Pole: Charles Leclerc
Winner : Max Verstappen
Fastest Lap: Sergio Perez 1.46.046
1-10
Amazing start for Perez who takes the lead into turn 1. Leclerc locks up as well as Verstappen tries to overtake into turn 3. Latifi is under investigation for an incident on the starting grid and he receives a 10-second stop-go penalty for a starting grid infringement. Most drivers are on medium tyres and as the race settles slightly, most drivers are thinking about managing tyres more. On lap 3 Perez has made a good gap of just over 2 seconds to Leclerc. The two McLarens seem to be battling but Ricciardo is struggling on the hard tyre. Russell seems to be catching Sainz as he comes on the radio saying that the red bulls are quick. Lap 5 Verstappen is edging closer and closer to the DRS. Lap 5 and Hamilton is getting within range of Gasly and should make the move soon. Lap 8 Ricciardo reports that he feels he has more pace than Norris. Lap 9 Sainz is off at turn 4 in the run-off area as there has been a failure on his car.
10-20
Virtual safety car and Leclerc pits onto the hard tyre. Time lost under the VSC is 10 seconds so Hamilton, Vettel, Gasly, Zhou and Russell all pit. Ferrari is taking a gamble and probably hoping for a safety car. In lap 13 Vettel locks up on turn 3 whilst trying to overtake Ocon he manages to keep it out of the barrier but drops down to 12th. On lap 15 Verstappen takes the lead from Perez whilst Leclerc is setting the fastest lap. Perez has been told to not fight Verstappen by the team. Zhou is making good moves up the field as he overtakes his teammate in the Alfa Romeo. On lap 17 Perez has a slow pit stop and Russell is now just over a second behind Perez. Magnussen makes a clean overtake on Bottas on the main straight. Meanwhile, Norris and Ricciardo are struggling to get past the Alpine of Alonso. Hamilton makes a good move down the inside of the Alpine on lap 18 which frees him up to now try and catch the two McLaren. Lap 19 Verstappen pits along with Fernando Alonso.
20-30
Ricciardo has been close to his teammate all race. Leclerc retired lap 21 with another mechanical problem resulting in a double DNF Ferrari. Norris pits but this allowed Gasly to close in on Ricciardo and look very likely to make an overtake. Lap 22 Gasly overtakes Ricciardo on the straight which moves Gasly up to p4. The Alpha Tauris are feisty today and putting in good moves on the inside of Ocon. Lap 24, Zhou, unfortunately, has to retire due to a mechanical issue, a Ferrari-powered car. On Lap 26 Vettel has been trying very hard to overtake Ocon, but he must be patient. Hamilton is catching Ricciardo with the gap being just under a second. Ricciardo breezes past Ricciardo into turn 5. On lap 27 Norris overtakes Albon to take p14. Verstappen and Perez have a huge gap out in front as Verstappen keeps setting the fastest lap.
30-40
On lap 30 and Hamilton mentioned that his back is hurting due to the porpoising which seems to be affecting the Mercedes still after this week the drivers have been highlighting the health issues that could be linked. Verstappen is told to manage his pace so as not to have an issue like last year. Lap 33 Magnussen has an issue with his engine which is another Ferrari-powered car. VSC deployed lap 34 and the Red Bulls double-stacked. Russell has a good 2.8 pit stop. Hamilton also pits. Lap 36 VSC has ended and Hamilton makes a move on Tsunoda on the inside of turn 1. Lap 37 and Perez has the fastest lap.
40-51
Tsunoda boxes to fix a broken rear wing as he comes into the pits the Alpha Tauri mechanics tape the rear wing in a hurry and this causes some to question if this is allowed. Lap 41 Verstappen is told not to use DRS for the rest of the race which could compromise him when trying to lap cars. Lap 42 and the two McLaren seem to be closing in on each other and should be battling towards the end of the race. Lap 44 Hamilton overtakes on the inside of turn 4 on Gasly. Latifi gets a 5 second time on for ignoring blue flags. Lap 46 and McLaren have given out team orders to both drivers for Ricciardo to try and close up on Alonso but if not they will let Norris have a go. Lap 48 and Stroll has to retire his Aston Martin. Verstappen reported a slight issue with the brakes on lap 50 whilst going for the fastest lap. Verstappen becomes the sixth different driver to win Baku with Perez taking p2 and the fastest lap. George Russell continues his run of top 5 finishes with p3. Lewis Hamilton takes driver of the day.
Summary:
Another dismal day for Ferrari as they are it with a double DNF. Red Bull on the other hand received a 1-2 with Verstappen winning the race and Perez bringing home a p2 for the team, the double DNF for Ferrari meant that the Mercedes of George Russell made it onto the podium making it his 3rd podium of the season and remaining in the top 5 of every race so far.
The Alfa Romeo of Zhou Guanyu was the third to retire from the race along with Magnussen in the HAAS and Lance Stroll in the Aston Martin with a suspected engine failure. A round of retirees let out of the VSC and allowed driver of the day Lewis Hamilton to pit and gain from the fresher tyres to end up in p4.
Next race Formula 1 returns to Canada after Covid cancelled both 2020 and 2021 races, a home race for 2 of the grid's drivers it is set to be a highly anticipated race with fans and drivers alike looking forward to returning.
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