What the teams said – Race day in Azerbaijan

Mercedes

George Russell led from pole and built a commanding lead in the first segment of the race. He was cruising to the win until two Safety Cars neutralised his advantage. With a rapid Verstappen suddenly on his heels, Russell had to work hard in the final few laps to hold on to the win – even clipping the wall in his Mercedes at one stage. But despite losing his Boost on the very last lap, he just about held on for his first Grand Prix win since Austria.

As for Kimi Antonelli, he did not make the sort of progress many expected, initially going backwards at the start. Slowly but surely he did climb into the top 10, and then was very fortunate to avoid the crash at the first restart that happened on his outside. The Italian limited his losses with a move on Lewis Hamilton, but ran out of time to catch up and pass Charles Leclerc. Fifth was still a very decent recovery – aided by the Safety Cars closing the pack back up.

George Russell, 1st

"It's been an incredible weekend and probably one of the strongest of my career so far. I really enjoyed that race and that final stint was some of the most fun I’ve had in a Formula One race. We had strong pace throughout and were able to build a good gap, so when the Safety Car came out it was a little frustrating, but around a circuit like Baku that's always a possibility.

"The restart was probably the most stressful moment of the afternoon with Max right behind me, but I managed it well and from there it was all about staying focused and not making any mistakes. In the final stint we were both pushing hard, and whilst it was intense in the car, those are the moments you enjoy as a driver.

"I've felt comfortable all weekend, and at the moment things seem to be coming naturally behind the wheel. We're in a good place, but Formula One changes very quickly so you have to keep pushing. The aim is to keep working hard, keep building this momentum and hopefully continue fighting at the front over the races ahead."

Kimi Antonelli, 5th

"Today was about damage limitation. I took no unnecessary risks at all and focused on maximising the points scored for the team. It was difficult to make progress at times because we were in an overtaking train, but I focused on staying out of trouble and taking the opportunities when they came.

"It was one of those weekends where everything doesn't quite go your way. The pace wasn't quite there for me today, but given where we started, I have to be happy with P5. I just tried to race the race in front of me, stay patient and bring the car home. We were able to benefit from some of the opportunities that came our way and score as many points as possible.

"Luckily, we have another race coming up very soon, so I'm fully focused on that and really looking forward to it."

Bradley Lord, Deputy Team Principal

"It's been a really impressive weekend from George, he simply hasn’t put a foot wrong. He hit the ground running in FP1 and set the pace from then on. Even with the way the Safety Cars and restarts unfolded, he managed everything that was thrown at him and delivered a race that was completely error free, even with Verstappen breathing down his neck in the final stint. Around Baku, that's easier said than done.

"Today's race was always going to be a different challenge for Kimi. With the limited running he had through the weekend, it was important that he didn't come into the race thinking it was Monza Part Two and trying to force the issue. Instead, he drove the race that was in front of him, showed a really good grasp of the bigger picture, and recovered well to P5. That was an impressive performance in its own right.

"It's a great way for the team to start this demanding triple-header. We've scored strongly with both cars, executed well throughout the weekend, and given ourselves a solid foundation heading into the next race. Malaysia is a special event for us given our title partnership with PETRONAS, and we'll take the learnings from this weekend, keep working hard, and look to maximise our performance again next week."

Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director

"Congratulations to George and the team on a fantastic victory. He has been quick throughout the weekend and converted a brilliant pole position into an assured race win today. The Safety Cars kept things interesting and there was pressure at each restart, but George managed the race superbly and delivered when it mattered most.

"Kimi also did an excellent job to recover from P16 on the grid to finish fifth. After yesterday's disappointment, he stayed focused and made the most of the opportunities that came his way. His pace was strong throughout the race and he worked his way through the field with several decisive overtakes.

"The Safety Cars meant there was little opportunity to relax at any stage of the race, particularly for George at the front, but both drivers handled the challenges well and extracted the maximum from the opportunities available to them.

