Azerbaijan Grand Prix

Most important thing to note: this weekend’s race is on Saturday because Sunday is Azerbaijan’s national Remembrance Day.

The FIA released the 2027 calendar, but the 2026 season still has some uncertainty – they’ve squeezed “Bahrain” between Azerbaijan and Singapore, and I’ve put it in quotes because the GP will actually be in Malaysia! The “situation” in the Middle East means Qatar and Abu Dhabi are still “uncertain”.

HAD is finally back in his Red Bull seat after missing the Netherlands, Italy, and Spain Grands Prix.

McLaren have new aero elements this weekend; Red Bull have a new floor; RB2 have new front wings and suspension; Cadillac have a new suspension and diffuser; Audi have new nose, halo and engine cover; Williams’ changes focused on weight reduction.

Free Practice

1. FP1: RUS (1:45.387), VER, LEC, HAM, ANT
   ANT parked his Mercedes in Turn 7 after losing hydraulics
   RUS took to the escape road just in time to avoid the wall
   VER and HAD both reported problems with the handling of their Red Bulls
   LEC locked up and used the run-off in Turn 1
   PIA complained of “unbelievable” vibrations under braking
   NOR’s McLaren needed some attention in the garage; the team also called PIA in for some checks
   SAI had to pit with a brake issue; the rear brakes were on fire when he stopped in the Williams box
   LIN parked briefly in Turn 7
   HUL stopped his Audi at a convenient gap in the wall
   OCO halted at the pit exit, but got going again after rebooting the Haas
2. FP2: RUS (1:43.347), ANT, VER, LEC, HAM
   HAD locked up into Turn 1 and used the huge run-off area
   LAW hung the RB2’s tail out into Turn 2 but avoided the wall
   STR tapped the wall in Turn 15
   LIN smacked both front and rear right wheels into the Turn 8 wall, breaking his suspension and bringing out the red flag
   HAM continued his mobile chicane habit from Spain, frustrating LAW
   VER went deep into Turn 15 and had to spin around in order to rejoin
   GAS used the escape road in Turn 3; OCO in T16; RUS and HAM in Turn 1
   RUS almost ran into the rear of BOR after using him for a tow
   NOR brushed the wall into T16 but seemed unscathed
   COL missed his braking point for Turn 2; rather than spin the Alpine, he reversed back onto the track
   BEA’s Haas had an engine failure at the pit exit and he coasted into the T2 run-off area
3. FP3: VER (1:43.922), RUS, HAM, ANT, LEC
   Windy conditions, gusting to 50km/hr in some corners
   Brief VSC so a marshal could remove a small branch from the middle of the track
   RUS locked up in Turn 7, stopping just before touching the wall
   VER took to the Turn 15 escape road after a small lockup, and complained the car “jumped like a kangaroo”
   ANT went deep into Turn 4 and had to use the escape road; he also locked up into T1
   HAM also locked up into Turn 1
   LEC felt he wasn’t going to make Turn 3 and elected to head up the escape road instead; teammate HAM did the same
   STR clipped the wall in Turn 1, puncturing his front-left
   Audi duo HUL and BOR locked up into Turn 1

Penalties
ALO has a 30 grid place penalty for power unit changes on his Aston Martin; teammate STR has fewer PU changes so “only” a 20 place penalty
HAM received a reprimand for impeding LAW in FP2
SAI was reprimanded for failing to slow for yellow flags in FP3

Qualifying

Qualifying session 1 (Q1)
HAD 1:44.702
ANT hits the wall in Turn 1, damages his front-left, tries to limp back to the pits but he’s told to park somewhere safe
VER 1:44.279
RUS 1:43.615
Chequered flag; bottom 6 are LIN, HUL, ALO, PER, STR, BOT
LIN P14, BOR P17
HUL P18
PER P20
ALO P19
Back of the grid: BOR, HUL, ALO, PER, STR, BOT

