Charles Leclerc has taken his ninth career pole for Ferrari in a dramatic end to qualifying at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Charles Leclerc has taken back-to-back pole positions after red flags brought a chaotic qualifying for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix to an early end.
Leclerc had taken provisional pole with his first flying lap — in no small part thanks to a substantial slipstream from Lewis Hamilton — to set up what should have been a tight conclusion with the second runs. But the shootout was halted with just a second remaining on the clock when Yuki Tsunoda smacked his AlphaTauri into the barrier at Turn 3, partially blocking the track. Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, immediately behind him on the track, tried to take avoiding action but locked up, spinning himself into the wall in the run-off zone.
Red flags were waved for the fourth time of the afternoon and the session was abandoned, handing Leclerc a second consecutive pole.
Continue reading on RACERPierre Gasly topped final practice at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix after pole favorite Max Verstappen crashed out of the session less than halfway through.
Verstappen was only five laps into his program on the hard tire when he carried too much speed into Turn 15 on the fast run down the hill, coming to a halt with his right-front tire in the barrier.
Unable to engage reverse and anyway with a broken track rod, the devastated Dutchman left his car in situ, prompting a red flag. TV cameras caught him slumped and collecting his thoughts on a concrete block before returning to pit lane.
Continue reading on RACERChampionship leader Max Verstappen topped both Ferrari drivers to put Red Bull Racing at the head of first practice at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Verstappen’s lap came late in the session, having run the harder compounds early when the street track was at its dirtiest, but his time of 1m43.184s beat Charles Leclerc by just 0.043s.
The Dutchman was comfortably quickest in the first sector but lost time to the Ferrari driver at the second split, which comprises mostly slow-speed corners around the castle section of the track. He lost a little time to his personal best out of the final corner for not having a car to slipstream over the line.
Continue reading on RACERSergio Perez and Max Verstappen led the way in second practice for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on an afternoon neither Mercedes finished inside the top 10.
Perez topped teammate Verstappen by just 0.101s to complete a Red Bull Racing Friday practice sweep, while Lewis Hamilton was just 11th and 1.041s off the pace.
“I don’t really know where all the time is,” lamented the Briton after his flying lap, though tire temperature management appeared to be a problem, as it had been in Monaco. His teammate, Valtteri Bottas, fared even worse, stuck in 16th and a further second adrift.
Continue reading on RACERMonaco meets Monza in F1’s return to Baku. Can Red Bull Racing and Max Verstappen extend their new-found championship leads? I preview the upcoming Monaco Grand Prix with 2019 podcast guest The Race’s Edd Straw.
Daniel Ricciardo arrived as McLaren’s 2021 star signing, but the race-winning Australian is at a loss to explain his thrashing at the hands of his junior teammate.
Back in lockdown, first part of the show failed to record, denied an Indy 500 Monday nap — the Azerbaijan GP can only get better from here. #HaveACrackDC
Ferrari principal Mattia Binotto has admitted Mercedes has the quicker car after his team slumped to its fourth straight loss at the hands of the Silver Arrows.
Continue reading on RACERDaniel Ricciardo has been handed a three-place grid penalty for the next race for causing a bizarre crash with Daniil Kvyat in what the Australian described as a moment of panic at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Continue reading on RACERToto Wolff says he won’t allow his Mercedes team to believe it’s the dominant force of 2019 even after claiming an unprecedented fourth successive one-two finish to open the season.
Continue reading on RACERValtteri Bottas has recaptured the lead of the championship standings with a flawless drive to victory at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix to claim a record-breaking one-two finish for Mercedes.
Continue reading on RACERKimi Raikkonen has been added to the list of drivers set to start the Azerbaijan Grand Prix from the pit lane after the Finn’s Alfa Romeo was found to be in breach of the technical regulations after qualifying.
Continue reading on RACERSergio Perez has lauded his fifth-place qualifying effort for Sunday’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix, but the two-time Baku podium-getter says standing on the rostrum at this year’s race will be tough.
Continue reading on RACER