"We've had a competitive car from the first laps in Baku and it's pleasing to have converted that pace into a strong result. George was in control throughout the race, while Kimi's recovery drive demonstrated both the pace of the car and his determination after a difficult qualifying session. We leave Azerbaijan with good momentum and plenty of positives to take into the next event."

Red Bull

Max Verstappen’s PU was changed overnight - within allocation - and the extra horsepower paid dividends for the Dutchman in Baku. The Red Bull driver climbed up to third, with his team mate hot on his heels and did everything to try and get past Oscar Piastri. Once the McLaren man was on the slower mediums, Verstappen did just that and then had the job of challenging George Russell for the win. He came close, but just did not have the power to get close enough on the straights.

Isack Hadjar had arguably his best race for Red Bull as he bagged his second podium of the season. He harried his team mate in the first stint, even attempting some overtakes. Swapping to the mediums, Hadjar dropped off Verstappen in the last stint but comfortably did enough to take a rostrum in his first event back since his injury.

Max Verstappen, 2nd

“We had a very strong race today. Yesterday, we found an issue with the engine and changed it, so luckily everything was fixed. For most of the race we were on the Medium tyre, which didn’t perform as well as expected, but we still managed to work our way up the field nicely. Once we swapped to the Soft, it felt much better. We had a good first restart and during the last few laps with George, we were pushing flat out. We had good pace and were both pulling away from those behind. On the final lap it got close as we approached the line because George had turbo lag out of T15 due to the yellow flags. We really maximised the result today and we will, of course, keep trying for a win. All in all, it was a fantastic result for the Team to have two cars on the podium; that is exactly what you want to see. I had a lot of fun today.” 

Isack Hadjar, 3rd

"You can't really ask for a better comeback than that. The car has been competitive throughout the week and all over the track, so we had the pace to really challenge and be exactly where we wanted to be. Our approach was key to a strong week; taking it step-by-step allowed me to build confidence, and then the lap time comes with that. Ending it with P3 is a really pleasing result. It was a demanding track to make a return at, but once I got into a flow I felt like I never left. The race was great. I enjoyed myself out there; the car was very nice to drive, and battling with Max was fun too. He's been so strong all weekend, and I was happy to stay behind him as I knew the Soft was the superior tyre, and he showed that at the end. A double podium is an awesome result. It's the first in a while for the Team, so I'm very happy for everyone as they deserve it." 

Laurent Mekies, Team Principal

"It was an incredible race from Max, Isack and the whole Team. We finished just one tenth away from the win after 51 laps, secured P2 and P3, in what has been true teamwork to match Mercedes' pace throughout the race, and confirm the progress we are making. The upgrades clearly worked, and a big thank you goes to everyone on both the chassis and PU side, here at the track and back at the factory, for extracting even more from the package. 

"It was another excellent drive from Max. He has been flying from the first practice session onwards and it was hard to accept missing the chance to fight for Pole yesterday and starting only P8. But with our typical fighting spirit he came back and passed the others in front on track before his final challenge with George. Isack has had an outstanding weekend since coming back from injury and has taken even another step forward. He raced very cleverly and managed the car perfectly to deliver the best possible result for the Team. It was undoubtedly his best race with us so far, and he finished third on merit and pure pace. 

"At the beginning of the season, when we were about a second off the pace, this felt very far away, but we are competing at the front now, at least here in Baku. Overall, this has been our best weekend of the season. The whole Team has worked very hard for this double podium, and it is the result of a collective effort from everyone involved." 

Ferrari

Charles Leclerc was pipped by Piastri at the start, but ran third early on before losing out to both Red Bull cars. From there, the Ferrari driver had a bit of a lonely race, but the Monegasque driver had just enough pace to keep ahead of Antonelli late on. Lewis Hamilton also seemed to struggle for pace down the straights, although he did have an entertaining battle with Norris at one point. He could not keep Antonelli at bay whilst on the slower medium tyres, coming home a distant sixth.

