2022 Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix highlights

Max Verstappen led a Red Bull one-two in the 2022 Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix after the retirements of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, giving Mercedes’ George Russell P3 at Baku.

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Mario Isola – Motorsport Director, Pirelli:

In all likelihood, this would have been a one-stop race, but the opportunities presented by the virtual safety cars for pit stops with minimal time loss were too good for several of the teams to ignore. This influenced the timing of the pit stops and therefore the strategy. We still saw seven of the 15 finishers stopping only once, which underlines the durability as well as the performance of the tyres here. With the conditions as they were, on a hot track featuring high speeds, it was clear that the harder compounds were best suited to today’s race: a fact that many of the teams had anticipated by saving more than one set of hard tyres for the Grand Prix.

2022 Formula 1 Azerbaijan GP Race Results

2022 Constructor Standings

Pos	Picture	Team	Points
1.		Red Bull Racing	759
1.		Scuderia Ferrari	554
3.		Mercedes-AMG F1 Team	515
4.		Alpine F1 Team	173
5.		McLaren Racing	159
6.		Alfa Romeo Racing	55
7.		Aston Martin F1 Team	55
8.		Haas F1 Team	37
9.		Scuderia AlphaTauri	35
10.		Williams Racing	8

Here are the team-by-team highlights:

Reigning FIA Formula One World Champion Max Verstappen led home teammate Sergio Pérez for a comfortable 1-2 at Sunday’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix as Oracle Red Bull Racing took full advantage of retirements for both Ferrari cars to increase their 2022 title leads.

Mexican Pérez got ahead of polesitter Charles Leclerc off the start line, however, he was unable to resist the better race pace of his Dutch teammate as they coasted to their third 1-2 of the 2022 season.

Verstappen claimed his 66th team podium – the most in Red Bull history – and now leads the 2022 drivers’ standings by 21 from Pérez, who banked the fastest lap point, with the team also 80 points ahead of Ferrari.

Max Verstappen

Today we had incredible pace in the car, we could really look after the tyres and we could chip away for the lead. Checo did a good job at the start getting ahead of Charles, I got blocked in and couldn’t go anywhere. Once I was on the hard tyres and in the lead and I could just manage it and could control the gap. It would have been good to have had a battle with Charles today but he had a DNF. To get a 1-2 for the Team was really good, we’ve scored some good points today and made the gap bigger to Ferrari. There’s still a long way to go, it’s a long season so we need to keep pushing as a Team.

Sergio Pérez

I started really well, we were leading and felt we had things under control. We were a little unlucky with the timing of the VSC which made things a bit more difficult for us. When you are leading the race for the first stint, which is normally the harder one, then you think you are looking strong but that wasn’t to be the case today and that is racing. I got some bad degradation on my rear tyres, which meant I couldn’t keep Max behind, he was extremely fast and it made sense for him to pass me rather than fight it. We were told to keep a certain pace on the hards once both Ferraris were out of the race and we managed the rest of it well. We have to understand where we could have gotten more out of the car today and go forward to Canada and make sure we are in contention once again. Today was a great result for the Team and a good day in the Constructors’ Championship.

Christian Horner – Team Principal & CEO

It’s a fantastic result for us today on a track that never fails to deliver the unexpected. I think it’s a shame that the fans didn’t get to see how the strategy would have played out today, Ferrari stopped very early under that virtual safety car, and with us going onto the hard tyre that much later, I think that would have given us the advantage towards the end of the race. But we managed to capitalise on the events within the race with both drivers driving fantastically. We asked them to race each other cleanly and fairly and that’s what they did. They’re doing a great job for the Team and we’re very proud of what the whole team has achieved today.

Red  Bull Racing Honda best pictures:

BAKU, AZERBAIJAN – JUNE 09: Sergio Perez of Mexico and Oracle Red Bull Racing laughs in the Paddock during previews ahead of the 2022 Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix at Baku City Circuit on June 09, 2022 in Baku, Azerbaijan. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)

BAKU, AZERBAIJAN – JUNE 10: Sergio Perez of Mexico driving the (11) Oracle Red Bull Racing RB18 on track during practice ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Azerbaijan at Baku City Circuit on June 10, 2022 in Baku, Azerbaijan. (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)

BAKU, AZERBAIJAN – JUNE 11: Max Verstappen of the Netherlands and Oracle Red Bull Racing signs autographs for fans prior to final practice ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Azerbaijan at Baku City Circuit on June 11, 2022 in Baku, Azerbaijan. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)

