And you can read our race report right here:
So Nico Rosberg has re-inflated his championship lead to 24 points and Sergio Perez has delivered another impressive podium for Force India. The Baku street circuit made for a fairly entertaining race and, like it or not, Formula One has made a pretty successful debut in Azerbaijan. That’s about all from me, thanks for reading. Bye!
Updated
Rosberg celebrates with his trophy on top of the podium, handed to him by the controversial president Aliyev. Champagne sprays. Eddie Jordan comes out on to the podium for the interviews like he’s a popstar, shouting “Azerbaijan! Baku!” and pointing a lot. Rosberg speaks with minimal fuss: “Everything went to plan. It was really awesome.” Vettel talks a lot, and describes the circuit as “incredible”.
Updated
That moment in full:
When the highlight of the race is Nico Rosberg hitting himself in the face... #EuropeGP pic.twitter.com/6Y6Xrwb6ne
— Racing Humour (@racinghumour) June 19, 2016
In the little room before the podium presentation Vettel and Perez share some wicked bantz while Rosberg manages to flick himself in the eye with his earpiece. He’s momentarily ruled out of the wicked bantz but quickly recovers.
Mercedes’ Niki Lauda on the radio ban that scuppered Hamilton’s race: “It’s difficult. In this case it was a discussion of engine modes and we can’t tell [the drivers what the problem is]. The problem was one both cars had but Nico fixed it quicker than Lewis. I don’t want to blame Lewis.”
Hamilton comes in fifth, having had to battle with the setup of his car and the farcical situation of not being allowed to know which dashboard switch was in the wrong place. Rosberg increases his lead in the drivers’ championship to a healthy 24 points.
🏁 POINTS SCORERS 🏁
— Formula 1 (@F1) June 19, 2016
1 ROS
2 VET
3 PER
4 RAI
5 HAM
6 BOT
7 RIC
8 VES
9 HUL
10 MAS#EuropeGP 🇦🇿 pic.twitter.com/FzCtRTTiWL
Nico Rosberg wins the European Grand Prix!
Rosberg cruises past the chequered flag, hand aloft. It couldn’t have been smoother for the Mercedes driver. Vettel comes in second untroubled having been let through earlier by Raikkonen, who finishes fourth behind Sergio Perez.
Final lap: Perez attacks Raikkonen and takes third place outright, a really impressive drive by the Force India man. Verstappen slips past Hulkenberg too.
Lap 50/51: Rosberg is nearly home. Vettel is in a race of his own in second while Perez is right on third-placed Raikkonen’s rear wing as they swing into the final lap on the streets of Baku.
Lap 49/51: Ricciardo is all over the back of Hulkenberg. They sway this way and that across the pit-straight but the German can’t hold the Red Bull off. Ricciardo beats him into turn 1 and Hulkenberg will struggle to regain that place in the final couple of laps.
Lap 48/51: Perez is in the strange but welcome position of not needing to attack Raikkonen as the Ferrari driver will be hit with a five-second penalty at the end of the race. Perez is a couple of seconds back and just needs to cross the line on Raikkonen’s tail to grab the final podium place. That will be an impressive result from 7th on the grid.
Lap 47/51: The final five laps will be a procession for Nico Rosberg, still 18secs clear.
1 Rosberg
2 Vettel
3 Raikkonen
4 Perez
5 Hamilton
6 Bottas
7 Hulkenberg
8 Ricciardo
9 Verstappen
10 Massa
Lap 46/51: Verstappen and Massa are battling for 9th and the teenager pulls off a brave move, braking late into turn 1 to catch the Williams driver out.
Lap 45/51: A disappointing race for Fernando Alonso ends prematurely, and his McLaren is pushed back into the garage.
Lap 44/51: Mercedes confirm that Hamilton has finally fixed whatever it was that wasn’t working on his car, and he immediately sets the fastest lap of the race.
Updated
Lap 43/51: Rosberg remains 18secs clear of Vettel. Just joined? Feast your eyes on this:
LAP CHART: Easy afternoon so far for Rosberg - can he close out the win? #EuropeGP 🇦🇿 pic.twitter.com/GZr3O5IVY3
— Formula 1 (@F1) June 19, 2016
Lap 42/51: “Where are the fucking blue flags?” was Raikkonen’s radio message, it turns out. Charming. At turn 1 Pascal Wehrlein’s race is run: “I have no brakes anymore, completely no brakes.” There are 19 cars left, impressive considering the concerns over the safety of the track and the issues the GP2 race had here. Grosjean grabs 14th from Alonso who just keeps going backwards.