Lewis Hamilton, 6th

"Overall, it wasn’t the weekend we were aiming for and there are a few areas we need to look into. Throughout the race, we struggled to get the tyres consistently into the right operating window, which made it difficult to extract the performance we wanted. We’ll go through the data, particularly around energy management, and see where we can improve. Sepang will be a different challenge, so our focus now is on regrouping and making sure we come back stronger next week."

Charles Leclerc, 4th

"We maximised our result, today we simply lacked pace compared to our main competitors who have been very strong all weekend. There were some phases of the race in which the pace of those ahead fluctuated a bit more, and even though my lap times were consistent throughout, we couldn’t get in a real fight for the podium today.

"As we saw this weekend, things can swing pretty quickly, so we all have to stay on top of that. I look forward to being back in the car in Sepang."

Fred Vasseur, Team Principal

"We knew before coming to Baku that this could be a difficult weekend for us, particularly because of our expected performance deficit on the long straights. Of course, starting from P2 with Charles, we wanted a better result. Our single-lap pace was good yesterday, but today we were missing a couple of tenths per lap compared to our competitors, which was too much. There are certainly things we could have done better this weekend, and we need to understand them and improve.

"On the positive side, in terms of the Constructors’ Championship, we extended our advantage over McLaren, but we need to keep pushing and focus on doing a better job at the next race."

McLaren

McLaren had a very mixed day, with a few highs but plenty of lows. Oscar Piastri climbed to second at the start and held the position despite having a very fast Verstappen on his heels. He produced a defensive masterclass to keep the Dutchman at bay, but lost out at the restart whilst shod on the mediums – which proved harder to warm up. He looked on for a podium but he locked up and ran wide after the second Safety Car, watching the whole field stream past.

As for Lando Norris, he lacked pace from word go out there. He seemed to recover midway through and did well to keep Hamilton behind for some time, before a mistake taking too much kerb allowed the Ferrari through. He then locked up which dropped him to P10, before being in the wrong place at the wrong time into Turn 1 after the Safety Car came in, punted into retirement by the clashing Alpines.

Lando Norris, DNF

“An immensely frustrating end to the weekend. We had been struggling with straight-line speed all weekend, but despite the car's lack of performance in that area, we were still on for a good haul of points, all of which are always valuable. However, to have my race ended by being taken out is extremely disappointing. There’s nothing you can do when you’re a passenger in an incident like that. It's a shame this is how the race ended for me and the team.

“Despite the weekend being tough, we have some positives to take away, and we'll review everything to see where we can improve and turn our full focus onto maximising performance and results in Malaysia.”

Oscar Piastri, 13th

“Very disappointing, it's not the day we wanted. We had the pace to be on the podium today, and were in a position to achieve that. The first stint was really strong for us, but the Medium tyre didn't feel as good in the second stint. The lock up at Turn 1 then dropped us to the back of the pack on flat-spotted tyres, and we could only do so much from there.

“Outside of the result, it's been a strong weekend for me, I have learned a lot and feel more comfortable in how to extract the pace from our car. We'll review, reset and then turn our attention to next weekend. So, let's see what we can do in Malaysia.”

Andrea Stella, Team Principal

“Leaving Baku with zero points is a difficult result to accept, but it is a responsibility we must take as a team. We made life too difficult for our drivers today. We were exposed by fundamental limitations of our package: too much drag, not enough top speed on the straights, and not enough pace in the corners, which forced our drivers to spend the race defending rather than progressing.

“Because of this, Lando and Oscar were under constant pressure and ultimately led to them being caught up in unfortunate events. We need to provide them with a car that is more predictable and raceable, allowing them to focus on attacking rather than constantly defending.