BAKU, AZERBAIJAN – JUNE 12: Race winner Max Verstappen of the Netherlands and Oracle Red Bull Racing (second from left), Second placed Sergio Perez of Mexico and Oracle Red Bull Racing (L), Third placed George Russell of Great Britain and Mercedes (R) and Tom Hart Performance Engineer at Red Bull Racing (second from right) celebrate on the podium during the F1 Grand Prix of Azerbaijan at Baku City Circuit on June 12, 2022 in Baku, Azerbaijan. (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)

BAKU, AZERBAIJAN – JUNE 12: Race winner Max Verstappen of the Netherlands and Oracle Red Bull Racing and Second placed Sergio Perez of Mexico and Oracle Red Bull Racing celebrate in parc ferme during the 2022 Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix at Baku City Circuit on June 12, 2022 in Baku, Azerbaijan. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)

BAKU, AZERBAIJAN – JUNE 12: Race winner Max Verstappen of the Netherlands and Oracle Red Bull Racing and Red Bull Racing Team Consultant Dr Helmut Marko talk after the 2022 Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix at Baku City Circuit on June 12, 2022 in Baku, Azerbaijan. (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)

Scuderia Ferrari

Today, for the first time this season and indeed for the first time since Australia 2009, failures linked to reliability meant that Scuderia Ferrari failed to get either of its cars to the finish line. Carlos’ race ended on lap 9 with a hydraulic problem, while Charles had to retire after 21 laps with a power unit problem when leading the race.

It is very disappointing that for the second time in three races, Charles had to retire his F1-75 while leading, thus missing out on a very possible big points haul. This was Carlos’ third retirement of the season, although it is the first due to reliability problems. The World Championship resumes in a few days’ time with next Sunday’s Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal.

Charles Leclerc #16

It’s a disappointing outcome for us today. At the beginning of the first stint on the Mediums we weren’t particularly strong, but towards the end of it, we started catching Checo (Perez). During the Virtual Safety Car, we decided to take the opportunity and pit for Hards, which was the right thing to do. It put us in a position where we could lead the race and what we had to focus on from then on was managing the tyres to the end. We then had an issue with the power unit and had to retire it. It’s time to go home and reset before Canada. We have to get on top of things and come back stronger there.

Carlos Sainz #55

Today’s result is hard to accept. After the start, we opened the gap to manage the tyres and try to extend the first stint longer into the race. Unfortunately, a hydraulic problem occurred on lap 9 and that was it. Together with Charles’ issue, this is definitely a difficult day for the entire team and our fans, as we lost valuable points and mileage. For one reason or another, it’s been complicated to build a strong momentum so far this season.

However, we are a very strong team and I have absolutely no doubt we have the ability and determination to come back stronger. There is still a long way to go this year. On to Canada!

Mattia Binotto, Team Principal & Managing Director

This is undoubtedly a bad day. Compared to last year, we have made great progress in terms of performance, however, there is definitely still room for improvement on the reliability front.

In a week’s time, we will be in Canada where we will aim to make up for this. Before then, we will analyse the failures we experienced here and will try to manage them until we can get on top of them. There is definitely still work to do.

Scuderia Ferrari best pictures:

Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team

The team maximised their opportunities to leave Baku with a sizeable haul of points, having put themselves in the hunt with strong driving, bold strategy and being operationally solid.

Both drivers made a clean start, holding position and settling into the opening stint before a VSC on lap 9 presented the opportunity for a cheap stop, which the team pounced on with both drivers.

The Mercedes pair took advantage of a second VSC which consolidated George’s P3 and put Lewis in a position to charge through TSU, then hunt down GAS for a well-earned cruise to the end in P4.

Lewis Hamilton

I just got through that race on adrenaline, biting down on my teeth through the pain. I can’t express the pain that you experience, especially on the straight here. And in the end, you’re just thinking of all the people relying on you for the points. But we’re in such a good position still! Third and fourth is a great results for the team. The team did a great job with the strategy and once we’ve fixed this bouncing we’re going to be right there in the race. We’re losing over a second for sure just with bouncing, or at least a second. I’ll be at the factory tomorrow, we’ve got to have some good discussions and keep pushing.

