Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Baku: F1 live – Latest updates as Perez leads Leclerc
Perez #Perez
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11:27 AM Lap 12 of 51 – Verstappen now within two seconds of Perez
Hamilton within DRS range of Vettel for the final spot in the top 10.
Perez puts in the fastest first sector of the race to extend his lead a bit. No surprise, by the way, that Russell and Leclerc went onto the hard tyres. At least that has taken away the worry of Verstappen overtaking Leclerc on track…
11:25 AM Lap 11 of 51 – Top 10 after some cars stop
*cars have stopped
11:23 AM Lap 10 of 51 – VSC deployed
A horrible noise as Sainz approached turn four. Not entirely sure it was a BBW failure.
As soon as the VSC is deployed in comes Charles Leclerc. And in comes Russell. It wasn’t a quick stop for Leclerc, but will that work out for him? Hamilton also comes in. Vettel has jumped Hamilton in the pit lane as Hamilton had to wait for Russell to stop first.
If there are no other safety cars or red flags in this race then that is a long way for Leclerc to go.
11:21 AM Lap 9 of 51 – Verstappen closer than ever to Leclerc
“Just keep the pace. Nothing is running away from you up front,” is the message to him from his engineer. Perez still only 2.1s ahead of Leclerc.
Yellow flags! Sainz has gone straight on for some reason and is that his race over?
Brake by wire failure, he says.
11:19 AM Lap 8 of 51 – “If this is his best pace, I’ve got more,” says Daniel Ricciardo
Ricciardo on the hard tyres but is 1.5s behind. I think he dropped back a bit in the last couple of laps. Encouraging signs from Ricciardo performance wise. Not so much for McLaren.
11:16 AM Lap 7 of 51 – Top 15
It was actually a 10-second stop/go penalty for Latifi, so as big an in-race penalty as you can get.
11:15 AM Lap 6 of 51 – Verstappen gets DRS again
But he can’t think of a move into turn one. He closes up at turn three but again is too far back. Leclerc has closed up on Perez a bit in the last lap. And goes fastest in the first sector again.
11:14 AM Lap 5 of 51 – Perez increases his leads to 2.5s
Verstappen closes up on the pit straight, will he get another go on the second straight with DRS? He’s closer but can’t think of a move. I think patience is the order of the day here. This is obviously far from a disaster for Ferrari at the moment, but it is another bad start for the team. Leclerc puts in the fastest first sector of the race and he needs it…
Verstappen does get DRS on Leclerc and closes right up as they start lap five…
11:10 AM Lap 3 of 51 – Top 10 and gaps
Confirmation of a 10 second penalty for Latifi for an incident at the start. Seems to be that there was still some work on the car when it shouldn’t have been. Was likely just a push back a metre to his grid slot.
Verstappen has closed up onto the back of Leclerc here… he will get DRS.
11:08 AM Lap 2 of 51 – Perez leads Leclerc by 1.5s
Not much action in the top 10 so far, aside from the change of the lead. Max Verstappen has a good top speed in his Red Bull.
At the start Perez and Verstappen got away well, but Verstappen couldn’t really do anything with it because he had Leclerc right in front of him.
11:06 AM THE 2022 AZERBAIJAN GRAND PRIX IS GO!
It’s a little while longer on the grid than they would have hoped…
Perez takes the inside line and gets the better start… Leclerc locks up on the outside into turn one and Perez takes the lead!
Sainz and Verstappen battle for third a little further back. It’s all a very clean start at the moment, though Latifi is under investigation for an incident at the start. Perez has pulled out 1.5s on Perez in the first two sectors of the lap.
11:02 AM Message to Perez from his engineer
“Elbows out at turn one. It’s all to play for.”
It certainly is.
11:01 AM The formation lap is away
Leclerc leads the field from the front. Mediums for everyone in the top 11, then hards for every but Ocon, Bottas, Stroll and Schumacher.
10:57 AM Wolff says Hamilton might not be able to do the full race…
Ouch.
10:52 AM Just under 10 minutes to go
Predictions? I think one Safety Car. I think Leclerc has this one. Verstappen second, Perez third and Sainz to put it in the wall (sorry Carlos).
10:49 AM Sergio Perez speaks to Sky Sports
Today it’s important to maximum the team result and that will be the target. Hopefully get two cars ahead of the red car. If I get [a chance] at turn one, I will go for it.
10:46 AM It’s time for the national anthem
Which, you can’t see in pictures.
Anyway, it’s busy on the grid. Really hope we, at least, get to see a battle to the end with Ferrari and Red Bull. Didn’t really materialise in Monaco and Spain for a variety of reasons.
10:40 AM Just under 20 minutes to go until lights out
So here is the final starting grid.
2. PER 1. LEC
4. SAI 3. VER
6. GAS 5. RUS
8. TSU 7. HAM
10. ALO 9. VET
12. RIC 11. NOR
14. ZHO 13. OCO
16. MAG 15. BOT
18. LAT 17. ALB
20. MSC 19. STR
10:37 AM Helmet Marko on Red Bull’s Sergio Perez’s fine form
He is the first driver who is that close to Max and is even matching him. It is good for us and it helps us in the constructors’ championship.