“We see Baku as a one-off circuit and now look to the future with optimism. The upgrades worked as intended and added lap time, but the circuit’s characteristics meant we needed a bigger step to see a clear impact, and we lost a couple of parts in the crash. Despite the outcome, there are still some positives to take away. Oscar drove a brilliant race up until the front tyre lock up, showing the fast and precise driver we know he is. We still have lessons to learn though, mainly for the team, and our focus is now on addressing our top-speed issues to ensure we are in a position to fight for the win in Malaysia.”

Racing Bulls

After a difficult Qualifying yesterday, the Grand Prix in Baku looked every bit as tricky for the team until a late surge from Arvid Lindblad secured some points for Racing Bulls. They had both cars outside the points on a day where their rivals’ Alpine looked set to score. But firstly, Colapinto and Gasly collided at the restart, which opened up slots in the top 10. That was the good news, the bad news was Lindblad and Liam Lawson collided at the same restart.

Lindblad was squeezed between two cars and had nowhere to go and came off the better, able to continue and escaping without any significant damage. That meant he could chase and overtake both Haas cars to come home seventh. But Lawson was punted into a spin, which dropped him down the order.

Arvid Lindblad, 7th

"First of all, I want to apologise to Liam and the team for the incident at Turn 1 after the restart. It was chaotic as the field bunched up and we were all pushing the limits, so I think everyone ended up braking a little too late. I was ready to make a move on Esteban, but he moved at the last moment and I just didn’t have anywhere else to go. Aside from that, it was a good race for us. It’s been a difficult weekend for us, so to come away with points is certainly a positive. A huge credit to the entire team for all the work they put in throughout; we executed the race well, and it was good fun battling with the two Haas towards the end. Now we’re looking forward to getting back out there in the next couple of weeks, with Malaysia and Singapore coming up."

Liam Lawson, 12th

"Not the greatest race for me today, but I’m pleased the team could come away with some valuable points and recover some ground in the Championship fight with Alpine. We’ve struggled with pace all weekend, so that’s something we’ll work on over the rest of the triple-header. We got caught up in a crash at Turn 1 during the restart, which caused some damage to the car and meant we couldn’t push forward as much as we would have liked. We’ll take what we can from today and be back next week, ready to fight again."

Alan Permane, Team Principal

"It was quite a race for us today and, honestly, we were fortunate to come away with the result we have. We were able to capitalise on the opportunities that presented themselves throughout the race, and to come away with six points for the team is a really positive outcome from a challenging weekend. We’ve had a tougher-than-usual weekend in terms of performance, but the cars certainly performed better today than they have done across the rest of the weekend. That gives us another set of data to analyse and learn from as we look to understand where we can improve. I’m looking forward to returning to Malaysia next week. It’s a physically demanding race for the drivers, particularly with the high temperatures and humidity, so preparation will be key. We’ll take the learnings from this weekend with us and focus on arriving in Malaysia in the best possible shape to put together a strong performance."

Haas

Haas scored double points in Baku, the only midfield team to do so. They were fortunate to pick up places when the two Alpine cars collided, with Norris also retiring from the top 10. But the car also looked quick all weekend, and both drivers were able to hold onto the places late on despite plenty of pressure. Lindblad did manage to pip Ollie Bearman, and then got Esteban Ocon across the line by the smallest of margins, but the team were able to hold Sainz and Hulkenberg at bay for their first score since Monaco.

Oliver Bearman, 9th

“To do this with both cars makes me really happy, and everyone in this team should be so proud. To be in the points with Esteban is a very rewarding feeling, especially after the challenges we’ve had over the last few events. I’m incredibly happy, although I’m disappointed at how I lost out in the first restart, it was absolute mayhem. I ended up losing a position, but honestly, it doesn’t matter as we’re both in the points. It was challenging towards the end as we were the only cars on mediums, and there were a lot of cars around us on softs, but we made it happen.”