George Russell

We were smashing the ground every single corner and every lap for 90 mins, it was pretty brutal – I’ll sleep well tonight! It’s what we’ve got to deal with it at the moment, there’s not much we can do in the short term. There are lots of intelligent people, hugely talented engineers in the sport so I’m sure we’ll find a solution. We didn’t get the podium on pure pace today but we did it because the team worked very hard to deliver a reliable car, we did a good job to be ahead of the midfield and obviously, we picked up on Ferrari’s misfortune. As a team, we take that as a positive and kudos to everyone at Brackley and Brixworth on all the hard work. We know we aren’t quick enough and we’ve got a long way to go to bring performance. We’re experimenting and trying things, one week’s turnaround to Montreal will be tough to find the solution but hopefully, we’ll get there soon.

Toto Wolff

This is where we are at the moment – not as quick as the front runners but clear of the midfield. We never enjoy our rivals’ misfortune, we want to see a strong fight at the front and we’re hoping to catch up and join so there are six of us there fighting. A strong job from George today, he managed the race and took his podium well. We need to find a solution for the bouncing because the car we gave Lewis today was so tough to drive, you could see the pain in his back all weekend. After running on Friday, we knew we had big limitations with the car in Baku so it was a case of maximising our strategy, driving and operations.

The team did a great job on all three to ensure we were in the mix and ready to take advantage of any opportunity that came our way. Today, it paid off and we leave Baku with a good haul of points but we are under no illusion of the job we have ahead of us to get back to the front. There are no holy cows, everything is being looked at and we’ve got a great team trying to solve our issues.

Mercedes-AMG F1 Team best pictures:

Hear from McLaren Formula 1 drivers Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo, and Team Principal Andreas Seidl after the 2022 Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Lando Norris

I’m as happy as I can be with that, we just got unlucky with a couple of positions as a result of others boxing under the VSC, which happens in Baku. It’s just a case of different strategies. So, we lost out a little bit on that, but the pace was good. We found it difficult to overtake with our package here, but the actual pace of the car was strong. I think today was the best we could achieve, all things considered. But of course, we want more, so we’ll keep working on our weaknesses and aim for a better performance next time out in Montreal.

Daniel Ricciardo

I’m happy to have scored some points, obviously for the team and for myself – it’s been a while. It was an eventful race with split strategies, so at the beginning, I was a bit quicker than Lando on the Hard tyre, and there were some team orders, and then at the end, he was quicker on the Hard and there were further team orders. Ultimately, I don’t think we were quick enough to challenge Fernando, as even if we got close on the straight, he was just so quick. So, obviously, we’ve got to try and take a bit of drag out the car. That was our Achilles’ heel here this weekend – but otherwise, I think we maximised our result. I’m happy to have had a smoother weekend.

Andreas Seidl

Given our starting positions and the performance we had in our package this weekend, we are happy leaving Baku with six points for the team. Daniel and Lando worked together with the team and maximised all that was in our hands today. We knew before the race that, with our top-speed deficit at this track, we would struggle to overtake Alonso on track, which in the end didn’t allow us to progress further up the field despite trying a different strategy. We’ll keep working on understanding the car and see how we can optimise it further for the next race in Montreal, which is only a few days away.

“Thank you to the entire team here at the track, back home at MTC and our colleagues at HPP, as well as Daniel and Lando for all the hard work again this weekend. I’d also like to thank our amazing fans for their continued support throughout this season so far, wherever we go. The whole team are working tirelessly to unlock more performance within our car so that we can keep up the fight in the Constructors’ Championship. Next stop Canada.

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Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN

Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN endured a disappointing day in Baku as Valtteri Bottas finished 11th in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, with team-mate, Zhou Guanyu, seeing his race come to a premature end due to a technical issue when running in the points.

It’s only the second time the team fails to score points in eight races so far this season, but with the next round in Montreal in just seven days’ time, Alfa Romeo F1 Team ORLEN will have an opportunity to bounce back right away.

Valtteri Bottas (car number 77)

We came here hunting for points and we leave with none, so I am obviously not very pleased about how our weekend went. Today it felt like a very long race as we were lacking pace: I believe there was something fundamentally wrong with the car, something we need to investigate. We will need to figure out what exactly happened before we get to Montreal, but I am convinced we will understand it and address it. Other than the outright pace, we did well as a team in terms of strategy and race execution, but that wasn’t enough to bring home the points. I feel quite sorry for Zhou as he was doing a really good race prior to his retirement: today was not our day, but I am looking forward to Canada next week. It’s been a while since we raced there and it’ll be nice to be back.

