F1 is back! Our next stop on the F1 2024 calendar is Baku, the ‘City of Winds’, for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
You can follow all the live timing from the track via the PlanetF1.com live centre and, on Sunday, we will have a live blog taking you through all the race day action.
F1 live timing: Follow all the action from the Azerbaijan Grand Prix
After a week’s break, we’re back in action for Round 17 of the F1 2024 calendar and it is being held at a track we have really grown to love over the years: Baku!
From the super long straights, sharp 90 degree corners and a very narrow Castle section, this track is dripping in character and has built a reputation for causing utter carnage and providing plenty of wheel-to-wheel action.
Max Verstappen will head to Azerbaijan with a 62-point lead in the Drivers’ Championship over nearest rival Lando Norris, a comfortable cushion with just eight races of the season remaining you may think, but, when the reigning World Champion hasn’t tasted victory since the Spanish Grand Prix in June, then it is hard not to get just a little bit excited about a potential title fight – especially with Red Bull looking surprisingly uncompetitive with their RB20 car which initially won four of the opening five races.
It is looking much more precarious for Red Bull in the Constructors’ Championship, however, with McLaren now just a mere eight points from knocking their once-dominant rivals from top spot. It does not take much imagination to see McLaren leaving Baku as the new Constructors’ leaders no matter what version of their ‘Papaya Rules’ handbook is being used.
And, given just how competitive F1 is at the moment, it would be foolish to rule out either Ferrari or Mercedes. The Scuderia will still be on a high from a marvellous Monza victory with Charles Leclerc after a one-stop masterclass and Mercedes did win three of the last four races before the summer break.
The first two races after the shutdown have not gone exactly to plan for the Silver Arrows, but they are perfect proof of just how quickly the pecking order can change on any given race weekend.