Esteban Ocon, 8th

“It may only be P8, but it was a hard-fought one, and I’m very happy. We were struggling a little bit at the beginning, but we got more front-end at the pit stop, and that’s what we needed. We were flying from there, and from the restart, we were only moving forward, which is so good. I lost a place to Arvid on the main straight, it was a little bit chaotic, particularly with the yellow flag and maybe judged it a little bit on the safe side, but he was too fast on the straight regardless. We deserve all of this, and it’s very positive for the next two races in this triple-header. We deserve it, and I deserve it.”

Ayao Komatsu, Team Principal

“It’s an amazing result for everyone’s hard work. It’s been a long time coming, and it just goes to show, when times are tough, if we just stick together, we can solve the issues and improve the car. While the car wasn’t competitive, we’ve been working on our operations – so today when the car was competitive, everyone was spot-on. Pit stops, strategy, tyres – I’m really proud of everyone in this team – and I want to congratulate them.”

Alpine

Both Alpine cars started in the top 10 and were running in the top 10 when the first Safety Car came out. They looked on for a big haul of points, but at the restart Franco Colapinto carried too much pace into Turn 1 and locked up. He hit his team mate who hit Norris, with Pierre Gasly retiring immediately. Colapinto limped his car back to the pits, but the team retired him too. The Argentine picked up a 10-second time penalty for the collision, which he could not serve and thus will have a five-place grid drop for next weekend’s race.

Pierre Gasly, DNF

“I am gutted for the entire team today. It is a disappointing outcome for everyone but we will manage it together and move forwards. Franco and I have spoken together after the incident and he has apologised, which I accept, and we will discuss everything as a team to improve going forwards. In terms of our race up until that point, the car felt good, we had strong pace, and I was close to Lewis [Hamilton] and Lando [Norris] throughout while managing the gap quite easily to the rest of the midfield. I've been happy in the car this weekend and we have to take this pace into Sepang next weekend.”

Franco Colapinto, DNF

“I'm very disappointed with today's race and I'm really sorry to the team, to everyone at the factory, Pierre and Lando [Norris] of course, and to everyone who has been supporting us. It was a big mistake on my side and it should not happen. I locked up with cold tyres, cold brakes, and was out of control. I know the team has done a good job all weekend with the performance of the car so I am really sorry for what happened as we were in a good position to score double points.”

Flavio Briatore, Executive Advisor

“Obviously I'm extremely disappointed with the outcome of today's race, knowing we lost valuable points in the Championship fight. These sort of incidents shouldn't happen, particularly when we were running well with both cars in point-scoring positions. I feel very sorry for the team and for Pierre who did a great job all weekend and my apologies also go to Lando [Norris] and McLaren for ruining their race. I know that Franco has taken full responsibility for it, as he should; in fact he braked far too late considering the context of the race and the safety car restart. It was a very poor move for a driver of his experience. I want to take time to reflect on it and consider what course of action should be taken, so we can learn from it and avoid such a situation in future.”

Williams

Alex Albon made a mistake midway through the race, overcooking a corner and coming in too hot to make the run off area. Instead, he went straight on into the barriers, bringing out the first Safety Car. He was able to walk away, which was good to see. Carlos Sainz initially looked to have missed out, as he pitted early, well before the Safety Car gave everyone else a cheap stop. But he fought his way back late on, showing really good speed with that new Williams chassis and overtook Hulkenberg for the final point on offer.

Carlos Sainz, 10th

"I'm happy to get a point after yesterday’s penalty and I think the team deserved it. It was a difficult race, but we had a good restart after the safety car, doing a good job with tyre management and managed to get into the points towards the end of the race. These upgrades are a good sign of progress, but we know it’ll take a bit more to get in the points regularly. Hopefully we’ll be able to have a bit more fun fighting in the midfield for the remaining races."

