Azerbaijan GP - Race: Heartbreak for Ferrari, easy 1-2 for Red Bull, podium for Russell
Max Verstappen cruised to an easy win, followed by Perez in P2 and Russell in P3, completing the podium.
Top 10: 1 VER, 2 PER, 3 RUS, 4 HAM, 5 GAS, 6 VET, 7 ALO, 8 RIC, 9 NOR, 10 OCO.
Pre Race: Fernando Alonso now holds the record of having raced for the longest time since his F1 debut, previously held by Michael Schumacher. It's been 21 years, 3 months and 8 days since Alonso's debut at the 2001 Australian Grand Prix.
Race Start: Sergio Perez had a great start, diving down the inside of Charles Leclerc, to take the lead of the race. At the start of lap 5, Perez had extended his lead over Leclerc at 2.5s, with Verstappen right behind him in P3, within DRS range. Sainz kept dropping away from Verstappen, with the interval being at 4.6s by lap 9.
Lap 9: Sainz went off at the run off area of T4, having a gearbox failure, deploying a Virtual Safety Car. Ferrari immediately called Leclerc into the pits for a fresh set of hards, making a slow, 5-second, stop. Red Bull decided not to benefit from the VSC, with Verstappen asking "Did he have a free stop?".
Lap 14: Verstappen made a move on Perez, overtaking him, using DRS, with the Austrian team telling Perez "No fighting".
Lap 17: Red Bull called Perez into the pits, to perform a moderately slow stop, with him coming out just ahead of Russell, with Verstappen switching for hards as well, two laps later.
Lap 19: Double DNF for Ferrari, as it looks like Leclerc's engine died, with smokes coming out of it. Top 5 now is: 1 VER, 2 PER, 3 RUS, 4 GAS, (5 RIC), 6 HAM (Ricciardo hasn't pitted yet)
Lap 24: Another engine/technical issue for a Ferrari powered car, as Alfa Romeo told Zhou they would have to retire the car. Very unlucky for the Chinese driver, who was doing a terrific race until then, cruising at P10.
Two laps later, Lewis Hamilton completed a move on Ricciardo, promoting himself to P5, and started reporting neck and back pains on lap 30.
Lap 33: A really bad 4/6 for Ferrari, as Haas told Kevin Magnussen to stop the car at T15. Virtual Safety Car deployed, with both Red Bull and Mercedes pitting for a second set of hards. Red Bull powered cars running at P1-2-4-5 at that moment, with Ferrari at P12-15-DNF-DNF-DNF-DNF. Not a great sight to see if you're a Ferrari fan, employee, driver or team principal.
Lap 39: Yuki Tsunoda got a slightly broken wing, with only half of the wing working, when DRS was applied, with marshalls showing him the black an orange flag, meaning he had to enter the pits as soon as possible, in order to repair the damage. The team taped up his wing and he rejoined in P13, ahead of Stroll.
That triggered some concerns at Red Bull, asking Verstappen to not use DRS for the rest of the race.
Lap 44: Lewis Hamilton passed Pierre Gasly, promoting himself to P4.
Lap 48: Aston Martin called Lance Stroll into the pits to retire the car, due to "some strange oscillations", as reported by the team.
Lap 51: Max Verstappen crossed the line to take his first win in Baku, making the 7th different winner of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Sergio Perez got the FL point of the race, clocking a 1:46.046. Lewis Hamilton got the fans' vote for Driver Of The Day.
Meanwhile at McLaren: A bit of miscommunication between the team and Norris, as he wondered "Why hold position?", after being told not to switch places with Ricciardo.
Championship Shuffle:
Sergio Perez is now second in the Driver Standings, heaving Leclerc behind him in P3, after the heartbreaking race the latter had today. Pierre Gasly now shares the same amount of points with Fernando Alonso, that being 16, with the Frenchman in 10th place and Alonso in 11th. Another tie in 12th and 13th place, as Kevin Magnussen and Daniel Ricciardo, both have 15 points.
Onto the Constructor Standings now: With both Alpine drivers in the top 10, the team gained a huge haul of points today, and managed to climb past Alfa Romeo, to P5 in the Championship. Red Bull is still leading of course, and have extended their lead over Ferrari, who is now 80 points behind.