The Formula 1 Review of Baku

F1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix — Race Weekend Summary

Practice & Qualifying

• FP1 highlights: Russell was fastest; Kimi Antonelli lost hydraulics and missed significant track time; Sainz had brake issues with rear brakes catching fire; Lindblad stopped at Turn 7 but returned to track.
• FP2 highlights: Russell again fastest with a 1:43; Verstappen, Stroll, and Hadjar all had incidents at Turn 15 — described as "out to get them"; Lindblad hit the wall twice, destroying his car and triggering a red flag; both McLarens spent most of FP2 in the garage with limited track time.
• FP3 highlights: Russell "found a stick" — a branch on track that marshals had to retrieve; Verstappen went long at Turn 15; Gasly appeared high up the order for Alpine, surprising both hosts; Williams also showed unexpected pace, prompting Scott and Burke to note the upgrades were working.
• Wind conditions were highly variable — between 1–12 km/h depending on whether a section was sheltered by buildings or exposed to the Caspian Sea, making aerodynamically dependent cars unstable.
• Qualifying summary: Russell took pole with a 1:42.526; Leclerc grabbed P2 at the very last second; Piastri P3; Hadjar P4; Verstappen was forced to lift due to a yellow flag caused by Norris stopping at Turn 3, resulting in a poor P8.
• Q1 eliminations: Bortoleto, Hulkenberg, Alonso, Perez, Stroll, and Bottas were knocked out.
• Q2 eliminations: Biermann, Lawson, Albon, Ocon, Lindblad, and Antonelli (who hit the wall at the 8-minute mark, puncturing his front-left tire and damaging the control arm).
• Notable stat: Every pole position in the 2026 season was on a Mercedes power unit.

Pre-Race Grid Penalties

• Fernando Alonso (Car 14): 30-place grid penalty for additional power unit elements used.
• Lance Stroll (Car 18): 20-place grid penalty for additional power unit elements used.
• Sergio Perez (Car 11): 3-place grid penalty for impeding another driver during qualifying.
• Carlos Sainz (Car 55): 5-place grid penalty for failing to slow for yellow flags — controversy arose because Sainz slowed in the corner where the incident occurred but not on the preceding straight; stewards ruled that slowing must be demonstrated regardless of location.
• Scott noted this was the third consecutive race in which Sainz received multiple penalties, raising suspicion about FIA targeting.

Race Day

• Conditions: Outside temp 79°F, track temp 113°F, wind very low — significantly cooler than earlier in the weekend.
• Lap 1: Piastri jumped to P2 past Leclerc; Norris passed Hadjar into P4; Verstappen passed Gasly into P7 — described as a clean, exciting start with no major incidents.
• Lap 9: Lance Stroll radioed in with engine problems and retired — prompting Scott's recurring "Lasting Moments with Lance Stroll" bit, noting Stroll had just renewed his contract.
• Tire strategy controversy: Approximately half the field started on mediums, half on softs. Verstappen started on mediums and suffered severe graining (chunks of rubber coming off due to insufficient heat generation), causing a ~5-lap performance drop. The soft tires, by contrast, remained perfect throughout and were reportedly capable of running the entire race distance.
• Hadjar situation: Hadjar was on softs behind Verstappen on degrading mediums, holding a sub-1-second gap for over 10 laps. He repeatedly asked the team if he could pass; the team told him to "keep it clean" — effectively telling him no.
• Lap 22: Alonso retired — cause unspecified but described as done.
• Lap 23: Russell was 9.2 seconds faster than the second-place car, demonstrating dominant pace.
• Safety Car (Lap 30–31): Albon hit a wall at Turn 6 and retired; the safety car came out; almost the entire field pitted. Russell and Verstappen switched to softs; Hadjar was put onto mediums — Burke and Scott both noted this was a poor strategic call for Hadjar.
• Restart chaos (Lap 35–36): After a 5-lap safety car period, the restart triggered a multi-car incident at Turn 1. Colapinto locked his brakes and torpedoed into Gasly, who then hit Norris. Antonelli dove inside and narrowly missed the crash — described by Scott as a "fucking torpedo." Colapinto eventually limped back to the pits but was told the car was unsafe and retired.
• Lap 40: Piastri overshot Turn 1 and dropped from podium contention all the way to P14.
• Lap 41–42: Antonelli passed Hamilton to move to P5, chasing the podium.
• Laps 46–51: Verstappen brushed the wall at Turn 19 but tire pressures were fine; Russell wobbled slightly at Turn 1 under pressure from Verstappen, who was all over him.
• Lap 51 (final lap): Bottas went into the wall at T15, forcing both leaders to slow. Russell's power unit lost some output on the long straight — he beat Verstappen by just two-tenths of a second, described as one of the closest F1 finishes in roughly 10 years.
• Ocon vs. Lindblad: Ocon was beaten into seventh place by Lindblad by just 0.003 seconds.