Alex Albon, DNF

"It was a weird crash if I'm honest. I braked a little bit later than the previous lap and there was a big wind gust which caught us out a little bit. When I had my moment, I thought I would lock up and run a bit wide; I never thought I was going to hit the wall. We'll look at the data. In terms of the update, I think it's exactly the step we expected. It's put us in a midfield fight. If you roll back to the start of the year the car was delayed and it was overweight. We had to start a project to make a new chassis and delivered it on time and on weight and that is a huge difference to eight months ago. Hopefully now this is a turning point, and we can explore this update more in Malaysia."

James Vowles, Team Principal

"Well done to the team. It's been a mammoth effort to bring the update that we have here this weekend and it's nice to walk away with a point, a singular point, but a point all the same, in what was a very topsy-turvy weekend and race. Well done to Carlos. You can see we didn't have the pace on that first stint, and we need to dig and understand that because that was a critical part of the race where we weren't able to make progress. With Alex really well done as he held onto that starting position; just unfortunately a late brake combined with a wind gust ended his afternoon. But Carlos was there and ready to pick up points. We've got the first of a triple header done now; there’s lots to do in front of us but it's nice that we've now got a package that's at least in the mix. Let's see what we can do over the next few races."

Audi

Nico Hulkenberg got close to points in Baku, which was not a bad effort from a lowly starting slot. He initially stayed out when everyone else pitted under the Safety Car in the hopes of a red flag, but did eventually come in. The German was running 10th but could not keep Sainz behind in the closing stages, just missing out on points. Gabriel Bortoleto finsihed outside the points, and was handed a post-race time penalty for overtaking under yellow flags. Audi therefore missed out on a day where both Haas and Williams managed to score.

Nico Hulkenberg, 11th

“Points looked in reach for a bit, so it’s disappointing to miss out. I was running in P10 towards the end, but the cars ahead started battling, which cost us some time and allowed Carlos to get into my tow. The Williams was very quick down the straight, and there wasn’t much I could do to hold him back. That’s been a bit the story of our weekend. We were missing straight-line speed, and around here that makes it difficult to make progress or defend. We take it on the chin and move on. We have a few days now to go through the data, understand the package better and see what we can get out of it next weekend.”

Gabriel Bortoleto, 15th

“It hasn't been the easiest weekend, but the race itself was quite promising in terms of pace. The new package has been delivering, particularly in the middle sector, where the car felt quite strong. We had good pace behind the other cars, so it was encouraging to see that after some struggles on Thursday and Friday.

"The feeling wasn't the same on the straights, where we lacked pace. Still, while it's obviously not ideal to be outside of the points again, I am happy to see the moderate progress we made today: some positives we can take into the next race.”

Allan McNish, Racing Director

“Our plan was always to go long and be ready to take advantage of any Safety Car: that helped us run in the points towards the end of the race, which would have been a small reward for all the effort the whole team put in overnight to fight back from a difficult qualifying. We did come close, but always knew this track would not fully suit our car. We leave Baku disappointed, but ready to go again in Sepang in a week’s time, a track whose layout should better suit our car.”

Cadillac

Both Cadillac cars nearly made it to the finish in Baku, Valtteri Bottas crashing on the penultimate lap to bring out some very late yellow flags. Sergio Perez did see the chequered flag in 15th, after a busy race fighting with a fair few cars. The Baku specialist had a solid weekend throughout, and Cadillac do have two drivers in their line up with previous experience of racing in Malaysia, so might be quietly confident heading into next weekend.

Sergio Perez, 14th

“It's been one of my strongest weekends here in Baku, in terms of performance - I'm pleased with the way I've driven. We were fighting cars that were one or two seconds faster than us, due to the overtake mode, and we were able to stay with them in the first stint. The way I felt like I was running, if anything went wrong at any corner, I would have put it in the wall, so when you do a race like this you feel really proud. In that regard it was a positive weekend, a good step. We just lack in pace and straight-line speed, we are too draggy on the straights, so then we fall back. We need half a second or a second to stay with them - I'm a bit of a sitting duck on the straights.