Zhou Guanyu (car number 24)

It’s frustrating not to finish today, but I want to focus on the positives of my performance. Until the issue, my race had gone really well: I didn’t do any mistakes, I was competitive and I was running in the points. I had good pace and I know we could have brought home a good result. What happened is unfortunate, but the most important now is that we, as a team, solve this issue for the future so that we stop missing out on the opportunities we have. We’ll investigate what the issue is in detail and we’ll make sure we do come back stronger.

Frédéric Vasseur, Team Principal

We end our Sunday here in Baku with a feeling of disappointment, as our streak of consecutive points finishes comes to an end after five good races. It was a big blow to lose Zhou with a technical issue today: until then, he had delivered an excellent performance, without a single mistake, and he was destined for the points. He deserved a good result today, but at least we can look at his performance knowing he’s on an upward path. Valtteri had a difficult race and we have to analyse what went wrong: we weren’t able to extract performance from the car throughout the weekend, and it’s something we need to address before Montreal to make sure we return to the level we have been competing at this season.

Alfa Romeo F1 Team best pictures:

BWT Alpine F1 Team departs Baku with seven Constructors’ points after Fernando Alonso finished seventh and Esteban Ocon tenth in an exciting 2022 Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix. The result sees Alpine claw back fifth in the Constructors’ Standings on 47 points.

After a routine opening lap around the Baku City circuit, both drivers held their starting positions of tenth and thirteenth. The race truly started to unravel around lap 9 when a Virtual Safety Car was called. Fernando remained out on his Medium tyres and gradually moved up the order after others chose to stop under the Virtual Safety Car. He eventually pitted under normal racing conditions on lap 18 and switched to Hards.

Esteban also remained out on his starting tyres (Hards) and found himself inside the top ten after the Virtual Safety Car. On the fresher rubber, Fernando began to carve his way through the midfield and overtook a number of cars in part thanks to his rapid sector 3 times.

As his teammate climbed the order, Esteban was also kept busy as he defended against a number of cars whilst on the older tyres. He was eventually called in for his mandatory pitstop on lap 33, capitalising on another Virtual Safety Car which enabled him to return to the eleventh position.

As normal racing conditions resumed, Fernando found himself seventh and Esteban was tenth.

For the remainder of the 51-lap race, both drivers continued to utilise the car’s strong sector 3 pace and battled hard inside the top ten. Both McLarens tried their best to catch and overtake Fernando, but his stalwart defence ensured he crossed the line in seventh for the second consecutive race. Esteban meanwhile collected the final point in tenth, ensuring his sixth top-ten finish of the season.

Fernando Alonso

The race was difficult to execute today but we did well, and I am happy with seventh. We obviously benefited from a few retirements, but these things happen, and we were there to capitalise on them and really maximise our strengths. I overtook a few cars on the new tyres and we were very fast on the straights so that was useful. Our power unit is looking strong and competitive, so this is always a good thing. We are very close with a number of cars at the moment, and I expect it to be quite similar in Canada. Let’s aim to score more points there!

Esteban Ocon

It was a very challenging race today, so to come away with a double points finish and another top ten is a positive. Like always, we’ll debrief as a team to see what areas we can improve for next time. We were quick on both Friday and Saturday – we can count ourselves slightly unfortunate in qualifying which did not help our track position today – so there is definitely more potential there if we can piece it all together. We can leave Baku feeling positive and we’re already looking forward to returning to Canada next weekend where the aim is to keep scoring points.

Otmar Szafnauer, Team Principal

The aim today was to have both cars finish the race inside the points and we’ve been able to achieve that. The characteristics of the Baku City Circuit bring a unique challenge to both the drivers and the cars and we felt if we could get both cars across the chequered flag we would be in the points. There was more potential in our package this weekend. Esteban was unfortunate in qualifying, which put him slightly further back on the grid than we would have liked. That said, both drivers drove smart, well-calculated races today when it counts for points and we can be pleased that both made up places and into the top ten. We’ll debrief over the next couple of days and we look forward to heading back to Montreal next weekend for the highly anticipated return of the Canadian Grand Prix. We’ve moved into fifth in the Constructors’ and we’re looking ahead to make further inroads on fourth place.

Alpine F1 Team best pictures:

Scuderia AlphaTauri enjoyed a strong weekend as Frenchman Pierre Gasly ended in an impressive fifth place with Japanese teammate Yuki Tsunoda back in 13th place at the finish.

