didn’t respond, the Virtual Safety Car ending for Perez to begin Lap 11. As for Nicholas Latifi, he copped a 10-second stop-go penalty after his mechanic touched his car after the 15-second start procedure warning. He was joined by Kevin Magnussen, whose stoppage brought out the second VSC of the race, and Lance Stroll, a suspected engine issue stopping the Aston Martin driver three laps from the end. “Elbows out into Turn 1, it’s all to play for” – those were the words in Sergio Perez’s ear as the formation lap got under way. After Sergio Perez crashed Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen’s party in Monaco, those three drivers entered Baku gunning for maximum points in their chase for the championship.

But the seven-time world champion, who finished P7 in qualifying and will start Sunday's race there having not been penalised, told Sky Sports F1 after the ...

It might be a struggle tomorrow in the race but we're going to give it everything and I hope maybe we'll have better race pace, who knows." "And then all the performance is when you get the car low. What that means, how the stewards are going to assess it, I don't know." "It was a really difficult qualifying session because we're constantly pushing, we have a very, very small window with the car. Team principal Toto Wolff said: "I cannot preempt what the stewards are going to say. But the seven-time world champion, who finished P7 in qualifying and will start Sunday's race there having not been penalised, told Sky Sports F1 after the session: "I don't really have a concern.

Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton "worried" about upcoming Canadian Grand Prix after saying Sunday's race in Azerbaijan was "the most painful I've experienced".

It would seem unfair to penalise those who have done a decent job versus those who have missed the target slightly." Red Bull team principal Christian Horner, whose drivers finished one-two in the race, said: "The easiest thing is to raise the car. I have to think of all the people who rely on me to get the points. The battle with the car was intense. "I nearly lost it in the high-speed (corners) several times. They felt they had fixed one of the causes with car upgrades two races ago in Spain, but it has returned in a different form since.

Lewis Hamilton described the Azerbaijan Grand Prix as his most painful race in Formula 1 amid physical struggles due to the bouncing.

Hamilton added that he “had to think of all the people that rely on me to get those points so that’s really what I was focused on. “One, whether I was going to keep the car on track as on the high speed I nearly lost it several times. “The thing was bouncing so much there were so many times I was nearly going into the wall, that was a concern safety-wise, 180mph [and] smashing into the wall.

The defending champion tightened his grip on the title race with victory as Charles Leclerc suffered a power unit failure in Baku.

With Pérez offering no challenge, Verstappen cruised to the flag, claiming the fifth win of his championship defence. Mercedes are still battling with porpoising and the bouncing problems led to Hamilton complaining about back pain. Verstappen took the lead into the opening bend with Pérez offering little resistance. He was stationary for five seconds with the front jack jammed underneath his car. The Mexican, who took a bonus point for the fastest lap, is 21 points adrift of his Red Bull teammate. Pérez soon moved two seconds clear of Leclerc, with Verstappen occupying the Monegasque’s mirrors.

As the 2022 Azerbaijan Grand Prix got under way, it was Red Bull's Sergio Perez who aced the start from P2, as pole-sitter Charles Leclerc locked up, ...

Lewis Hamilton has revealed the pain caused by the bouncing of his Mercedes left him "praying for the end" of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on Sunday.

"You're just smashing the ground every single corner and lap for an hour and a half, it's pretty brutal. "It got worse and worse, and I sympathise with everyone that's had it now. The majority of us are in the same boat, either you’ve got porpoising and the car is bouncing up and down and hitting the floor, or you don’t and you have to run the car millimetres from the ground and you’re hitting the floor lap after lap. "The team did a great job with the strategy. At the end, you're just praying for it to end." I don’t know what the solution is to be honest.

Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto says his Formula 1 team has no answers on the reliability problems that hit both Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz in the ...

“The tyre degradation on the hard what we saw was very little. And we had somehow I think an advantage at the stage. “But I don't think only with the telemetry data we can have a clear answer to the problem. “I know that in terms of performance effort, the redesign of the full power unit, we made a fantastic job. I don't think so, but maybe yes, and we do look as well at what happened to our customer teams. “I think you can at the two cars, they had different problems.

His fifth win of the season tightened his grip on the drivers' standings with Sergio Perez now moving into second, ahead of the pointless Charles Leclerc.

Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring.

Written by Keith CollantinePictures from the 2022 Azerbaijan Grand Prix.Advert 2022 Azerbaijan Grand Prix in picturesF1 PicturesPosted on12th June 2022, 13:22 Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-freeMore images will be added hereF1 pictures2022 Azerbaijan Grand Prix in pictures2022 Azerbaijan Grand Prix qualifying day in pictures2022 Azerbaijan Grand Prix practice in picturesFirst pictures from the 2022 Azerbaijan Grand Prix weekend2022 Monaco Grand Prix in picturesView more F1 pictures2022 Azerbaijan Grand PrixVote for your 2022 Azerbaijan Grand Prix Driver of the Weekend2022 Azerbaijan Grand Prix interactive data: lap charts, times and tyresLatifi given penalty point after passing 12 blue flag light panels in front of GaslyRed Bull’s ‘no fighting’ instruction to Perez ‘wasn’t team orders’ – HornerMercedes plan reserve driver “solution” for Canada in case Hamilton cannot driveBrowse all 2022 Azerbaijan Grand Prix articlesShare this RaceFans article with your network:TwitterFacebookRedditLinkedInEmailWhatsAppTelegramAuthor informationKeith CollantineLifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...Read more about Keith Collantine, find all their articles and get in touch with themGot a potential story, tip or enquiry?