The Formula 1 Qatar Airways Azerbaijan Grand Prix last Sunday, Sept. 15, was one of the most entertaining races of the season. The Grand Prix took place on the Baku City Circuit in Baku, Azerbaijan and was 51 laps long. A lap of the circuit is 6.003 km (3.730 miles), which makes it the fourth-longest circuit of F1 after Spa, Jeddah and Las Vegas. This track is a favorite for many F1 fans due to its placement right in the city center and the fact that the circuit begins near Azadliq Square, then loops around Government House before driving straight past the Palace of the Shirvanshahs and Maiden Tower.
The 2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix started with Charles Leclerc getting pole position in the qualifiers on Saturday. Australian driver c won the Azerbaijan Grand Prix after finishing with a time of 1:32:58.007. This win came ironically right after McLaren stated that they were going to prioritize Lando Norris for the rest of the season in hopes of winning the championship. Oscar Piastri started P2 in the race and spent the beginning of the race trying to catch up to Leclerc. On lap 20, Piastri overtook Leclerc after some very favorable pit stops and track positioning. He managed to hold off Leclerc for the rest of the race, even after Leclerc had assistance from the DRS. The fight for third place was perhaps the most exciting part of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Red Bull driver Sergio Perez and Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz were fighting at the end of the race to secure the last spot on the podium and ended up crashing into each other. They collided down a straight and ended up slamming into the barriers together. Both drivers were visually upset as they emerged from their cars, with Perez even walking over to Sainz’s car to yell at him. This crash caused Mercedes driver George Russell to move up to P3 after the race was finished under a virtual safety car. A virtual safety car is used to slow cars down without deploying a vehicle on track during cautions. The FIA determines the lap time for the cars at each track and during a virtual safety car, the gaps between each car are maintained using a “delta” speed that drivers must adhere to.
There was another collision earlier in the race between Yuki Tsunoda and Lance Stroll, which caused Tsunoda to retire for the second race in a row. After the race he said that he was “very frustrated to have this happen two races in a row. A very short race, losing the opportunity to score points, which would have been tricky, but you never know on these street races.” Tsunoda’s teammate Daniel Ricciardo also did not score in Baku, giving Red Bull a tough afternoon.
McLaren driver Lando Norris did very well after a tough situation during qualifying put him in 17th on the grid for the race. According to ESPN, “Norris was knocked out of the first session of qualifying when a yellow flag in the final sector forced him to abort a lap that would have comfortably seen him through to Q2.” Norris was very upset about this and stated after that “it wasn’t fair. You don’t have to be a scientist to work that out…It was unfair and for it to ruin my whole weekend… I know I got a fourth today and that’s not bad, but it could have been better.” To move all the way to fourth place after starting at 17th is already incredibly impressive, but Norris also managed to pass his championship rival Max Verstappen, who got fifth place.
Overall, this was a very exciting race, especially with the championship standings getting closer and closer in points. Up next is the Singapore Grand Prix on Sunday, Sept. 22, and drivers already seem to be looking forward to driving in a night race.