Pierre Gasly

It’s been pretty incredible for us today. Finishing in the top five is really good, especially considering how the start of our year has played out. We’ve not had that much luck so far, so it was important to get a clean weekend, which is what we’ve achieved here in Baku. We made no mistakes this weekend, we showed great pace in practice, then we had the best Quali of the year yesterday and today we finished in our highest position of the season to date. We also enjoyed a nice little battle with Lewis, which was fun. We knew at the start of the race that it would be relentless, as we headed in with just one new set of Hards, so we were really hoping for a clean end to the race but unfortunately, we had the second Virtual Safety Car, and we knew that wouldn’t play out in our favour. I tried to defend against Lewis the best I could, once he pitted for new tyres, but he was much faster – I tried to nurse my tyres through the race, but they really weren’t in great shape by that point. At the end of the day, to be in a position to fight with the Mercedes means that we’re doing a really good job, so it’s great for the team to come away with lots of points today.

Yuki Tsunoda

I’m really disappointed today. Until the reliability issue the race was going really well for me, we were really in control of the tyres and the pace was good, so I think we could’ve easily finished in P6 today. I wasn’t fully aware of the issue, as it wasn’t causing too much of a change to our performance, that’s why I was a bit shocked when I was called in. It’s such a shame to be coming away without points from my side of the garage, as the team have done such a great job this weekend and we’ve been strong in every session.

Guillaume Dezoteux – Head of Vehicle Performance

We’ve got mixed emotions here in Baku today. We are all extremely happy to achieve a great, and well-deserved, fifth place with Pierre. However, we are very disappointed for Yuki, who lost a possible sixth position due to mechanical damage around the rear wing DRS mechanism and flap. The race was intense and following a strong first stint on the medium tyre, we decided to use the opportunity of the first Virtual Safety Car period to pit both cars and switch to hard tyres. It was a little bit earlier than we had hoped and we knew it would be a long way to the end of the race. Both drivers did a fantastic job at managing the tyres and the car, everything was looking good and steady. Unfortunately, thanks to the second VSC, Hamilton could fit a second set of Hards and pass us just seven laps before the end of the race. Pierre kept his head down and finished the race P5 with good pace, considering his very old tyres. For Yuki, the mechanical damage meant we were forced to stop and repair the issue, losing many positions. We apologise to him, he did a fantastic job this weekend and deserved this result. Anyway, this weekend boosts our morale. We have been able to close the gap to sixth place in the Constructors’ Championship and the target is to confirm this good form in Canada next week.”

Scuderia AlphaTauri Team best pictures:

Haas F1 Team driver Mick Schumacher classified 14th, while Kevin Magnussen was unable to finish, at the 2022 Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, held Sunday at the Baku City Circuit.

Schumacher took the start on Pirelli P Zero White hard tires and gained a spot to hold 19th through the opening stint. Schumacher came in on lap 10 during a virtual safety car period caused by Carlos Sainz retiring and took on Yellow medium tires for the next phase. Schumacher came in for his second pit stop on lap 24, switching back to hards, and emerged in the 16th spot. Schumacher made gains across the final stint to greet the checkered flag in 14th place.

Magnussen started from 16th on medium tires and came into the pits for White hard tires on lap 10, also profiting from the VSC phase. Magnussen emerged in 16th place and gradually moved up the order to hold 11th, pursuing Alpine’s Esteban Ocon for the final points-paying position. Unfortunately, Magnussen suffered a power unit issue on lap 33 as he exited Turn 12 and was forced to park his VF-22 by the side of the circuit at Turn 15.

Up front Red Bull Racing scored a 1-2, with Max Verstappen leading Sergio Perez, while George Russell was third for Mercedes AMG.

Haas F1 Team will next be in action at the Canadian Grand Prix, which will take place at the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve, June 17-19.

Kevin Magnussen, Driver No. 20

It looked like we were back in the game and in a position to maybe score a point or two, so it’s disappointing. I know I lost power but I don’t know what exactly broke so it’s unfortunate but on to the next one. We’ve just got to stay at it, keep positive and keep working hard as it will go our way sooner or later.

Mick Schumacher, Driver No. 47

There wasn’t a safety car or a red flag and I think I was betting on three safety cars and a red flag, at least, but it didn’t happen. We did our maximum, but the pace just wasn’t there. From Saturday onwards, things went a bit smoother but on a track like this it’s the Friday that matters and we only had one session to find the perfect set-up for qualifying, so it’s not easy and that’s what made everything a little bit more difficult. We just have to look ahead.