10:32 AM A photogenic setting for a race
Not quite Monaco, is it… but still good.
Three of the top four on the grid have never won here.
10:23 AM The pit lane is open
Weather looks pretty good. Sunny. Warm. The conditions were cooler yesterday but they were starting three hours later in the day…
10:18 AM Qualifying head-to-head records for each team this year 
Russell now leads Hamilton 5-3. Can’t think of a time when that has happened after eight races, at least recently. Better day for Guanyu Zhou, who qualifies ahead of Valtteri Bottas for the first time this year. As it stands only Alexander Albon and Charles Leclerc have 100 per cent records against their team-mates.
10:15 AM Strategies this afternoon
Looks like a one-stopper according to Pirelli. But when you have the threat of a Safety Car or red flag throughout the race that changes things.
Think we need, as much as possible, to try and remove clear one-stop races from F1. Easier said than done, though.
10:11 AM Rare to see Max Verstappen struggling like this, out-qualified twice in a row now by Perez
Though it is all relative. Last year Perez was not quite on it and in the previous two seasons before that he had Pierre Gasly and Alexander Albon who also under-performed relative to the car. This is more the situation where Verstappen has someone who can push him and challenge him, like Daniel Ricciardo did from 2016-2018.
10:09 AM Stroll had a pretty disastrous day yesterday
He is not having a good season. Vettel also crashed, albeit just the once, and he made it into the top 10 at least. Which is a good result for Aston Martin this year. Vettel took a podium in the last Azerbaijan Grand Prix last year. Small chance of that today, unless it’s another mad race.
10:03 AM Current constructor standings
Ferrari have been losing ground in recent races. Could do with a good result here.
10:01 AM Current driver standings: Top 10
If they finish as they start in Baku today then Leclerc could retake the lead of the standings, depending on who gets the fastest lap bonus point.
09:57 AM Lewis Hamilton speaks ahead of the race – he starts seventh
It is what it is and we are faced with this reality and we just have to keep working through it. It’s crazy to think that we are this far off the two teams ahead of us but we are right with the pack behind. I’m just conscious of the bouncing and whether we can make it through the race with the bouncing. We’re not that quick on the straights… it is a track you can overtake on but we are at risk of being overtaken due to other peoples’ speed.
09:53 AM George Russell fears ‘major incident’ due to ‘dangerous’ F1 cars
British driver George Russell has called Formula One’s new era of cars “dangerous”, a “recipe for disaster” and fears it is only a “matter of time” before there is a major accident.
Read more from Phil Duncan in Baku here.
09:42 AM Qualifying times
09:34 AM Good morning
And welcome to our live coverage for the 2022 Azerbaijan Grand Prix from the Baku City Circuit in Baku, obviously. Formula One has been coming to Baku since 2016 and in those six years we’ve had a variety of races. Some of them have been interesting, frantic and chaotic and others have been fairly hum-drum.
The nature of the circuit means there will likely be crashes, Safety Cars, and potentially red flags, which always helps add variation and excitement to a race. Naturally, it would help to have cars that have similar pace too, and a strategy where it is not just a clear one-stopper for all but the most daring or those at the back who have to try something different.
Which type of race will we get today? It’s impossible to say but judging by qualifying it looks like we should have another battle between Ferrari and Red Bull at the front, and hopefully with all four drivers playing a part. Charles Leclerc was the championship contender who put it on pole position yesterday, delivering another superb lap in the final part of qualifying. Up to that point he had made a few mistakes on his quick laps – as can happen on street circuits – but he managed to string it together again for his sixth pole in eight races and fourth in a row.
Yet the issue for Leclerc is that he has failed to convert any of those pole positions into wins and has seen a substantial championship lead turn into a deficit, albeit a small (nine-point) one. The potentially complicating factor for both Ferrari and Red Bull is that it is Sergio Perez who is again out-performing Max Verstappen, finishing ahead in qualifying for the second race in a row.
Given that Perez only trails his team-mate by 15 points in the championship, if he beats him again today then it could become difficult to manage. In fact, the race situation today might be difficult for them to manage. It’s not as clear to simply tell Perez to move out of the way for Verstappen. And in doing that now, so early in the season again, you risk team harmony. It’s complicated for Ferrari in that Leclerc now has two Red Bulls to fight. The Mexican normally goes well at this track, too, and won here last year.
Elsewhere, Mercedes had another poor day, finishing in fifth with George Russell and seventh with Lewis Hamilton. There’s not much more to say than the long straight here means they are suffering from their ‘bouncing’ issues and, without retirements, fifth and sixth is the best they can really hope for. But you never know. That’s just where they are at the moment.
It’s a much earlier start than yesterday’s qualifying, with lights out at Noon BST in Baku. We will be here for all of the build up, live updates and reaction from what we hope is another thriller in Azerbaijan.