The talk of the Formula One land paddock coming into Azerbaijan was the hapless state pot Red Bull Racing and whether McLaren would grow some balls and issue team orders to assist Lando Norris in his pursuit of Max Verstappen in the drivers’ F1 championship.

With the British driver 62 points behind the world champion and Verstappen having not won since Barcelona some seven races ago, the hype suggested there was time for Norris to catch and beat Max to this year’s title.

Those hopes somewhat went up in smoke on Saturday afternoon with Norris knocked out of qualifying in the first session. The FIA’s race control issued a yellow flag instruction following Esteban Ocon’s collision with the wall and then quickly changed it to a white flag.

 

 

 

Norris ‘robbed’ by false caution

Norris slowed open his final push lap in Q1 only to realise the caution cleared almost instantly and was replaced with a white flag which does not require the drivers to slow down – it merely wants them of a slow car ahead off the racing line meaning its safer to continue pushing.

Andreas Stella said after the session, the team had been speaking with race control during qualifying in an attempt to discover why the yellow caution had been issued. Yet cockup or not by the race director and his team, Lando Norris in fact starts one place ahead of his qualifying slot due to the Alpine of Pierre Gasly showing a spike in the fuel flow rater which exceeds that regulated for by the FIA.

Meanwhile Red Bull were having a happier time of it. The world champions have been suffering from a lack of Sergio Perez in the mix at the front which would allow them to cover off strategies of their main rivals Ferrari and McLaren. Yet at the venue of his recent wins in 2021 and 2023 Checo was back to something like his old form.

Sergio had been in the top three on both Friday practice sessions and whilst his Saturday morning efforts saw him just P7, the Mexican driver claimed a starting place of fourth for tomorrows race, ahead of George Russell for Mercedes and his team mate who was one slot further back.

Hamilton and Leclerc react to latest Ferrari snub

 

 

 

Red Bull race tough unlike McLaren

Unlike McLaren who have dithered over the issue of favouring Lando Norris over his team mate, Red Bull were quick to say that Perez would be supporting Verstappen should the opportunity arise in tomorrow’s Grand Prix.

Christian Horner explained how the decision would be arrived at. “It depends where the others are. Team orders are always a contentious subject, but Checo knows 100% what his role and job is – to support Max to the end of this championship – and obviously the constructors’. 

“We have seen him, you only have to think back to Abu Dhabi 2021 to see what a team player Checo is, so for us the game plan is pretty straightforward. I would love that headache to be managing on the last few laps!”

In Abu Dhabi 2021, Max Verstappen was training Lewis Hamilton for the race and championship win by some twenty seconds. Perez who had run long on his tyres found himself ahead of Lewis chasing a record eight championship.

Norris lost points new perspective

 

 

 

Perez ‘knows his job’

For lap after lap Checo frustrated Hamilton and his team mate took full advantage and closed the gap to the Mercedes making it under ten seconds before Hamilton found a way past Perez’s Red Bull.

Perez like Piastri has little hope of claiming the 2024 title, yet Red Bull in an instant declared they would use their second placed driver in the title race to support Verstappen even if not for the win.

When the Horner was asked the reason for Perezbeing strong regularly in Baku, he replied: “I have no idea. It makes no logical sense in that it is high-speed straights with barriers, 90-degree corners, but he has always been magic around here. If he had a 24-race championship in Azerbaijan he would be pretty tough to beat. It is important to carry that momentum into the race.”

Red Bull hold a slender lead in the constructors’ championship over McLaren of just eight points, and with Lando Norris all but out of the equation this is an opportunity for the from Milton Keynes to widen the gap this weekend.

Aston Martin upset Red Bull Racing

 

 

 

RB20 improvements from new floor

The introduction of a new floor on the RB20 appears  to have rectified somewhat recent performance issues that saw Verstappen finish significantly behind the leader at recent Grand Prix.

Sergio was commanding in qualifying telling the team over the radio to make his final re-fuel and replacement tyres a ‘quick job’. “Let’s not be the last car out,” he said reflecting on the issues Norris had had earlier in the session.

His boss Christian Horner noted the change in Checo’s demeanour stating: “He has been walking a half-inch taller after that, it was sort of ‘look it is not just me’, and I think psychologically for him it has really lifted him – and there are a couple of tracks, we always knew that theoretically this track and Singapore should be two of his better circuits, and hopefully he can have a strong weekend.”

Whether Red Bull can overcome Ferrari who have their drivers’ starting P1 and P3 is doubtful, yet with a single McLaren in the top six the world champions can tailor their strategy to ensure one of their drivers covers off his pit stops.

Red Bull have proven to be masters of strategy in the past, and this could be the difference between them retaining the team title or McLaren clinching their first since 1998.

Sergeant’s replacement slammed after first outing

 

 

 

FIA cockup sees Norris early qualifying exit

As Formula One land rolled into Baku, all the talk was about how McLaren would handle the Lando Norris chase down of Max Verstappen. McLaren had finally woken up to the fact that F1 racing is a tough business and the team decided to instigate team orders on Oscar Piastri should it mean helping his team mate.

Throughout the weekend Piastri had struggled relative to his team mate but come qualifying it was the Aussie who claimed a front row position.

In the first qualifying session McLaren decided to hold back Norris final run to the last minute given the track was rubbering in quickly and the times getting quicker lap by lap. Yet a mistake from Alpine’s Esteban Ocon coming into the final 2km section saw the Frenchman hit the wall and suffer a puncture… READ MORE