Guenther Steiner, Team Principal, Haas F1 Team

It’s not what we wanted today but the good thing that we take away is that we were in a good position when we had some PU issues, but we still have to find out what it is. As I always say, our car is good enough to get into the points, we just need to make it happen. Kevin was fighting and was in the fight and Mick also put in a solid effort.

Haas F1 Team best pictures:

Sebastian finished in the sixth position at the 2022 Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, scoring eight points for the team in his best finish of 2022 so far. The tight city circuit proved difficult for both drivers, but it was a mechanical issue that saw Lance retire from the race at the end of lap 47.

Lance Stroll

It is a shame that we had to retire the car. The engineers could see the car was suffering from a vibration issue, so they asked me to retire the car. We are still not quite sure what the problem was, so we will have to do some work over the next week to investigate it and fix things.

Sebastian proved our car has the pace, so hopefully, we can come back stronger for my home race in Canada next week, which I am really looking forward to.

Sebastian Vettel

Sixth position is really great – I think we can all be pleased with that result. We have been pushing the limits of this car, and it is starting to pay off for us now. Today, we were faster than Alfa Romeo and matched Alpine and Alpha Tauri, and that changes the game for us a little bit. The team did an amazing pit-stop, which enabled me to jump Lewis [Hamilton].

“After that, I was sure I had got past Esteban [Ocon], but I thought he would battle more for the position, so I took to the escape road and lost some time. Without that incident, I think I could have battled for the fifth position. Nevertheless, this is a great result.

Mike Krack, Team Principal

Sebastian capped a solid weekend with a good drive to sixth place in Baku today, thereby scoring eight valuable points in the constructors’ world championship.

Lance was disadvantaged by a power unit issue in qualifying yesterday and a vibration problem today, which finally caused us to have to retire him a few laps before the end of the race. So we had mixed fortunes this weekend, but our car showed encouraging pace throughout.

Next up is Canada in just a few days’ time – one of our home Grands Prix – where we will work hard to put up a competitive and trouble-free performance for both drivers on the streets of Montreal.

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Action, TS-Live, Baku City Circuit, GP2208a, F1, GP, Azerbaijan, Sebastian Vettel, Aston Martin AMR22

Baku City Circuit, GP2208a, F1, GP, Azerbaijan

Portrait, Baku City Circuit, GP2208a, F1, GP, Azerbaijan, Aston Martin practices a pit stop

Portrait, Helmets, Baku City Circuit, GP2208a, F1, GP, Azerbaijan, Sebastian Vettel, Aston Martin, on the grid

Portrait, TS-Live, Baku City Circuit, GP2208a, F1, GP, Azerbaijan, Lance Stroll, Aston Martin, on the grid

Technical, portrait, TS-Live, Baku City Circuit, GP2208a, F1, GP, Azerbaijan, Mechanics on the grid with Sebastian Vettel, Aston Martin AMR22

The Baku City Circuit didn’t provide the chaos that we’ve come to expect at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, but the Williams Racing team leave the Caspian Sea coastline with plenty of encouragement.

Strategic calls from the pit wall and a faultless drive in the cockpit helped Alex Albon reach P12 by the chequered flag while Nicholas Latifi did his best to recover from an early penalty that took him out of contention at the start of the race, finally finishing P15.

Alex Albon

It was a fun race here in Baku! We just got a bit unlucky with the VSC timing, otherwise, we would have been in a better place to fight for points today, but again our race pace was actually really strong.

If you look at our pace relative to the midfield it was very strong; we were as quick if not quicker than a lot of cars in front of us. We had a good start, optimised what we had, and it was a well-executed race for us.

Nicholas Latifi

It’s unfortunate that the penalty undid everything before it even started. I feel like there should be some leniency applied for what the infringement was as I was just pushed back, and nothing was changed to the car.

It was tricky being so far off from the pack then the cycle of blue flags and getting caught by the leaders very early on. The race ended up being a very long and lonely one. We managed to get more mileage and laps with the car, but overall a challenging weekend on this track.

A day to forget but excited to be heading straight to Canada for my first home race.

Dave Robson, Head of Vehicle Performance:

Alex raced very well and the pace of the FW44 in race trim was good today. The timing of the VSC which allowed Bottas to stay ahead was frustrating, but that is racing; at least we forced the situation by stopping Alex for a second time and played an aggressive hand in pursuit of a better result. At the end of the race, we stopped the car immediately as we could see something on the data that we were not comfortable with.

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