Azerbaijan Grand Prix LIVE results: Valtteri Bottas beats Lewis Hamilton to lead home Mercedes one-two and take championship lead
Follow the latest updates from Baku
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Re-live the latest updates live from the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku as Valtteri Bottas sealed a convincing victory to retake the world championship lead.
Starting from pole position, Bottas briefly saw teammate Lewis Hamilton move in front off the start, but the Finn had the racing line and was able to re-take the race lead by the time they'd reached Turn Two. From there, Bottas controlled the race to perfection, and even though Charles Leclerc led the Grand Prix through the middle phase of the race, his eventual pit stop took him out of the reckoning.
Hamilton closed the gap to fight Bottas for the lead over the final few laps, but he left it too late to mount a charge as Bottas took the chequered flag ahead of Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel, with Max Verstappen beating Leclerc to fourth. Re-live the live action below.
What time does it start?
The Azerbaijan Grand Prix takes place on Sunday 28 April at 1:10pm.
Where can I watch it?
The race will be shown live on Sky Sports F1 from 11:30am. Highlights will be shown on Channel 4 at 7pm.
Starting grid
1 Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Mercedes GP 1min 40.495secs
2 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) Mercedes GP 1:40.554
3 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Ferrari 1:40.797
4 Max Verstappen (Ned) Red Bull 1:41.069
5 Sergio Perez (Mex) Racing Point 1:41.593
6 Daniil Kvyat (Rus) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:41.681
7 Lando Norris (Gbr) McLaren 1:41.886
8 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Alfa Romeo Racing 1:43.068
9 Charles Leclerc (Mon) Ferrari no time set
10 Carlos Sainz (Spa) McLaren 1:42.398
11 Daniel Ricciardo (Aus) Renault 1:42.477
12 Alexander Albon (Tha) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:42.494
13 Kevin Magnussen (Den) Haas F1 1:42.699
14 Lance Stroll (Can) Racing Point 1:42.630
15 Romain Grosjean (Fra) Haas F1 1:43.407
16 Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) Renault 1:43.427
17 George Russell (Gbr) Williams 1:45.062
18 Antonio Giovinazzi (Ita) Alfa Romeo Racing 1:42.424 + 10-place grid penalty
19 Robert Kubica (Pol) Williams 1:45.455
20 Pierre Gasly (Fra) Red Bull no time set – disqualified from qualifying
Good morning and welcome to The Independent's live coverage of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, where Valtteri Bottas starts from pole position ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel.
Stewards have confirmed that Kimi Raikkonen will start from the pits after switching his front wing for one that is classified as legal, meaning *yet another* grid reshuffle.
With that in mind, here's how we think the grid will line up - but then who know what could happen between now and lights out:
1 Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Mercedes GP 1min 40.495secs
2 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) Mercedes GP 1:40.554
3 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Ferrari 1:40.797
4 Max Verstappen (Ned) Red Bull 1:41.069
5 Sergio Perez (Mex) Racing Point 1:41.593
6 Daniil Kvyat (Rus) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:41.681
7 Lando Norris (Gbr) McLaren 1:41.886
8 Charles Leclerc (Mon) Ferrari no time set
9 Carlos Sainz (Spa) McLaren 1:42.398
10 Daniel Ricciardo (Aus) Renault 1:42.477
11 Alexander Albon (Tha) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:42.494
12 Kevin Magnussen (Den) Haas F1 1:42.699
13 Lance Stroll (Can) Racing Point 1:42.630
14 Romain Grosjean (Fra) Haas F1 1:43.407
15 Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) Renault 1:43.427
16 George Russell (Gbr) Williams 1:45.062
17 Antonio Giovinazzi (Ita) Alfa Romeo Racing 1:42.424 + 10-place grid penalty
18 Robert Kubica (Pol) Williams 1:45.455
19 Pierre Gasly (Fra) Red Bull no time set – disqualified from qualifying.
20. Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Alfa Romeo Racing 1:43.068 - disqualified from qualifying
So what happened during Saturday's eventful qualifying? It was billed as three sessions, two red flags and one pole-sitter, but the surprise was that Bottas pipped Hamilton on the final run to seize top spot. Pole is not as important here as some other tracks given the ability to overtake in Baku, but it might give Bottas any strategy advantage at the pit stops.
There's a lot of confusion over which tyres Charles Leclerc is supposed to be starting on, having crashed during Q2 on the medium tyres that he was supposed to start the race on. However, Ferrari currently have the car on soft tyres, and there's a few other teams who have been to take a look and have a word over what the actual ruling is.
Strategy
Our friends at Pirelli believe that the one-stopper is the way forward today, with the pit window opening around lap 15 for those on sort tyres, and much later for those starting in mediums.
As the drivers climb into their cars, the grid starts to clear and the Azerbaijan Grand Prix is just minutes away.
The start here is always guaranteed to be frantic, with drivers able to overtake going into turns one, two and three after the long run on the back straight. Will all 20 drivers make it through unscathed? History suggests no...
The warm-up lap is underway!
Five drivers are on the mediums, with Leclerc confirmed on the tyres he had in Q2. He's joined by Grosjean, Russell, Kubica and Gasly, who are all looking to run deep and hope for a safety car at some stage to take advantage of a free pit stop.
There's a queu forming at the end of the pit lane, with Kubica and Raikkonen already stationed to start and Gasly leaving it as late as possible before lining up in last.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments