FIA keeps title rivals away from each other in press conference for Baku

Since this season, the FIA organizes its press conferences with the drivers on the Friday before the first free practice session. All twenty drivers are addressed, after which the team bosses speak on Saturday before the third free practice. Before the weekend, the FIA announces which drivers will be heard when, and for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix they have made a striking choice in their line ups.

None of the title rivals are in the same press box. First, championship leader Max Verstappen gets to sit down, along with Lando Norris, Kevin Magnussen, Esteban Ocon and Zhou Guanyu. Then it's the turn of teammate Sergio Perez along with Yuki Tsunoda, Lance Stroll, Daniel Ricciardo and Alex Albon.

Next it is the turn of the Ferrari drivers, with Carlos Sainz first. Charles Leclerc can then be heard last, along with former world champions Fernando Alonso, Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton. Expectations will be high for the four drivers from the two top teams, now that the differences at the top are small.

Also for the tyre supplier, Pirelli, the pressure will be on this weekend. Last year they had to deal with two blowouts on the straights, the cause of which has never been fully established. On Saturday Mario Isola will join the teams at the press conference, most probably to look back at last year and what the Italian tyre supplier has learned from it.