F1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix: Red Bulls charge as Lando Norris starts COMEBACK

Lando Norris, McLaren, Netherlands, 2024 — Photo: © IMAGO

Azerbaijan Grand Prix

Red Bulls charge as Norris starts COMEBACK

All the action from lap one in Baku

Sheona Mountford F1 Journalist

Motorsport journalist working in F1 since 2024.

Sunday 15 September 2024 13:13 Updated: 15:08

Charles Leclerc produced a fantastic start from pole position maintaining his lead, as Sergio Perez surged to third to hunt down Oscar Piastri.

All the runners got away cleanly from the grid with no first lap incidents, as Red Bull looked to assert themselves at the front of the grid, with Perez and championship leader Max Verstappen making up a place on the opening lap.

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The Mercedes of George Russell could do little to get out in front of his rivals, and remained in sixth place behind Verstappen

Carlos Sainz also lost out to Red Bull, falling into fourth behind an all-improved Perez.

Red Bull looked resurgent on the opening lap in Baku

Can Lando Norris recover in Baku?

Lando Norris, who started towards the back of the grid, managed to make his way up to P12 by the end of the first lap, remedying a horrific Saturday in Baku.

The McLaren star was knocked out of Q1 in qualifying, after a yellow flag prevented him from completing a lap that would have seen him progress to the next session.

Lewis Hamilton also received a blow to his Azerbaijan GP weekend, and had to start the race from the pit lane after making power unit changes.

The champion only managed to make his way up to P17 during the opening lap, in what will be a difficult race through the field for Hamilton.

Whilst it initially appeared that there was no collision on lap one, there was contact between Lance Stroll and Yuki Tsunoda, causing damage to the RB star's car and was forced to retire later in the race due to the incident.