[Official] Azerbaijan Grand Prix 2022: Grand Prix Weekend Thread - Round 8 of 22

[Born Racer]

After it was originally announced that a Grand Prix would be held on the streets of Azerbaijan's capital in 2015, it eventually occurred a year later under the title 'European Grand Prix'. A former Soviet republic, the track skirts the Caspian Sea and wraps itself around the 11th-century old quarters, passing the fortress walls, which hem in the tightest section. This is a track of contrasts - tight in one section, extremely fast in another, with a compromise to be found on set-up, it also has a fairly low attendance by F1 standards, but has produced some a profusion of cracking races in its short history.


The history

Going into the 2016 European Grand Prix (Round 8 of the season), Nico Rosberg led the title battle by nine points from Lewis Hamilton. Hamilton crashed at Turn 10 in Q3, meaning he would start 10th. Valtteri Bottas had the distinction of achieving the highest ever official speed in a Formula 1 session, of 378 kph (235 mph) in his Williams-Mercedes, surpassing the previous record, held by Antônio Pizzonia, of 369.6 kph from the 2004 Italian Grand Prix.

Rosberg started on pole and led all 51 laps to take the first Baku victory. Hamilton made his way up to as high as 4th, but ultimately ended 5th. Stuck in the wrong engine mode for much of the Grand Prix, the team were unable to give him advice, due to the rule about driving the car unaided. Sebastian Vettel was 2nd for Ferrari and Sergio Pérez completed the podium in 3rd for Force India, not needing to pass Kimi Räikkönen, who held the place on track, as he had a 5-second penalty for crossing the pit entry line, and he stayed within that time of the Finn. This was probably the least dramatic race here.

In 2017, the event claimed its national designation, as it became the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Lewis Hamilton took pole and led at the start, followed by Bottas, Räikkönen and Vettel. On Lap 1, at Turn 3, the two Finns collided, putting Vettel up to 2nd.

There were two safety cars in quick succession and Hamilton reported the safety car was not fast enough. On Lap 19, under the SC, Vettel drove into the rear of Hamilton, which damaged the Ferrari’s front wing and the Mercedes’s rear diffuser, although they were able to continue. He thought Hamilton had brake-tested him, and astoundingly, pulled up alongside him and drove into him. Both cars carried on, although the incident was, unsurprisingly, under investigation.

Then, the Force Indias of Pérez and Esteban Ocon collided, leaving debris everywhere and a puncture for Räikkönen. A safety car was followed by a red flag on Lap 22 to clear up the mess.

When racing resumed, Räikkönen and Pérez rejoined (a lap down), as, like many, their cars had been worked on in the stoppage period, although they were handed drive-through penalties for this work having been done in garages instead of the pit lane. They eventually retired anyway. Hamilton led from Vettel, but on Lap 29, the Mercedes driver’s headrest came loose and after trying to hold it on himself, Race Control insisted he pit two laps later. Vettel was dealt a 10 second stop-go penalty for the incident with Hamilton, rejoining in 7th, just ahead of Lewis.

Daniel Ricciardo now led for Red Bull, from Lance Stroll in the Williams and Kevin Magnussen in the Haas. Hamilton wanted now-Mercedes team-mate Bottas to slow his rhythm to allow him to get past, but this was refused as Valtteri was still able to make progress. In the end, Ricciardo won from Bottas and Stroll, passed on the start-finish straight of the final lap and beaten over the line by just 0.105 seconds. Nonetheless, by becoming the second-youngest podium finisher in history (at 18 years 239 days, 11 days older than Verstappen when he won the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix), the Williams driver was delighted.

2018 was somewhat less eventful, but still had its moments of incident. Vettel led Hamilton by nine points going into the race (Round 4 of the championship) and took pole from the British driver, followed by Bottas. On Lap 40, after trading positions various times, Red Bull team-mates Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen retired when they collided, as Max tried to cover off the previous year’a winner just after he had passed him. Bottas took advantage of the safety car to change tyres and take over the lead from Vettel. The Ferrari driver botched an attempted pass on the restart, locking up and flat-spotting his tyres to drop to 4th.

