Antonelli starts 16th with four new softs as penalties reshape the Baku grid
Sainz drops to 14th for ignoring yellow flags, Pérez is penalised for impeding, and Verstappen keeps eighth with a new engine
George Russell starts the Azerbaijan Grand Prix from pole, but the grid behind him changed overnight. The stewards handed Carlos Sainz a five-place penalty and Sergio Pérez a three-place penalty after qualifying, and both Aston Martins start from the back row. Championship leader Kimi Antonelli lines up 16th after his crash in Q1.
The 51-lap race starts at 15:00 local time, 13:00 CEST.
Sainz loses ninth for not slowing under yellow
Carlos Sainz qualified ninth for Williams but starts 14th. The stewards found he did not slow enough for the yellow flags that were out for Franco Colapinto’s incident at Turn 15 in Q3. On top of the five places he also collects two penalty points. Colapinto, Oliver Bearman, Liam Lawson, Alexander Albon and Esteban Ocon each move up one place.
Sergio Pérez, 20th in qualifying, has a three-place penalty for impeding Oscar Piastri: the Cadillac was on a preparation lap when the McLaren arrived on a flying lap. Fernando Alonso has a 30-place penalty and Lance Stroll a 20-place penalty for additional power unit elements, so the official grid puts Valtteri Bottas 19th, Pérez 20th, Alonso 21st and Stroll 22nd. Our explainer covers how stewards and penalties work.
Verstappen gets a new engine but keeps eighth
Max Verstappen qualified eighth after a problem that Red Bull first thought was on the electrical side. Verstappen has since said it was the combustion engine: “we really did have a problem with the ICE,” he told reporters, including Motorsport.com. Red Bull fits a replacement from the parts already in its pool, so there is no grid penalty in Baku. Verstappen said a penalty will come later in the season when the team has to go beyond its allocation.
The full story of Friday’s session is in our qualifying report.
Antonelli has four new sets of softs, Russell two
Baku’s asphalt is smooth and wears the tyres little, so Pirelli expects a one-stop race on its three softest compounds, the C3, C4 and C5. Our tyre preview has the background. According to Pirelli’s figures, reported by GPblog, a pit stop costs about 19.5 seconds here, and the soft gives the best launch off the line.
That is where Antonelli’s bad Friday could help him. Because he did not run in Q2 or Q3, he still has four new sets of softs, more than anyone. Russell has two new sets of softs and no new mediums, while Lando Norris and Piastri have one new set of softs each. Sainz has no new softs at all.
Official starting grid
| Grid | Driver | Team | Qualified |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | George Russell | Mercedes | 1 |
| 2 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 2 |
| 3 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 3 |
| 4 | Isack Hadjar | Red Bull | 4 |
| 5 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 5 |
| 6 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | 6 |
| 7 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | 7 |
| 8 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 8 |
| 9 | Franco Colapinto | Alpine | 9 |
| 10 | Oliver Bearman | Haas | 10 |
| 11 | Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls | 11 |
| 12 | Alexander Albon | Williams | 12 |
| 13 | Esteban Ocon | Haas | 13 |
| 14 | Carlos Sainz | Williams | 9 (five-place penalty) |
| 15 | Arvid Lindblad | Racing Bulls | 15 |
| 16 | Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | 16 (no time in Q2) |
| 17 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Audi | 17 |
| 18 | Nico Hülkenberg | Audi | 18 |
| 19 | Valtteri Bottas | Cadillac | 22 |
| 20 | Sergio Pérez | Cadillac | 20 (three-place penalty) |
| 21 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | 19 (power unit penalty) |
| 22 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 21 (power unit penalty) |
Source: official Formula 1 starting grid. The Qualified column shows the qualifying position before penalties where it differs from the grid slot.
Our hunch: tenth is the line to beat
No driver has won in Baku from further back than tenth, the slot Daniel Ricciardo won from in 2017. Antonelli starts six places behind that. We think a podium is realistic for him if the race has a safety car at the right moment, which Baku usually delivers, but a win would need Russell to lose the lead first. With both Mercedes cars in the race, the team has the fastest car and two different tyre plans. That is our reading, not something Mercedes has said.
Can Antonelli reach the podium from 16th, or is this race Russell’s to lose? Tell us in the comments.
Where to follow the race
The race starts at 13:00 CEST. The result goes into our Azerbaijan Grand Prix results page as soon as it is official, and we follow it on our live blog.
