In his place will sit Oliver Bearman, the young Ferrari junior who has already been confirmed as part of Haas’s all-new driver line-up next year alongside Esteban Ocon. The Briton has already completed several FP1 sessions for the team — the first in Mexico City last year — and is brimming with confidence after impressing the paddock during his F1 race debut in Saudi Arabia earlier this year, where he replaced an absent Carlos Sainz at Ferrari, qualifying 11th after a single practice session and finishing the race in seventh place.
“I’m excited about getting back inside a Formula 1 car and competing in my first full weekend, said Bearman. “I’ve done FP1s with the team, but to be able to build on that and actually do a full weekend is a really exciting prospect. Last year I had a lot of success in Baku and it’s really one of my favourite tracks to compete at, so I’m really excited to get going.”
The streets of Baku are where Bearman first turned heads in Formula 2 in his rookie season last year. He secured pole position over Enzo Fittipaldi by two-hundredths of a second before taking his debut F2 win in the sprint race, followed by victory in the feature race too. With three practice sessions to adapt back to life in a Formula 1 car and his F1 future already secure, Bearman could be capable of producing another special result for Haas.
“I’ve had time in the simulator, it’s definitely a challenging track, but not being a permanent circuit, the walls are very close and it’s tight in some places, especially the famous castle section. That’s another point to focus on, make sure to build up to speed, in an as measured way as possible. I’m happy I have a lot of laps in the car because this will be my first full weekend which I haven’t had the pleasure of having before.”
Can Perez haul Red Bull out of its performance rut?
Could Perez add to his Baku success in 2024?
Grand Prix Photo
Sergio Perez may be in the midst of another annus horribilis for Red Bull in 2024, having not stepped onto the podium since April’s Chinese Grand Prix; failed to finish inside the top five since Miami; nor won a race in over 500 days. But it’s hard to ignore the Mexican’s history of success around the streets of Baku.
Since joining the calendar for the first time in 2016, the Azerbaijan GP has been won by seven different drivers — but only Perez has won the event twice.
In 2021, he climbed through the field from sixth and held his nerve during a late red flag restart to secure a key victory over Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton — who infamously locked up at Turn 1 and fell down the order. In 2023, he then put on a street circuit masterclass: out-qualifying his title-winning team-mate throughout the weekend before going on to win both the sprint and the Grand Prix.
Is a third win in Baku on the cards? It appears unlikely, given his recent form and the challenge posed by McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes. But even a podium appearance for Perez could aid Red Bull in re-establishing its grip on the constructors’ title, with McLaren now hot on its heels. Red Bull is desperate for Checo to reignite his form of old. Given the close competition, it needs its ‘Mexican Minister of Defence’ now more than ever.
Could hot track temperatures and strong winds play a key role?
Baku is renowned as a windy city. Its very name is derived from the Persian bād Kūbac, meaning “gust of wind”. So, by now, most drivers are accustomed to the unpredictable gusts that blow through the city streets and disrupt the carefully curated airflow over an F1 car. However, the drivers are less familiar with the increased temperatures which are expected to hit the circuit this weekend.
