Formula 1 2024 Result: Norris beats Verstappen from P17 in Azerbaijan

Given McLaren’s form, a real title fight doesn’t seem out of the question. But Norris will have to deliver. Can he still make life difficult for Verstappen, who started sixth, in Azerbaijan today from P17?

Max Verstappen is experiencing an F1 season that is somewhat reminiscent of Jenson Button’s in 2009. The Briton won a series of races at the start of the season. Later, he regularly had to admit defeat to Red Bull and teammate Barrichello. But the buffer he had built up was enough to win the title.

For MV1, the hope seems to be the same. That is to say; Red Bull would of course prefer to win ‘normally’ again. It is of course not impossible that this will happen later in the season. But for the time being, it does not seem that way. Yesterday in qualifying, Red Bull may have done a little better than in Monza. But with P4 and P6 it was still not luxury. Certainly not for Max Emilian, who is behind teammate Perez for the first time since Miami 2023.

Only advantage: second man in the World Championship Norris did considerably worse. He got stuck in Q1 yesterday due to a yellow flag. He should have just continued. Russell did that and he was allowed to keep his fifth starting position anyway. Anyway, Norris has his work cut out for him today. Let’s see how it unfolds, in the Grand Prix of Azerbaijan edition 2024!

Spoiler alert: first the full results, below a report of the race!!1!

Start

Leclerc and Piastri get away well and maintain position, but the Red Bulls immediately go forward. Perez takes P3 from Sainz, Verstappen snatches P5 from Russell. Stroll appears to have a flat tire when entering the straight. This causes a number of cars to chaotically start the long slipstream towards turn 1. Norris takes advantage and climbs up to P12. Later, LN4 also quickly advances to P10, but then he is behind the Williamses and they are harder to beat.

Verstappen is then the first of the top drivers to seek the pits. He comes out behind Ricciardo in P10. He makes quick work of that. Yet you see what a difference track position makes when Perez stops a lap later. He comes onto the track behind Norris in sixth position.

Norris then, at the request of the team, holds Perez in the second sector and that makes all the difference for Piastri. He just holds his position in relation to the Mexican. Without the manipulation that would almost certainly not have happened. When Leclerc stops, he rejoins the track behind teammate Sainz in second place. The advantage for the Monegasque is that Albonio has continued on hard tyres. The British Thai acts as a buffer between him and Piastri plus Perez for a while.

When Sainz stops, the lead of the race is also in the hands of Charles, although he now has Piastri on his neck. Sainz returns to the track in sixth place, ahead of our hero Max. PIA then passes LEC on the straight for the lead. Again, it turns out that very small differences make the uhm… difference. Verstappen who just can’t get through, Norris who holds up Perez for a moment. And wham, you have a completely different race than you would otherwise have.

Mid Race

Leclerc comes to a sobering conclusion. Either Piastri and Perez are pushing like crazy, or they have more grip than the Ferrari on the hard tires. We have seen before that the red car does not like that hard rubber. LEC does stay nicely in the slipstream of Piastri, who is therefore constantly under pressure.

The same goes for teammate Norris, who now has Verstappen on his neck on newer tires. Sainz has already passed him, but NOR is extremely broad towards our hero. Who then complains about his brakes not working. Sainz has already driven five seconds away from MV1. That’s how it works.

Leclerc now seems to be playing a bit with his prey Piastri. Although he will not appreciate the latter forcing him to go around the outside on the straight. The Ozzie defends himself tooth and nail. However, it seems as if the Monegasque has a bit more speed in his Fezza or that team red is taking a bit better care of the tires later in the stint. That is logical in itself: the car may get the tires up to temperature a bit slower, but on the other hand the tires last a bit longer.

With Perez it is difficult to judge whether he should drop out a bit or is whispering to his tires the old-fashioned way. When Leclerc attacks Piastri again on lap 32, Checo is suddenly three tenths behind Charles again. So he is lurking for his chance. At Mercedes they clearly do not have the luxury of softening up the tires at all. Hamilton is nowhere and Russell does not make a big impression on the rest of the top 10 either.

And then. Verstappen complains bitterly about his RB20 and is overtaken by Russell. Things aren’t going well for the Dutchman again. His advantage is that Norris will fall back when he stops. Maybe even behind Alonso, Colapinto and Hulkenberg in P8, P9 and P10.

At the front, the problem for Leclerc is that he seems to have a little less mechanical grip. As a result, he has a maximum of 1 chance per lap: end of straight. On the sections after that, Piastri comes out of the corner better each time. Even after a defensive action by PIA, LEC cannot benefit on the straights after the first respectively second kink.

Finish

Norris comes in at the start of lap 38 of 51. With fast laps at the end of his stint, the damage is limited. He rejoins the track 15 seconds behind Max. Could he still catch the Dutchman with new rubber?

Piastri escapes Leclerc with five laps to go. It is then up to Perez to force it a bit. But in no time the Ozzie is more than two seconds away. In the meantime Norris overtakes Max for P6. That means two extra points for the Brit, but also two points less for Verstappen. And a mental blow to the championship. At the same time Norris will know that there was much more in it, given that Piastri wins.

Perez then attacks Leclerc for P2, but he defends so hard that Sainz overtakes the Mexican. That doesn’t sit well with Checo, who does everything he can to regain the place. That leads to a big biem. Both Sainz and Checo are out. Russell goes to P3, Norris to P4 and Verstappen to P5.

Alonso leads the second half of the top 10, ahead of Albon and Colapinto. A good day for Williams. Hamilton and Bearman complete the top 10. Hulkenberg just misses the mark and is thus outwitted not only in qualifying but also in the race by his inexperienced teammate.

There are simply no boring races this year. Except for Monaco. Next week in Singapore!

Comments

1. Robert say

   I just hope Sainz gets a suitable punishment from the stewards because this was all about an assassination attempt and nothing like defending a position.

   I don’t even think that highly of Perez, but I would have gladly granted him a podium here.

   • Bogeyman say

     Well, then you have to look at the onboard of sainz again, I also thought at first what is Sainz doing? But he doesn’t suddenly steer to the left or something, just a bit away from the wall. Perez could have expected that and moved along. For the rest I think it is considered a racing accident.

2. KEV9 say

   Too bad for Perez, and Sainz, he should get 24 penalty points in one go. What an idiot

3. harry say

   Finally a nice weekend for Pere… never mind.