In style! Azerbaijan Grand Prix stewards became Formula 1 heroes of the day
Dmitry Zakharchenko September 13, 2024, 23:15 Moscow time Audio version: Your browser does not support the audio element.
Instead of helmets, employees came to work wearing colorful caps.
On Friday, one of the main heroes of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix was the track marshals who evacuated Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari, which had been destroyed in the first free practice session.
Charles Leclerc after an accident in the first practice
Photo: x.com/f1
The marshals did their job, as always, quickly and efficiently, but they attracted attention with their unusual headgear: three postal workers wore elegant caps on their heads instead of the usual helmets.
It is not known how this affected the safety of the volunteers, but it definitely added flavour to the Azerbaijani race.
Selfie of Charles Leclerc with the marshals after the accident
Photo: From Leclerc’s personal archive.
“For some reason, in our race and in many others, helmets are optional. And the guys didn’t even ask about caps – they are popularly called “airfield caps,” the First Places telegram channel quotes one of the marshals named Tarlan as saying.
It should be noted that this is not Leclerc’s first accident in Baku, and this time the collision with the speed bump did not go unnoticed. Charles first missed almost the entire first practice session, and then had problems in the second: the repaired car was dragged to the side of the track.
Leclerc in the second practice
Photo: Clive Mason/Getty Images
Leclerc returned to the pits, the mechanics worked on the car, after which the driver went back out on track and even set the best time of the day, 0.006 seconds ahead of Sergio Pérez.
Against the backdrop of McLaren’s slow pace and Red Bull’s shaky form, Ferrari may have a real chance of winning this time around. Unless, of course, Leclerc interacts with the Baku marshals exclusively off-track.
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