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Photo: Ilkin Nabiyev

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15:02

On April 30, the fourth stage of the Formula 1 world championship - the Azerbaijan Grand Prix - started at the Baku city circuit.

APA reports that the opening ceremony of the Grand Prix was held first.

10 teams, each consisting of two pilots, compete in the Formula 1 race.

Pilots will make 51 laps on the Baku city track in 2 hours.

Lewis Hamilton and George Russell compete in the "Mercedes" team, Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc in the "Ferrari" team, Alexander Albon and Logan Sargent in the "Williams" team.

Sergio Perez, Max Verstappen in Red Bull Racing, Nick de Vries and Yuki Tsunoda in Alpha Tauri, and Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon in Alpine.

In addition, Valtteri Bottas and Joe Guanju from Alfa Romeo, Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris from McLaren are participating in the rally.

Pilots Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen "Haas", Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll protect the sporting honor of the Aston Martin team.

It should be noted that Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix started on April 28.

On the first day of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Formula 1 pilots competed in the free trial and qualifying races.

In both races, the pilots competed on the 6-kilometer Baku track within one hour.

Max Verstappen, the pilot of the Red Bull Racing team, was ahead of all his competitors in the free race.

Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc and Red Bull Racing driver Sergio Perez completed the top three.

"Ferrari" pilot Charles Leclerc finished the qualifying round as the winner.

The members of "Red Bull Racing" Max Verstappen took the second place, and Sergio Perez took the third place.

Thanks to this victory, the Monaco pilot won the first pole of the current season and the third pole in a row at the Baku city circuit.

It is also his 19th career achievement.

On April 29, sprint classification and sprint competitions were organized.

Charles Leclerc, the driver of the Ferrari team, was the first in the qualifying race.

Red Bull Racing drivers Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen completed the top three.

The sprint race ended with the victory of S. Peres.

Sh. Lekler was second, and M. Verstappen was third.

Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix starting line-up

1. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)

2. Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing)

3. Sergio Perez ("Red Bull Racing")

4. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)

5. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)

6. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)

7. Lando Norris (McLaren)

8. Yuki Tsunoda ("Alpha Tauri")

9. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)

10. Oscar Piastri (McLaren)

11. George Russell ("Mercedes")

12. Esteban Ocon ("Alpine")

13. Alexander Albon ("Williams")

14. Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo)

15. Logan Sargent ("Williams")

16. Guanju Zhou ("Alfa Romeo")

17. Nico Hulkenberg (Haas)

18. Kevin Magnussen (“Haas”)

19. Pierre Gasly ("Alpine")

20. Nick de Vries ("Alpha Tauri").

The current season of the Formula 1 world championship consists of 24 stages.

The fourth stage of the Grand Prix is ​​hosted by Baku.

The six-kilometer-long anti-clockwise track was designed by the famous German architect Hermann Tilke.

Starting from Azadlig Square, the track goes around the Government House, makes a 2.2-kilometer circle around Icherisheher to reach the Maiden Tower, and ends at the starting point by going out to Neftchilar Avenue.

The width of the widest part of the track is 13 meters, the narrowest part of the track is 7.6 meters in the parts around Icherisheher, including the 7th and 8th turns.

This year's world championship started on March 3-5 with the Bahrain Grand Prix.

The next stages were held in Saudi Arabia and Australia.

After three stages and the first sprint race of the current season organized in Baku, the list of pilots is headed by Max Verstappen, the Dutch driver of the Red Bull Racing team.

He has 75 points in his asset.

13 points behind Verstappen, another driver of Red Bull Racing, Sergio Perez, took the second place.

The first five are closed by Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) with 48 points, Luis Hamilton (Mercedes) with 40 points and Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) with 24 points.

The leader of the Constructors' Cup is the Red Bull Racing team (137 points).

"Aston Martin" is second with 69 points, and "Mercedes" is third with 63 points.

Ferrari (37), McLaren (12), Alpine (8), Haas (7), Alfa Romeo (6), Alpha Tauri (1) and Williams ( 1) teams are decided.

As part of the Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Formula 2 races were also held in Baku.

In this competition, 11 teams, each represented by two pilots, fought for the first place.

On April 28, Formula 2 free and qualifying competitions were organized.

"Preme Racing" pilot Oliver Berman was the first in the free race.

Isak Hajar, a member of "Hitech", finished the race in the second place, Kush Mai from "Campos Racing" in the third place.

Oliver Berman distinguished himself in the ranking round.

Rodin Carlin team member Enzo Fittipaldi took second place, and ART Grand Prix pilot Theo Purcher took third place.

The next day, in the first sprint race, O. Berman outpaced all his competitors.

His teammate Frederik West finished the race in the second place, and the pilot of "Hitech" Jack Crawford finished in the third place.

It should be noted that Azerbaijan hosts the Formula 1 races for the seventh time.

The first competition called the European Grand Prix was organized in 2016.

Nico Rosberg, the driver of the Mercedes team, was the first in this race.

Daniel Ricciardo ("Red Bull Racing" - 2017), Luis Hamilton ("Mercedes" - 2018), Valtteri Bottas ("Mercedes" - 2019), Sergio Perez ("Red Bull Racing" - 2021), Max Ferastappen (Red Bull Racing - 2022) won.

In 2020, the Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix was not held due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Different pilots have won the Azerbaijan stage of the World Championship every year.

The unpredictability of the result of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix makes it even more spectacular.

Formula 1 experts called it "Baku syndrome".