Official F1 Journal Formula One Saturday Round Up - Azerbaijan Grand Prix

14/9/2024

Charles Leclerc takes his fourth pole in a row around the streets of Baku, taking the pole position for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Charles is followed by Oscar Piastri in P2 and Carlos Sainz in P3.

In a dramatic qualifying session, Lando Norris was knocked out in Q1, and Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez only managed to finish in P6 and P4 for tomorrow's race.

Franco Colapinto out-qualified teammate Alex Albon for the first time, having both made it to Q3. However, Albon's session was over after he left his pit box with an airbox still attached and didn't make it across the start/finish line quickly enough to set a final lap time.

Free Practice Three

Top Ten Results
1) George Russell 1.42.514
2) Charles Leclerc +0.013
3) Lando Norris +0.223
4) Oscar Piastri +0.235
5) Max Verstappen +0.348
6) Carlos Sainz +0.454
7) Sergio Perez +0.510
8) Alex Albon +0.680
9) Franco Colapinto +0.724
10) Lewis Hamilton +0.787

Before anyone had even set a lap time, Esteban Ocon's Alpine came to a complete stop on track, bringing out a Red Flag in the first 15 minutes of the session.

Once the session resumed, the times started to be set, with most drivers running on the soft tyre compound. Albon and Colapinto set the top two times on the soft tyres during the middle of the session.

With 25 minutes remaining, the Red Flag was brought out once again after Oliver Bearman crashed into the barrier in the run-off area. He tried to bail out of the corner but left it too late.

Late in the session, Lando Norris set the fastest lap time with his first time on the board, but it was quickly knocked off the top spot by Alex Albon and then Charles Leclerc. Sergio Perez sets the session's fastest lap by 0.066 in the final 15 minutes, but Piastri goes quicker by 0.640secs.

But ultimately, it was George Russell who topped the timesheets with a 1.42.514-second lap, finishing ahead of Charles Leclerc, Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri, and Max Verstappen in fifth.

Qualifying

Q1

Out in Q1
16) Daniel Ricciardo
17) Lando Norris
18) Valtteri Bottas
19) Zhou Guanyu
20) Esteban Ocon

Most drivers were waiting at the end of the pit lane minutes before qualifying started, and the threat of a red or yellow flag loomed over the sessions.

Zhou Guanyu has taken a new power unit, so he will start from the back of the grid no matter where he finishes in qualifying.

All the drivers headed out on soft tyres except Mercedes, who chose to start on the medium tyres.

Perez topped the timesheet early in the session, and the at-risk drivers for most of the session were Alpines, Ricciardo, and Sauber drivers.

With five minutes to go, Leclerc was leading from Russell and Perez, with just 0.438 between the three of them. Meanwhile, Stroll, Ocon, Bottas, Ricciardo and Zhou are in the bottom five.

It was a dramatic end to the session, with track evolution playing its part. Lando Norris got knocked out in Q1 and finished 17th, with both Colapinto and Bearman making it through to Q2 in 8th and 14th, respectively.

Q2

Out in Q2
11) Oliver Bearman
12) Yuki Tsunoda
13) Pierre Gasly
14) Nico Hulkenberg
15) Lance Stroll

Verstappen started Q2 by setting the fastest lap on a new set of soft tyres, followed by Perez and Piastri. Tsunoda and Stroll were the last to set lap times in the session.

After Lando Norris exited Q1, teams were cautious of a yellow or red flag late in the session, so they changed onto soft tyres earlier than they did in Q1.

With five minutes to go, Colapinto, Alonso, Gasly, Tsunoda, and Stroll were in the bottom five at risk.

Both rookie drivers beat their teammates, with Colapinto making it to Q3 in 6th and Albon in 10th, and Bearman just missing out on Q3 with Hulkenberg in 14th.

Q3

Starting Top 10
1) Charles Leclerc 1.41.365
2) Oscar Piastri +0.321
3) Carlos Sainz +0.440
4) Sergio Perez +0.448
5) George Russell +0.509
6) Max Verstappen +0.658
7) Lewis Hamilton +0.924
8) Fernando Alonso +1.004
9) Franco Colapinto +1.165
10) Alex Albon +1.494

Colapinto and fellow Williams driver Albon participated in their first Q3 session in Formula One. All drivers were quick to get out onto the track, and some almost collided in the pit lane.

Russell and Hamilton took the lead in the first stages of the session but were both quickly beaten by Piastri, Sainz, and Leclerc. Max Verstappen could only manage 6th, with his teammate ahead in 5th in the early stages.

With five minutes to go in the session, Hamilton complained about the lack of heat in his tyres after the track temperature had cooled.

Albon left the pit lane with an airbox still attached to his car, stopping at the edge of the pit lane. With two minutes to go, he managed to pull it off himself but got back on track. He was later noted for an unsafe release.

Albon doesn't make it back to the line quick enough to set a final lap time.

Charles Leclerc takes the pole position for the race tomorrow, with his fourth pole position in a row around Baku.

Charles Leclerc, who earns his four consecutive pole position at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, said: "It's one of my favourite tracks of the season, I really like it, it hasn't been an easy weekend because of the crash in FP1, it didn't make me lose confidence as I knew that the pace was there, but you've got to be back up to speed.

"In Q3 and qualifying it was all about trying to stay as far as possible from the walls and on the last lap I went for it a bit more and the lap time came very nicely.

"The car felt really good and everything felt great, so it's amazing to be on pole."

Anny Wooldridge
Writer at F1 Journal

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