"We stay optimistic for the coming weekends, hopefully we can continue to be stronger. We don't have any big upgrades coming in so I guess it's going to be a tough end of the season, but we will keep on it. Operationally, I'm pushing to get the maximum out of the weekends and I think we are heading in that direction, improving each time, but we just have to keep pushing a lot more as a team and things will come.”

Valtteri Bottas, DNF

“Today was a long and difficult day. We didn’t have the pace and I was only able to fight with Fernando [Alonso] which cost us some time. At the end of the race, I had a lock-up into Turn 1 and went wide, so I think the systems got somewhat confused because of the extra distance I’d driven. Then I suffered a huge super clip into Turn 15 and when I hit the brakes, only the front worked and it felt as if the rears weren’t harvesting anymore. Otherwise, we were pretty far off so we have plenty to analyse ahead of next week as it was a bit of a strange one.”

Marcin Budkowski, Team Principal

“It took a while for the race here in Baku to come alive but when it did it was a really interesting race. On our side we are a little bit disappointed after qualifying yesterday and today’s race but the fact that we are a bit disappointed is a good sign. We spent most of the race fighting with other cars - especially Checo who had a really strong weekend having good battles with our rivals. It was a real shame for Valtteri not to see the chequered flag after a long race - we will need to investigate that technical issue and get on top of it. We can take encouragement from Baku as extra motivation going into Malaysia next weekend.”

Aston Martin

Aston Martin’s difficult weekend in Azerbaijan ended with a double DNF. Lance Stroll was the first to head for an early shower, after he was told to pull over and park up with a suspected water pressure issue. Fernando Alonso’s afternoon did not last much longer, as he began to lose too much speed on the straights and pulled into the pits to retire the car.

Fernando Alonso, DNF

“Unfortunately, we had to retire the car as we seemed to be losing a lot of time on the straights and so we need to analyse this further. We knew this weekend wasn’t going to be a strong one for us and it proved to be the case. It’s where we are right now and let’s see if we can have a stronger weekend in Malaysia.”

Lance Stroll, DNF

“We had a water pressure issue, so I was told to stop the car. It's been another tough week, but we know the situation we are dealing with this year. There aren't many positives to take away. The focus is on improving these issues for the upcoming races and as we look further ahead to 2027.”

Mike Krack, Chief Trackside Officer

“There was not a huge amount to fight for today with our pace on this circuit. Lance’s race ended early on lap eight with a water pressure issue and we asked him to stop the car. Fernando reported suspected PU issues and was losing some time on the straights before he retired on lap 20. We will analyse and regroup in time for our visit to Sepang next week.”

Pirelli

Dario Marrafuschi, Pirelli Motorsport Director

“Today’s race largely confirmed our pre-race expectations. The Soft and Medium compounds proved to be the most effective choices, to the extent that the grid was split almost evenly between the two options at the start, regardless of starting position, with some teams differentiating tyre selection between their drivers. Many teams attempted to extend the opening stint in the hope of benefiting from a race neutralisation, a scenario that ultimately materialised.

"From a tyre behaviour standpoint, the extremely low degradation observed over the previous days was once again evident during the Grand Prix. Both the C4 and C5 displayed very low wear levels, with no significant graining, allowing drivers to maintain a strong pace for most of the race.

"In these conditions, the Soft provided an advantage in terms of grip and driver confidence, particularly noticeable on a demanding circuit such as Baku, to the point that it proved to be the most competitive race tyre. A clear example was provided by the two Red Bull drivers who, despite having identical machinery but opposite strategies, saw the driver on the red-marked tyre deliver the stronger performance.

"Overall, drivers were able to push from start to finish with very limited tyre management, focusing mainly on bringing the front axle back into the operating window after the various restarts following neutralisations, in order to avoid lock-ups and braking errors, incidents that nevertheless still occurred. The Hard compound, meanwhile, played no role in the race, as the performance of the other two compounds never made a more conservative option necessary.”