The Formula One paddock will return to Baku this weekend for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, with just eight more races remaining on the calendar in a season that quickly turned from ho-hum to competitive. The two races right out of the summer break, in the Netherlands and Italy, did not disappoint, and this upcoming weekend shouldn’t either. With a three-way battle for the constructors’ championship now in play and a massive personnel move off the track now finalized, there’s plenty to keep an eye on in Baku.
Here’s what to know ahead of the 2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix:
How McLaren’s ‘Papaya Rules’ Will Play Out
The concept of team orders isn't new to F1, but this particular stretch for McLaren has put the topic front and center. The team, now just eight points shy of Red Bull in the championship standings, has established itself as the clear favorite to hoist the constructors’ trophy. However, two titles could come into play should McLaren prioritize Lando Norris over teammate Oscar Piastri across the final eight races.
The exact opposite happened two weekends ago in Monza, when Piastri made a daring dive at Norris, the pole-sitter, on the opening lap of the Italian Grand Prix. Norris fell back to third, where he finished and picked up only eight points on Verstappen in the drivers’ standings. Even Piastri missed out on a win by race’s end due to a heroic, one-stop effort by race winner Charles Leclerc.
The risky pass by Piastri and the way that McLaren handled the situation, along with the earlier season drama at the Hungarian Grand Prix, forced the team to explain itself after the race. Norris made clear that he didn’t want to just be handed free points by his teammate, but reeling in Verstappen has to be a team effort. Team principal Andrea Stella has suggested that McLaren will take a look at how to implement team orders going forward—but is it too little, too late?
“Papaya rules are,” McLaren CEO Zak Brown explained, “it’s your teammate; race him hard, race him clean, don’t touch.”
Given that the McLaren car and both team’s drivers are at the top of their game headed to Baku, this dynamic bears watching every race, from now until the end of the season.
Don’t Forget About Ferrari
Consistency is the most important quality for any team or driver in F1, and by far the steadiest team in 2024 is Ferrari. Apart from two DNFs in Canada, the Prancing Horse has had just one other race in which its two drivers failed to score a combined 18 points or more. In comparison, McLaren has had three such races (in the first four outings of the year) and Red Bull has had four.
The result of such consistency is that after Leclerc’s dramatic win in front of the Tifosi (Ferrari’s loyal fan base) in Monza, the team is squarely within striking distance in the constructors’ championship. Headed into the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Ferrari trails second-place McLaren by 31 points and leader Red Bull by 39.
Ferrari has been able to avoid many disaster weeks, but also hasn’t had many weekends with a massive point haul. Despite a handful of third-place finishes in recent weeks, Leclerc’s two victories in Italy and hometown Monaco are the only times one of the team’s drivers has finished in the top two in a race, apart from an early-season 1–2 finish in Australia.
Baku has been a favorite of Leclerc’s in recent years, as the Monégasque driver has started on pole in each of his last three trips to Azerbaijan. Should he and Sainz both land in the top five in Sunday’s Grand Prix, watch out: Ferrari might be in its best late-season position for a championship since 2008.
Aston Martin, Meet Adrian Newey
F1’s most successful car designer finally put pen to paper Tuesday, joining Aston Martin on a five-year deal that will reportedly earn him nearly $200 million. Reports suggest that owner Lawrence Stroll will pay Newey $39.2 million annually to spearhead the team’s attempted leap up the sport's pecking order.
Newey, perhaps more than any free agent driver, was the most sought after talent in the paddock after news of his departure from Red Bull broke earlier this season. After all, he’s helped contribute to 19.7% of wins in all of F1 history. Ferrari was the other major player in the negotiations due to Newey’s previously voiced desire to work with Lewis Hamilton, but the 65-year-old admitted he also sought to work with 43-year-old Fernando Alonso, who still looks sharp behind the wheel 18 years after his last world championship.
Newey won’t officially start working with Aston Martin until March 2025, the team announced, but his signing is a massive statement of intent from Stroll. The billionaire, who is both the chairperson of Aston Martin and the brand’s F1 team, has already invested in a new team headquarters and landed Alonso last year to pair on the grid alongside his son Lance Stroll.
But Newey is the true difference maker. Aston Martin might not be able to join the likes of Red Bull, McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes next year, but when the regulation changes come in 2026, the outfit has to be considered a threat.
Bearman Is Back
On a midfield note, Oliver Bearman will return to the grid this weekend in Baku, subbing in for Haas and Kevin Magnussen, who was dealt a one-race ban for accruing 12 penalty points across the last 12 months.
The swap is a glimpse into the future for Haas, which signed the 19-year-old British driver to a multiyear deal beginning next season. Bearman will join new teammate Esteban Ocon in 2025 in what was a full driver lineup change for a team desperately in need of something to improve upon a disappointing six-year run.
Haas does seem to be trending in the right direction. Magnussen and Nico Hülkenberg, the latter of whom will join Sauber next season, have amassed 28 points in 2024, good enough for seventh in the constructors’ standings and only six points shy of RB. However, consistent performance has been lacking, as 20 of those 28 points came across two races in Austria and England.
Bearman brings talent and upside with him to Haas, as was on display when he filled in for Carlos Sainz in the second race of the 2024 campaign and finished seventh. However, he was in a far superior Ferrari then. His first real test comes on Sunday, when the paddock will get a chance to see exactly what he’s bringing to Haas next season.
Filling the Sauber Seat
While Red Bull continues to assess what moves to make with its collection of seats at the top team and at RB, Sauber seems poised to be the penultimate outfit to lock its 2025 drivers’ lineup into place. Hülkenberg is already under contract through the unit’s transition to Audi in ‘26, but the team seems torn between which route to take for its other seat: experience or youth.
Among the candidates in the former category that have been connected to Sauber are current drivers Valtteri Bottas or Zhou Guanyu. In the other group stands Gabriel Bortoleto, an F2 driver for McLaren who’s in the midst of a rather contentious championship fight himself.
The reality? This is a signing for the future. Sauber shouldn’t expect to drastically turn things around after scoring zero points through the first 16 races of 2024. Assuming the team is keeping that in mind, be on the lookout for Bortoleto’s performance in a pressure-filled F2 race this weekend in Baku. He trails leader Isack Hadjar by 11.5 points with three races remaining on the calendar.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Azerbaijan Grand Prix Preview: McLaren’s New Team Rules and Ferrari’s Fighting Chance.