However, on Lap 48 of 51, Bottas was forced to retire with a puncture, awarding Hamilton the win, followed by Räikkönen in the Ferrari and, for the second year in a row, Pérez in the Force India, who had passed Vettel. Hamilton took over the championship lead. Sauber driver Charles Leclerc, meanwhile, scored his first points, in sixth place.

In 2019, Hamilton led Mercedes team-mate Bottas by six points prior to the Grand Prix, which was again Round 4 of the championship. It was Bottas, though, who took pole and won the race, leading the majority of it and ending up with a one-point championship lead too. Leclerc had been looking strong for this one, but crashed in the old quarter Sector 2 in qualifying. Hamilton finished 2nd and Vettel 3rd. Ricciardo again retired, but this time after he collided with Daniil Kvyat upon attempting to reverse back onto the track after having running wide. The Toro Rosso driver was also out.

After a pandemic-enforced hiatus in 2020, last year Leclerc led away from pole, but was passed by Hamilton on Lap 3 and Verstappen on Lap 6. Hamilton had a slow stop and was jumped by the Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Sergio Pérez. Stroll then suffered a high-speed left-rear tyre failure, pitching him into the barriers, which led to the deployment of the SC. On Lap 46, a similar accident to Stroll's for Verstappen took him out of the race and after an SC, the race was red flagged. Hamilton locked up on attempting to pass Pérez for the lead after accidentally choosing the incorrect brake mode. He dropped to the back. This left a surprising podium, with Pérez claiming the win from Sebastian Vettel with his first Aston Martin podium and Pierre Gasly in the AlphaTauri.

This year, Pérez heads into Baku as a bit of a form man, with some big results at this circuit and the high of momentum, a new contract and a Monaco win a fortnight ago.


Trivia


This takes into account the 2016 European Grand Prix, unless otherwise stated.

8th on the grid has given as many podiums as pole - with Stroll 3rd from that position in 2017 and Pérez the same in 2018.

Sergio Pérez and Sebastian Vettel have finished on the podium 60% of the time in Baku.

The safety car has featured in 60% of races here.

The track has what is considered to be the longest straight in f1, 1.6 km including the final curve. However, if you include anything from Turn 16 as the start-finish straight, as some do, it becomes mammoth.

The circuit also has the tightest section with the curves just before the city walls probably not enough for two cars to run side-by-side.

This is the third-longest track after Spa and Jeddah.

Bottas’s top speed of 378 kph, set in 2016, remains the highest top speed recorded in a Formula 1 session (although it is not an official record).

Only two pole-sitters have subsequently won that Grand Prix - Rosberg in 2016 and Bottas in 2019.

No-one has won a Grand Prix in Baku more than once. Hamilton, Bottas, Ricciardo and Pérez all have a theoretical chance to do so this weekend.


The track

The circuit potentially requires a compromise set-up between high and low downforce or to favour one or the other, as it features slow, tight corners and 90 degree bends and some fast straights.

Turns 1, 2 and 3 are all 90-degree left-handers, with DRS activation between 2 and 3, with a short straight before the 90-right Turn 4.

The track then curves left before entering Sector 2 and a tight left-right at 5 and 6, before left-right-left-right-left as the cars go through the Icheri Sheher old quarter, which runs to Turn 12. The big kerb just before the tight section preceding the city walls has just been removed this weekend.

It’s then three fast lefts at 13, 14 and 15, before entering Sector 3, with the 90-left 16 and then a fast section with some slight curves beginning, leading onto what is viewed as Formula 1’s longest straight (albeit curving slightly), with DRS activation at the end, as a new lap is started.




Other information

Circuit length: 6.003 km
Number of laps: 51
Race distance: 306.049 km
Race Lap Record: 1:43.009 (Charles Leclerc - Ferrari - 2019)
Dry weather tyre compounds: C3, C4 and C5

First Azerbaijan Grand Prix: 2017
First Grand Prix at this circuit: 2016

Join in the fun with the F1 Predictions Contest and Fantasy F1:

https://tentenths.com/forum/showthread.php?t=157165

https://tentenths.com/forum/showthread.php?t=156986

[P38 in workshop]

In the few years it has been running,this race has become one of my favourites..

