[Official] Azerbaijan Grand Prix 2023: Grand Prix Weekend Thread - Round 4 of 23

[Born Racer]

The Grand Prix on the streets of Azerbaijan's capital, Baku, first took place in 2016, under the title of 'European Grand Prix'. Located in this former Soviet republic, the track skirts the Caspian Sea and wraps itself around the old quarter, 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, and yet is developing a habit of throwing up cracking races.

The unusual break so early in the season has given teams a chance to take stock and reassess, carrying out crucial development work that could make a significant difference for the rest of the season, while the drivers are eager to get going again.

Ones to watch are Aston Martin, who have a history of form at this circuit in their various guises, as does Sergio Pérez.

We will also see plenty of racing this weekend, as the Sprint format returns, for the first of six events in 2023. The format has been shaken up a bit, with Grand Prix qualifying due to take place on Friday and Sprint qualifying and the Sprint itself run on Saturday almost as a separate event, before the Grand Prix takes up its customary slot on the Sunday.


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.

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 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 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 its pandemic-enforced hiatus in 2020, the following 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, taking Aston Martin's first podium, and Pierre Gasly in the AlphaTauri.

Last year, Leclerc seized pole from the Red Bull's of Pérez, fresh off the back of his Monaco victory, and Verstappen. However, the Ferrari driver locked up on the way into Turn 1 on the opener and Pérez took the lead. A slow stop for Pérez allowed Leclerc back past, along with Verstappen. After an engine failure, Verstappen took his first Baku win, from Pérez and George Russell in the Mercedes.


Trivia


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

No driver has won here more than once. Hamilton, Bottas, Pérez and Verstappen could all do that this weekend.

Sergio Pérez has had more podiums in Azerbaijan than anyone - taking one in two thirds of the races.

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.

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 fortress 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.


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. Remember that predictions for the Predictions Contest must be in before Grand Prix qualifying on Friday:

https://tentenths.com/forum/showthread.php?t=157881

https://tentenths.com/forum/showthread.php?t=157755

[Alan52]

Only 1 hour of practice.Imagine if there are a few red flags that reduce that time even further.I read an interview with a team principal where he said long runs will be out of the question.That massively reduces the data they’ll have for the Grand Prix and could turn that race into a bit of a trip into the unknown.Could be very interesting.
Lottery contest.How many laps will be done across the field in P1?

[Tourer]

Thanks for the great intro BR - amazing how much there is to write about a reasonably young GP!

Think that I said last year that I've grown to really like this event - felt really weird to start with but the circuit has its own rhythm and definitely presents challenges, along with real passing opportunities.

Agree with Alan - only 1 hour of practice leaves the door open for some unusual results with teams needing to guess / gamble more. Could be a full-bore weekend!

[Aysedasi]

Thanks for the great intro BR. I needed something interesting to read while I sit here waiting for my car to be serviced……

[BTCC frog]

I prefer the new sprint format because it doesn’t affect the Grand Prix, but I think it has gone from having a negative effect on the weekend to just being totally pointless (but still awarding a few points, of course).

I think I will skip the entire Saturday in Baku. Of all the motor racing available to watch on any given weekend, a qualifying session identical to the day before but for a less important race, and a short Grand Prix on a street circuit with no strategy and the only overtaking likely to be DRS on the main straight is not high up on the list of most interesting. And I predict that multiple cars outside the top eight will just park up during the race, meaning the format is revised again before Austria.

But I am looking forward to the actual Grand Prix on Sunday.

[S griffin]

Gasly and Alpine’s session goes up in smoke. Like the announcement of a new pope someone described

Like BTCC frog I’m split on the sprint format. On the one hand it doesn’t affect the grid for Sunday’s race, but on the other it seems so unnecessary because of that. Although it least it adds some points. I just hope it doesn’t make some teams have an expensive weekend, particularly after the Oz GP farce

[VIVA GT]

This change is going to create a problem for me as qualifying is now this afternoon, with Sprint Quali & the sprint tomorrow and the Channel 4 highlights programme not until 7:50 tomorrow evening I am going to have to avoid this forum, the autosport.com website and all news reports until I have time to watch my recording of the TV (which will probably not be until Sunday morning!).
I suppose I will get lots of other things done without these distractions, but I'll be amazed if I manage not to have my surprise spoiled by learning some of the results...

[Born Racer]

Originally Posted by Alan52

Only 1 hour of practice.Imagine if there are a few red flags that reduce that time even further.I read an interview with a team principal where he said long runs will be out of the question.That massively reduces the data they’ll have for the Grand Prix and could turn that race into a bit of a trip into the unknown.Could be very interesting.
Lottery contest.How many laps will be done across the field in P1?

I agree this is an interesting aspect. Shaking up the format created an interesting dimension to the weekend. Not all changes have to be to the cars and rules themselves.

Having said that, I did like the Sprint dictating the grid for the Grand Prix, as it felt like the whole weekend progressed. See Hamilton from Friday to Sunday in Brazil 2021 as an example. Still, I'll be open to this change.

[S griffin]

Brilliant lap from Leclerc to steal pole. Have Ferrari got their car sorted? Have to find out tomorrow, let’s hope the cars are more reliable than they were last year. Big shock Russell was knocked out. Good to see Tsunoda up there

[bjohnsonsmith]

Excellent intro as ever.

I must say I have enjoyed the break from the F1 Grand Prix circus, since the Australian GP, so I'm looking forward to the season resuming.

I'm still not a fan of sprint races but I quite like the changes that have been made to the format.

[v8supes]

I love the petulance of all this Sprint qualifying stuff, they even scheduled it to be on at the same time as Moto GPs qualifying session.

[S griffin]

Seems there is so much going in such short time it's hard to keep up. It's also gonna take a while to understand each part of this new format

[S griffin]

So Leclerc makes it two poles in one weekend. Ferrari really seem to be on fire this weekend

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by S griffin

So Leclerc makes it two poles in one weekend. Ferrari really seem to be on fire this weekend

How many poles did he get last year and couldn't turn them into wins?

[billy bleach]

Originally Posted by S griffin

So Leclerc makes it two poles in one weekend. Ferrari really seem to be on fire this weekend

Or have a qualiy car that eats tyres….

[bjohnsonsmith]

Not a particularly good start from Verstappen, with Russell getting the better of him.

Senoda's AlphaTauri has turned itself into a tricycle. VSC.

Edit: SC deployed.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Congrats to Perez.

I'm still not sold on these sprint races.

[seanyb505]

Russell got the better of Max's sidepod. I thought it was generic championship leader carping on the radio until he pulled up to podium. Unfortunate racing incident, which turned into generic championship leader saltiness.

Yuki going back out and then not immediately pulling over caused way to much slowage for a Sprint. Which other than that, seemed like very little meaningful action. