‘Absolute shambles’: F1 chaos at Azerbaijan GP as ‘madness’ sparks scary near-miss

The F1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix ended in “absolute shambles” as a driver narrowly avoided a disastrous collision in farcical scenes.

Esteban Ocon in pit lane.

The Azerbaijan Grand Prix ended in farcical scenes as Alpine’s Esteban Ocon nearly took out several people who entered the pit lane while the race was still running.

It was another Red Bull 1-2 finish as Sergio Perez made the most of a fortuitous Safety Car to take the lead and hold off teammate Max Verstappen to claim the sixth win of his career.

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All five of Perez’s race victories with Red Bull have come on street circuits, including two at Baku.

Charles Leclerc rounded out the podium, while Australia’s Oscar Piastri dropped one place to finish just out of the points in 11th.

It was a largely uneventful race in Azerbaijan before Ocon sparked scary scenes when he came into the pits in the dying stages for his mandatory pit stop.

Ocon had been holding up several drivers throughout the race, including the two McLarens, but he had to pit at least once, relegating him down to 15th.

A group of staff and photographers clearly didn’t expect any more drivers to change tyres and they walked out onto pit lane in preparation for the podium presentation.

Thankfully no one was hurt, but Ocon very nearly ran over several people in scary scenes.

that should NOT be happening 😳 pic.twitter.com/UUMkZUJYRy

— WTF1 (@wtf1official) April 30, 2023

How does this even happen?!

An onboard from Ocon shows just how close he was to running someone over…#F1#AzerbaijanGPhttps://t.co/mHMYaimN3f

— Fastest Pitstop (@FastestPitStop) April 30, 2023

WTF are they doing letting people stand in the pits when the race is still live #AzerbaijanGP

— Tom Bellingham (@TomP1Bellingham) April 30, 2023

What was going on at the end!? Utterly terrifying scenes as Ocon came into the pits which was full of people. Very lucky no one was hurt #F1#AzerbaijanGP

— Bec Clancy (@becclancy) April 30, 2023

Sky Sports pit lane reporter Ted Kravitz said: “This is an absolute shambles! We could see it coming, Alpine could see it coming. What is going on there?”

David Croft said: “That is a total and utter shambles of organisation. Someone should have known.

“There will be a lot of questions asked about what happened right at the end.

“People coming out to celebrate on the pit wall, which is not allowed now in the regulations, and photographers waiting for the podium celebrations while Esteban Ocon still had to make his pit stop in this race.

“Somebody should have checked. They didn’t and luckily no one was hurt.”

Karun Chandhok said it was “a lucky escape”.

“That was absolute madness to allow all those people into the pit lane when there was live racing going on,” he added.

The FIA confirmed they were investigating their own personnel for blocking pit lane while the race was still going.

“I’m arriving at 300km/h, breaking very late, and I see the barriers, I see the people around. This is crazy,” Ocon said.

“Could have been a big, big one today. This is definitely something that needs to be discussed. It’s something we don’t want to see.”

Sergio Perez celebrates another street circuit win. (Photo by Giuseppe CACACE / AFP)

Perez’s victory means he has trimmed Verstappen’s lead in the drivers’ championship to six points and if he wins the next race in Miami he will lead the championship.

Azerbaijan GP results (top 10)

1) Sergio Perez

2) Max Verstappen

3) Charles Leclerc

4) Fernando Alonso

5) Carlos Sainz

6) Lewis Hamilton

7) Lance Stroll

8) George Russell

9) Lando Norris

10) Yuki Tsunoda

9.47pm - Perez holding off Verstappen

Sergio Perez leads the race from Max Verstappen midway through the race.

The Red Bull duo are 11 seconds ahead of Charles Leclerc.

It would be a mighty effort if Perez can keep Verstappen at bay for his sixth career win.

The McLaren drivers are stuck behind Esteban Ocon and Nico Hulkenberg, who are yet to pit in 10th place.

9.25pm - Safety Car helps Perez

Nyck de Vries has spun out, triggering a Safety Car that has dudded Max Verstappen.

Verstappen pitted early as Red Bull looked to split their strategy, but the Safety Car period meant Perez virtually had a free pit stop to stay in the lead.

Leclerc also pitted and got ahead of Verstappen.

Perez and Leclerc both pit and get ahead of Verstappen - that stop backfired for Red Bull, work to do for Max again now from P3 on the restart #F1#AzerbaijanGP

— Luke Smith (@LukeSmithF1) April 30, 2023

9.10pm - Verstappen takes early lead

Charles Leclerc made a solid start but it only took until lap 4 for Max Verstappen to overtake him and take the lead.

Easy move from Verstappen to pass Leclerc, Red Bull's straight-line speed might again shining through. He was over 30 km/h quicker than Leclerc as he swept past! #F1#AzerbaijanGP

— Luke Smith (@LukeSmithF1) April 30, 2023

Sergio Perez is hot on Leclerc’s tail he quickly passed the Ferrari as well, setting up a battle between the two Red Bulls. and it could soon become a race between the two Red Bulls.

“This is a fight between the two Red Bulls,” Sky Sports commentator Karun Chandhok said.

“I don’t believe there are any team orders here. I think this is an open battle between two drivers who have both won the Baku Grand Prix previously.”

Oscar Piastri slipped one place down to 11th on the opening lap, before a slow pit stop kept him behind Yuki Tsunoda.

Verstappen and Perez are battling it out in Baku. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)

Verstappen labels Mercedes rival ‘Princess George’

Max Verstappen isn’t a fan of F1’s new sprint races and he was furious at George Russell after the Mercedes driver bumped into him during Saturday’s sprint.

Russell collided with Verstappen and put a huge hold in the side of his Red Bull.

The championship leader confronted Russell afterwards, and called him a “d***head” as Russell walked away from him.

Russell was surprised Verstappen defended so hard against him in the relatively meaningless sprint race, but the Dutchman said he had every reason to fight hard in wheel-to-wheel action.

Verstappen quipped: “It’s not allowed because Princess George is there? That’s ultimately his problem!”

Max Verstappen was furious with George Russell after the sprint race. (Photo by Giuseppe CACACE / AFP)

The world champion hates F1’s new sprint format, with the addition this weekend of an extra qualifying session for the sprint race.

“Just scrap the whole thing,” Verstappen said of attempts to spice up race weekends.

“I think it’s just important to go back to what we have, and make sure that every team can fight for a win.

“That’s what we have to try and aim for and [not] try to implement all this kind of artificial excitement.

“I would say I got bored through today’s qualifying, to be honest.”