Final Race Classification

• P1: George Russell (Mercedes)
• P2: Max Verstappen (+6 places from grid)
• P3: Hadjar
• P4: Leclerc
• P5: Kimi Antonelli (+11 places)
• P6: Hamilton
• P7: Lindblad (+8 places)
• P8: Ocon (+5 places)
• P9: Biermann
• P10: Sainz (despite starting near the back)
• DNFs: Bottas, Colapinto, Gasly, Norris, Albon, Alonso, Lance Stroll (7 total retirements)

Post-Race Penalties

• Arvid Lindblad: Investigated for collision at Turn 1 restart — exonerated, as the stewards found the chain reaction was triggered by Colapinto's braking.
• Franco Colapinto: Found to have braked too late entering Turn 1 at a speed that did not allow a controlled corner — received a 10-second time penalty converted to a 5-place grid drop for the next race.
• Valtteri Bottas: Remained near his crashed car and inspected the rear after exiting — breach of protocol, but no further action taken.
• Gabriel Bortoleto: Overtook under double-waved yellow flags between Turns 6 and 7 on the first lap after restart — received a 10-second penalty.

Championship Standings

• Drivers' Championship (Top 5): Antonelli 302 pts, Russell 236, Hamilton 199, Norris 186, Leclerc 179.
• Constructors' Championship: Mercedes-AMG Petronas on the verge of clinching — enough points expected after the next race. Ferrari second at 378 pts, McLaren at 306, Red Bull at 263 — a tight three-way battle for P2 expected to go to the final races.
• Williams moved up to 12 constructors' points; Aston Martin holds just 3 points. Cadillac remains the only team yet to score a point.

Track & Technical Analysis

• Baku circuit character: Scott described it as one of his favorite tracks — tight technical sections through the old city forcing real driver skill, combined with two long straights enabling overtaking. Compared favorably to Monza for passing opportunities, far better than Monaco.
• Tire behavior: The 2026 tire compounds are reportedly one step harder across the board versus the previous season; the softest available tire is now equivalent to what was a medium in prior years. This contributed to the soft compound's unusual durability at Baku.
• Graining explained: Scott detailed that when a racing tire cannot reach operating temperature, rubber chunks off rather than depositing onto the track — a particular problem for Verstappen's mediums, exacerbated by Baku's predominantly right-hand corners destroying his right-side tires.
• Aston Martin / Honda engine situation: Discussed at length — the "Honda" engines are effectively run by the same personnel after Aston Martin acquired the manufacturing company but kept the name. The hosts argued this B-team Honda operation is the sole reason Alonso is mired at the back despite Adrian Newey's aerodynamic upgrades (new nose, sideboards, etc.) showing genuine improvement.

Next Race Preview — Bahrain Grand Prix (Malaysia/Sepang)

• Race officially titled the Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix but held at the Malaysian Sepang-style circuit.
• Scott described it as a Herman Tilke track with sections that will deplete power but enough corners to recover — potentially similar in character to Baku.
• Scott's predictions: Antonelli stronger than Russell at this track; Verstappen tougher than expected; Williams capable of a top-10 finish; Aston Martin still at the bottom; Cadillac unlikely to score but Aston Martin deteriorating.
• Burke's prediction: Russell due for bad luck; Antonelli potentially wins; Verstappen second.
• Cadillac driver lineup uncertainty: Bottas likely not returning; Perez's future also uncertain. The team reportedly wants an American driver — Colton Herta (son of IndyCar legend) is a reserve driver but has indicated preference to return to IndyCar where earnings are higher.