[S griffin]

Look forward to the preview tomorrow BR. This track and venue is not one I get excited about. But we should have another interesting contest. Hard to predict who will be on top come qualifying tomorrow

[steve_r]

This is one of the new breed of what i consider to be very dangerous looking race tracks, but it has delivered some absolutely great races since being introduced.

[bjohnsonsmith]

I can't disagree, it has produced some good races, so I'm looking forward to it and seeing how it pans out this year.

[Tourer]

Originally Posted by P38 in workshop

In the few years it has been running,this race has become one of my favourites..

Right with you. The first year F1 went there, I had severe "what the?" reactions - particularly that really narrow section but they made a few changes and now I really look forward to it - seems to throw up some quite different results too.

[S griffin]

I don't agree. Ever since F1 first went there I've never felt this GP has ever fitted. It's never really excited and I've never felt the local interest there has been great. Races there tend to be either really dull or a crashfest

[crmalcolm]

Having only been on the calendar since 2016, Baku already has many memorable moments.
Plenty of excitement and it fits better with modern F1 than Monaco does.

Probably in the top three of street circuits IMO and an example of how F1 can race in a city circuit and still have overtaking.

[chillibowl]

This DanRic interview on the sky pre quali show is a bit difficult to watch. these reasonable by repetitive questions about his future seem to have destroyed his natural enthusiasm. Sad I must say.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Q1 has been red flagged, after Stroll goes into the wall, with about 2.5 minutes left.

[chillibowl]

Great closing laps to q3! Leclerc was massive once he finally put it together!

[bjohnsonsmith]

Leclerc on Pole. That is his 6th this season and he is followed by Perez, Verstappen and Sainz. Russell 5th.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Clean start with Perez taking the lead, as Leclerc locks up.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Sainz off, down the escape road at Turn 7.

Leclerc pits under the VSC.

[tux]

Ferrari.......

[bjohnsonsmith]

Leclerc out, with smoke pouring from the back of his car.

[tux]

Whats going on over there at Ferrari? Thats 4 Ferrari powertrains retired today... Cant be a coincidence, can it?

[bjohnsonsmith]

Congrats to Verstappen.

[steve_r]

Well that was pretty dull. It was setup for an interesting battle and then both Ferraris failed.

[Tourer]

Originally Posted by steve_r

Well that was pretty dull. It was setup for an interesting battle and then both Ferraris failed.

Yep - plenty of high expectations but just didn't pan out for this one.

[chunterer]

After the FP and then qualy promising much to look forwsrd to it ended up a very ordinary race.

I recorded it and watched most of it on fast forward during the evening so I could hurry up and put the Elkhart Lake Indycar on!

[TrapezeArtist]

Monday afternoon and we've only got to Page 2. That says it all really.

The last few races, Ferrari seem to have been intent on snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. I thought they were getting better but they seem to be getting more and more "Italian" again. I feel so sorry for their drivers who are both performing well and are highly motivated.

[steve_r]

I certainly feel sorry for LeClerc who is driving beautifully, but who's WDC challenge has gone well and truly off the rails. Sainz however has not impressed, which is a surprise.

[chillibowl]

agreed about Sainz.

went into the season with high hopes and clearly the team still rate him highly as they have recently extended his contract...and dont they typically only announce new deals in and around the Italian GP in early fall right?

feel like something else going on with him more then just his dislike of the car's inherent characteristics or whatever. thats wild speculation on my part though.

[Lancsbreaker]

Painful watching Hamilton trying to get out of the car after the race.....I'm suffering myself at the moment and could empathise with his struggles!


But it is interesting how little attention the race has attracted here.....Must be the Le Mans effect.....though I spent all Sunday watching the BTCC programme from Oulton