Multiple F1 stars OUT of Azerbaijan Grand Prix after safety car chaos in Baku

Azerbaijan Grand Prix

Multiple F1 stars OUT of Azerbaijan Grand Prix after safety car chaos in Baku

Chaos in Baku

Simmey Hannifin Donaldson F1 Editor

Motorsport journalist covering F1 since 2024

Saturday 26 September 2026 14:23 Updated: 14:33

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Multiple F1 stars including Lando Norris, Alex Albon and Pierre Gasly are out of the 2026 Azerbaijan Grand Prix after safety car chaos in Baku.

The drama began on lap 31 of Saturday's race, with Albon languishing in the midfield pack when he crashed his Williams car hard into the Tecpro barriers at turn five. Thankfully, after the crash, Albon confirmed that he was okay and unharmed.

Despite it looking as though a red flag might be needed, that scenario was avoided with the FIA instead immediately deploying the safety car, which lasted for five laps.

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Safety car chaos in Baku

The action eventually got back under way on lap 36, but we only had one corner of racing before it was out again after a multi-car pileup into turn one.

With all of the cars tightly packed heading into the corner, Franco Colapinto got his braking very wrong, smashing into Alpine team-mate Pierre Gasly, who then catapulted into Lando Norris and his McLaren.

As a result of the collisions, all three of Norris, Gasly and Colapinto were forced to retire from the race.

Naturally, Gasly was furious with his team-mate and the incident, shouting on team radio: "Oh my f*****g God. I cannot believe it, cannot believe it.

"So many f*****g points gone."

The incident has also been noted by the FIA, along with another involving Racing Bulls team-mates Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad, with Sky Sports F1 presenter Karun Chandhok predicting that some penalties could follow.

"I can see some grid penalties coming for the next grand prix," he said from the commentary booth.

In total, six cars were retired from Saturday's race as of lap 37, with Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll having already called it quits earlier in the day before the safety car chaos ensued.