Lap 40/51: Raikkonen sends a torrent of swears down the radio to Ferrari, he’s not happy about something. Alonso has slipped back down three places to 13th.
Lap 38/51: Barring a catastrophe Rosberg will win this race and Vettel will finish second. However the battle for the final podium spot is an interesting one. Raikkonen holds P3 right now but remember he has a five-second penalty to come, which will be added to his time at the end of the race, and right now Perez is less than three seconds behind the Ferrari.
Lap 36/51: Hamilton is now 10secs down on Perez ahead in 4th.
Lewis Hamilton right now pic.twitter.com/4kgYri2Giw
— MiniDrivers (@OfficialMinis) June 19, 2016
Lap 35/51: You know when your laptop isn’t working and you’ve no idea why? Well Hamilton is essentially trying to fix his, whilst driving a Formula One car, whilst speaking on the phone to someone who knows how to fix it but refuses to tell him. That’s got to be annoying.
Gary Naylor with some local insight on twitter:
@LawrenceOstlere I'm disappointed that we're not seeing the promenade. Watching the sun rise over The Caspian from there is quite something.
— Gary Naylor (@garynaylor999) June 19, 2016
Lap 34/51: Perez has closed right in on Raikkonen, and is now only a couple of seconds behind the Ferrari in third. Meanwhile...
Hamilton: “This is ridiculous guys.”
Mercedes: “It’s an incorrect setting, Lewis.”
Hamilton: “I’m going to try and change everything.”
Mercedes: “We wouldn’t advise that, Lewis.”
Updated
Lap 33/51: Yellow flags because Carlos Sainz has a problem and fails to turn, sliding off into the run-off area. His race is over. “I have a problem with suspension or something.”
Lap 32/51: There’s a slightly ridiculous situation going on at Mercedes where Hamilton has a problem which the team are well aware of, but because they are not allowed to give him technical advice then Hamilton will have to figure it out for himself in the car. Given a hint by the team on radio he replies: “I don’t know what you mean, I don’t what it is.”
Lap 30/51: “Now you tell him to push,” grumbles Kimi after letting Vettel through. “I don’t want him in frot of me.”
1 Rosberg
2 Vettel
3 Raikkonen (5sec penalty to come)
4 Perez
5 Hamilton
6 Bottas
7 Hulkenberg
8 Ricciardo
9 Massa
10 Verestappen
Lap 29/51: The puppet-masters at Ferrari have pulled rank and decided Raikkonen cannot afford to hold up Vettel any longer. Kimi does indeed move aside and Vettel is up to P2 – but 18secs back from Rosberg.
Lap 27/51: A fantastic aerial shot shows Ricciardo and Sainz side-by-side at 370kph down the wide pit-straight. Ricciardo makes the move stick into turn 1 and he’s up to 9th. Here’s a stat for you:
FASTEST PIT STOPS: Another race, another brilliant display from those @WilliamsRacing pit stop gurus #EuropeGP 🇦🇿 pic.twitter.com/VJ8DZDQDd8
— Formula 1 (@F1) June 19, 2016
Lap 26/51: Button makes his second stop and returns 18th. It is going to be very tricky for either of the McLarens to pick up points this afternoon. Alonso is currently P16.
Lap 25/51: Hulkenberg nips past Button for 10th.
“With all the focus on the actual race, you haven’t written your opinion about the track,” points out Ben Janeson. “How does it compare to other GP street races?” Visually the setting is stunning in parts, mainly the old part of the city by the castle, and the narrow winding streets that zigzag past the high walls. The long pit-straight is great for overtaking but otherwise it’s tricky and that is probably what this track lacks: like most street circuits, it isn’t easy to overtake.
The sport is getting a bit of bashing at the moment with its jaunt to Azerbaijan but, as Sara Berry on email points out, there is a human side that often goes under the radar. “The Red Bull racing team supported my son’s school, Columbia Grange in Washington, Tyne and Wear, to take part in the F1 in Schools challenge,” writes Sara. “It’s a school for children with high-functioning autism. My son, Jack, was given a cap and a signed photograph of some drivers. Unfortunately, due to Jack’s condition, he will not be able to attend a Grand Prix, because of the crowds and the amount of waiting around. Autism is a condition that is close to my heart and, when Jack became interested in F1, I knew I’d struggle to take him to a race. The Red Bull team may not have been able to make my son’s dream of going to their factory or meeting Daniel Ricciardo, his favourite driver, come true, but they have helped me to see that a little bit of belief goes a long way.”
