🏎️🏁🏆 F1: The Azerbaijan Grand Prix 🏆🏁🏎️

https://instagram.com/p/DOnccRmCkrW
Welcome to another weekend of racing! We're in Azerbaijan at the Baku City Circuit.

- McLaren can secure the Constructors Championship this weekend if they outscore Ferrari by 9 points
- Rumour has it Hadjar will be promoted to Red Bull next year, prayer circle for him, his career, and that cursed 2nd seat
- Tsunoda scored his highest qualifying position so far in the Red Bull with P6
- Sainz secured the highest qualifying position for a Williams since 2021

🏎️ Track info

- Baku is a street circuit
- Two DRS zones
- Tyre compounds: C4 (hard) - C5 (medium) - C6 (soft)
- Pit stop time loss – 19.7 seconds (including 2.5s stationary)
- Pole run to Turn 1 braking point is just 141 metres, the shortest on the calendar
- Fun fact: At its narrowest point (the Turn 8/9 'Old Town 'complex), the circuit is just 7.6 metres wide

🏎️ What happened in qualifying?

The Azerbaijan GP's Qualifying session has lasted LONGER than every F1 race this year 💀

— RBR Daily (@RBR_Daily) September 20, 2025
Qualifying was a never-ending mess with high winds, rain, crashes, and SIX red flags (that's a record).

Q1:
- Albon is the first to crash, bringing out the first red flag in Q1
- Hulkenberg soon becomes the second
- At the very end of the session, Gasly bails off into the run-off area at Turn 4 and Colapinto ploughs into the barriers nearby, bringing out the third red flag
- OUT: Albon, Gasly, Ocon, Hulkenberg, Colapinto

Q2:
- In Q2, Bearman grazes the wall and fucks up his car, bringing out the fourth red flag
- Several other drivers are struggling in the windy conditions with near crashes. Yellow flags are flying.
- Hamilton has a terrible qualifying and doesn't make it into Q3
- OUT: Bearman, Stroll, Bortoleto, Hamilton, Alonso

Q3:
- Q3 starts by Leclerc promptly crashing into the barriers. We get a fifth red flag
- Sainz is on pole for most of the Q3 session as he's one of only three drivers to set a time
- It starts to rain, but despite all the hopes and prayers from the Williams garage, not enough to end qualifying
- The session briefly resumes before championship leader Piastri puts his car into the wall. The red flag comes out for a sixth time
- Finally, the session resumes ONCE AGAIN with three minutes to go
- With his championship rival in P9, Norris fumbles a massive opportunity to get pole and qualifies at a lousy P7
- Verstappen manages to grab pole from Sainz at the very last second
- Verstappen P1, Sainz P2, Lawson P3

Time for a rain dance at Williams?! ☔️🕺F1 AzerbaijanGP pic.twitter.com/tLpgoq5D3m

— Formula 1 (@F1) September 20, 2025

🏎️ Here's the grid for today:
Update: Ocon has been disqualified from qualifying after it was deemed his car had breached F1's Technical Regulations
https://www.instagram.com/p/DO0-YwZjXR4/

🏎️ F1 bits and bobs:
Meet Furrari, Chief Paddock Pawfficer

they gave the cat a paddock pass and they're called furrari 😭😭😭😭😭 pic.twitter.com/HwUCGWzOIW

— clara (@leclercsletters) September 20, 2025

Turn 15 needs to be named after him at this point

2021 - Leclerc crashes in Baku Turn 15
2024 - Leclerc crashes in Baku Turn 15
2025 - Leclerc crashes in Baku Turn 15 pic.twitter.com/ZtWPT32U1s

— Holiness (@F1BigData) September 20, 2025

There was also a case of a loose balloon
https://instagram.com/p/DO0redFgmzb

sources: header, quali, williams, grid, furrari, leclerc's corner, balloon

I cackled when I saw the picture they chose of George for the race poster