Qualifying session 2
RUS 1:43.686
Brief yellow flag just before the chequered flag – did that ruin any final laps?
Chequered flag; bottom 6 are LAW, COL, OCO, ALB, LIN, ANT
ALB P13
COL P10, BEA P11
Middle of the grid: BEA, LAW, ALB, OCO, LIN, ANT

Qualifying session 3
RUS 1:43.713
SAI P2
VER P2
NOR 1:43.672
PIA 1:43.571
HAD P3
RUS 1:43.037
Yellow flag – COL off in Turn 15
LEC P2
HAD P3
Chequered flag; order is RUS, LEC, HAD, PIA, NOR, GAS, HAM, VER, SAI, COL
RUS 1:42.526
HAM P6
LEC P2
PIA P3
VER P8
SAI P9
Front of the grid: RUS, LEC, PIA, HAD, NOR, HAM, GAS, VER, SAI, COL

Provisional grid: RUS, LEC, PIA, HAD, NOR, HAM, GAS, VER, SAI, COL, BEA, LAW, ALB, OCO, LIN, ANT, BOR, HUL, ALO, PER, STR, BOT
*We already know ALO and STR have 30 and 20 grid place penalties respectively for new power unit components

Penalties
PER was given a 3 grid place penalty for impeding PIA
SAI received 2 penalty points and a 5 grid place penalty for failing to slow for yellow flags

Race

Grid: RUS, LEC, PIA, HAD, NOR, HAM, GAS, VER, COL, BEA, LAW, ALB, OCO, SAI, LIN, ANT, BOR, HUL, BOT, PER, ALO, STR
01/51: PIA takes P2 before Turn 1
NOR past HAD for P4

02: RUS, PIA, LEC, NOR, HAD, HAM, VER, GAS, COL, LAW
VER inside HAM for P6

03: HAD reclaims P4 from NOR
VER also past NOR

04: HAD has a look at LEC but the Ferrari hangs on to P3
But a second attempt sees HAD take P3

05/51: RUS, PIA, HAD, LEC, VER, NOR, HAM, GAS, COL, LAW
VER takes P4 from LEC

07: HAD let teammate VER take P3

10/51: RUS, PIA, VER, HAD, LEC, NOR, HAM, GAS, COL

17: HAM takes P6 from NOR
ANT past BEA for P10

23: ANT past COL for P9

30/51: RUS, PIA, VER, HAD, LEC, HAM, NOR, GAS, ANT, COL
NOR has a big lock-up into Turn 1; spins the McLaren around and rejoins P9

31: ALB is in the tyre wall
SC deployed

35: SC ending

36: VER inside PIA to steal P2
COL locks up into Turn 1, takes out teammate GAS and NOR
LIN went for a non-existent gap and taps teammate LAW, spinning him around
SC deployed again

38: SC ending

39: HAD takes P4 from LEC at the restart

40/51: RUS, VER, PIA, HAD, LEC, HAM, ANT, OCO, BEA, LIN, HUL, SAI, PER, LAW, BOR, BOT; out: COL, GAS, NOR, ALB, ALO, STR
PIA locks up into Turn 1; rejoins P10

43: ANT takes P5 from HAM

51/51: BOT is in the tecpro wall – yellow flag
VER has closed on RUS – did VER slow for the yellow?

RUS takes the chequered flag
Provisional result: RUS, VER, HAD, LEC, ANT, HAM, LIN, OCO, BEA, SAI; HUL, LAW, BOR, PIA, PER
DNF: BOT, COL, GAS, NOR, ALB, ALO, STR

Penalties
No further action for the collision between LIN and LAW
COL was given a 10 second time penalty, but because he took himself out (as well as GAS and NOR) it’s converted to a drop of 5 grid positions at the next race
BOR received a 10sec penalty for overtaking under yellow flags
HAD and SAI each got a warning for failure to follow Race Directors instruction regarding practice starts

Final Classification: RUS, VER, HAD, LEC, ANT, HAM, LIN, OCO, BEA, SAI; HUL, LAW, PIA, BOR, PER

[2026 calendar and driver line-up]