Lap 23/51: Terrible moment for Ricciardo! Perez slings his Force India up the inside and Hamilton sneakily follows his line. Both get past the Red Bull, who immediately goes for his second and probably final stop. He returns 13th.
Lap 22/51: Vettel returns ahead of Ricciardo in 3rd and next Rosberg pits. It’s an efficient change by Mercedes and Rosberg is so far ahead he returns in P1.
FASTEST SECTORS: Three different drivers, three different teams#EuropeGP 🇦🇿 pic.twitter.com/ksevRnmii0
— Formula 1 (@F1) June 19, 2016
Lap 21/51: Hamilton makes short work of Massa and looks to close the gap to Perez in 6th once more. Bottas has pitted and returns 9th just ahead of Verstappen. And now Vettel comes in...
Updated
Lap 20/51: Hamilton is down in 9th right now and he is not making many inroads into Perez ahead of him. Scratch that, because now it’s Massa in front of the Mercedes – Perez overtakes him coming into turn 1.
Lap 18/51: So Rosberg remains in charge of this race, ahead of Vettel and Bottas in third. Behind them Ricciardo leads Raikkonen past the high castle walls winding through the narrow shimmying section halfway around the circuit. This may be a controversial place to race but you can’t argue with the setting, it’s pretty breathtaking in parts. On the pit straight Raikkonen attacks and Ricciardo is powerless to stop the Ferrari powering round his outside.
@LawrenceOstlere Glad to see that the babooskas, who would sweep the dual carriageway as cars hurtled past, appear to be otherwise engaged.
— Gary Naylor (@garynaylor999) June 19, 2016
Lap 17/51: Hamilton, returned from that pit stop in 9th and Sergio Perez reacts, coming in himself. Force India are slightly sluggish with the change but Perez does just stay in front of the Briton. The Force India has shown good straight-line speed this weekend. Perez is going to be a pest to get past for Hamilton.
Lap 16/51: This street circuit, with its winding narrow parts with limited run-off areas, has not proved the safety nightmare some thought it would be – so far. With 16 laps done there’s only been one retirement, Kvyat with damaged suspension.
Lap 15/51: Lewis Hamilton goes on team radio to complain about his brakes, and a moment later he comes to the pits.
Lap 14/51: And that investigation has resulted in a five-second penalty for Raikkonen, which means he will have to sit and wait for five seconds before his mechanics can change his tyres, should he come in again during the race. If not then those five seconds will be added on to his time at the end. He whips through the tight winding section in the old part of the city and over the hill down towards the long straight sections of the circuit.
Updated
Lap 13/51: Daniel Ricciardo slipstreams Hulkenberg and eases round the outside of the Force India at the end of the long pit-straight. Meanwhile Raikkonen is being investigated for crossing the line at pit entry.
Lap 12/51: Massa is the latest to overtake Wehrlein at turn 1.
Lap 11/51: Raikkonen mirrors the move by Hamilton, overtaking Wehrlein (who is yet to pit) for 8th place.
Lap 10/51: Hamilton blasts past Bottas down into turn 1 and the world champion is up to P4.
Lap 9/51: Things are going about as well as they could be for Rosberg right now. Hamilton has climbed to fifth (with the help of Ricciardo and Raikkonen’s stops) but is nearly 20 seconds off the front.
Lap 8/51: Debris from what looks like a blue carrier bag has attached itself to Vettel’s front wing. That’s different. Eventually it untangles itself and flies away but that can’t have been ideal for the Ferrari. Kvyat has a problem, and that looks like it is the end of his race.
Updated
Lap 7/51: Ricciardo is into the pits from P2 and it’s a rapid stop. He returns 13th.
Lap 6/51: Red Bull have reacted to that double overtaking by bringing Verstappen in for an early stop. He puts on soft tyres and it looks like he is set for a two-stop strategy. Alonso does likewise.
Lap 5/51: Verstappen is under huge pressure as he begins the fifth lap and runs wide at turn 2 with Bottas all over him. The Williams squeezes up the inside and Hamilton follows his line, zipping down to turn 3 before Verstappen could cover the move. A bad moment for the young Red Bull driver.
