Norris shuts down missed opportunity suggestion at F1 Azerbaijan GP

Lando Norris has rubbished suggestions that he has missed an opportunity to significantly close down the gap to Formula 1 world championship leader Oscar Piastri in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Norris finished seventh in Baku meaning he is now 25 points behind McLaren team-mate and title rival Piastri, who crashed on the opening lap to cap off a mistake-riddled weekend. 
The Baku event …Keep reading

Explained: Leclerc’s frustration amid botched Ferrari F1 driver swap

Charles Leclerc was left frustrated after team-mate Lewis Hamilton failed to hand back a position at the end of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, although slow communication by the Ferrari Formula 1 team appeared to be the main culprit.
Leclerc was fighting Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda for fifth in the closing stages of the Baku street race until he was passed by McLaren’s Lando Norris. With Leclerc …Keep reading

James Allen: Smooth operators tame Baku’s turbulent conditions

Few people would have had Max Verstappen, George Russell and Carlos Sainz on their bingo card for the podium positions in Azerbaijan.
The strong winds blowing off the Caspian Sea had threatened to unsettle all the F1 cars during the weekend. But it was the winds of fortune that blew in on qualifying and race day to utterly disrupt McLaren. The team, so sure-footed throughout this dominant …Keep reading

Piastri laments “too many mistakes” at F1 Azerbaijan GP after early crash

Oscar Piastri was left rueing a mistake-riddled Azerbaijan Grand Prix weekend after the Formula 1 championship leader crashed out on the opening lap.
The McLaren driver locked up into the Turn 4 barrier after an already poor start, as Piastri dropped from ninth to last having stopped at race start trying to rectify his jumping of the lights. 
But all weekend Piastri hasn’t had it easy. He …Keep reading

F1 Azerbaijan GP: Verstappen dominates, Norris fails to capitalise on Piastri crash

Max Verstappen dominated the Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix in a flawless victory, while Oscar Piastri crashed out on the first lap, with Lando Norris only seventh to make a small gain in the title fight.
Verstappen ran largely unopposed as a dramatic qualifying saw Williams man Carlos Sainz and Racing Bulls driver Liam Lawson provide a handy buffer between the world champion and his direct …Keep reading

Why Piastri won’t serve grid penalty in Singapore for jumping start in F1 Azerbaijan GP

The procedure for applying penalties in Formula 1 is controversial enough – even before you get into the subject of what happens if circumstances mean a driver is unable to serve that penalty during the race.
F1’s sporting regulations include a stipulation that when “a driver is unable to serve the penalty due to being unclassified… the stewards may impose a grid place penalty on the …Keep reading

Piastri crashes out of Azerbaijan GP in huge setback for F1 championship leader

Championship leader Oscar Piastri has crashed out of the Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix on the first lap after a poor start which has ended his 34-race point-scoring streak. 
Starting ninth on the grid, he had a horrific start as he jumped the lights before bogging the car down as he fought against the anti-stall which dropped him to the back of the pack.
But at Turn 5, his race came to an …Keep reading

Why Steiner doesn’t expect Liberty to copy F1’s model in MotoGP

Ex-Haas team principal Guenther Steiner believes MotoGP will retain its originality under new owner Liberty Media rather than adopting Formula 1’s template.
In July, Liberty Media completed its takeover of MotoGP, becoming the majority shareholder in series promoter Dorna Sports after a prolonged regulatory process.
With Liberty having also acquired F1 in 2017, the American media …Keep reading

Strategy corner: Shaken-up grid has a perverse effect on F1 Azerbaijan GP

Although Pirelli has gone a step softer in its tyre allocation for Azerbaijan this year, in the hope of steering teams away from defaulting to a one-stop strategy, actually this has had the opposite effect.
The C5 which was the unfancied soft last year is now the medium, with the new C6 becoming the softest option. But since the difference in lap time between the two compounds is so small – …Keep reading

Antonelli opens up after Baku quali: The mental effect of seeing other F1 drivers crash

Formula 1 qualifying at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix turned into crashfest with many red flags, but Andrea Kimi Antonelli kept his cool with a surprisingly good qualifying performance.
After a tough European leg, the young Italian secured fourth place on the Baku grid – a welcome boost to his confidence.
“The pace has been strong the whole weekend, and definitely the biggest difference has …Keep reading