Lap 4/51: Hamilton’s Mercedes glides around Kvyat on the long pit-straight to climb to P9, and Kvyat just keeps sliding back down the field: Grosjean is the next man to make a brilliant move up the inside at turn 3.
Updated
Lap 3/51: Haryanto has had to pit with some damage, possibly clipping the wall on turn 1. Replays show Gutierrez over-committed at the start and slammed into the side of Hulkenberg’s Force India, who was lucky to stay in the race.
Lap 2/51: In fact the only damage from the opening exchanges is for Gutierrez, who has lost his front wing prompting yellow flags. Perez is the big winner jumping from 7th to 5th, Hulkenberg has slipped three places to 13th and Verstappen has overtaken the man whose place he took in the Red Bull team, Kvyat.
Lights out!
The first F1 race in the streets of Baku is under way, and it’s a surprisingly smooth start with the feared pile-up never emerging. Rosberg holds off Ricciardo easily to keep hold of P1 with Vettel and Raikkonen close behind. Hamilton avoids trouble and stays 10th.
Updated
The grid
1 Rosberg 2 Ricciardo
3 Vettel 4 Raikkonen
5 Massa 6 Kvyat
7 Massa 8 Bottas
9 Verstappen 10 Hamilton
11 Grosjean 12 Hulkenberg
13 Sainz 14 Alonso
15 Gutierrez 16 Nasr
17 Haryanto 18 Wehrlein
19 Button 20 Ericsson
21 Magnussen 22 Palmer
Updated
The formation lap is under way in Baku. It’s nearly race time...
Bernie Ecclestone and president Aliyev are seen chumming along. What a duo. Ted Kravitz grabs a word: “They’ve done a wonderful job,” beams Bernie. The president adds: “It’s a big honour for us to host this race. We are young independent country, only 25 years old, and we are a big success and this is an indicator of our achievements. We try to organise everything so the guests are happy.”
Time for the national anthem of Azerbaijan. I have to admit I don’t think I’ve heard it before. It’s got a sombre edge and would not be out of place in a funeral sequence in one of The Godfather films. I like it.
Max Verstappen on what he expects from this circuit: “We saw in the GP2 races… it was a little bit of a mess but hopefully we can keep it a little more in control. I think if we can close to [podium] that would be a good result because we are pretty slow on the straights.”
The sun is shining in Baku...
Preamble
Welcome along to the European Grand Prix and a venue new to F1: Baku, Azerbaijan. When it was put to Bernie Ecclestone that some journalists had been prosecuted for speaking out against the country’s controversial Aliyev regime, he replied: “So they should. It depends what they say. You say they write negative things. It depends what they write.
“I tell you what we ought to do – as far as we are concerned – not have any races where there is corruption in the country. Can you tell me where we are going to be racing There are a lot of people starving in the world and you would think they have got something to complain about.”
That’s logic.
Of course we are here for the high-octane racing so let’s not get bogged down by important things. Lewis Hamilton has been utterly dominant ever since he careered into Nico Rosberg in Barcelona but that all ended yesterday. Hamilton was fastest in practice but crashed out of qualifying, and the world champ will start 10th.
Rosberg, nine points clear of his Mercedes team-mate in the drivers’ standings, is the man on pole and Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo will start alongside him on the front row. Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen make up the second row, with Felipe Massa (Williams) and Daniil Kvyat (Toro Rosso) behind them. Sergio Pérez, who qualified a brilliant second but took a five-place grid penalty after a gearbox change, starts seventh.
What should we expect from Baku? On a street circuit suited to raw speed over agility, the Mercedes-powered Williams and Force India cars have proved competitive with Ferrari and Red Bull so far this weekend, and this could make for a compelling contest for podium positions given Hamilton’s plight.
The old town’s winding streets offer little opportunity to overtake and drivers have warned that certain corners are dangerous, with a high-speed approach and no run-off to protect them from the city walls. The long, DRS-enabled pit straight leading into a slow Turn One looks like the place where the racing will happen.
Bernie’s impressions of the beautiful city of Baku? “We just left the greatest place in the world, North America,” he said after the Canadian Grand Prix. “Compared to Baku it’s a bit of a shit-hole, isn’t it really?”
Lights out: 2pm BST
Updated
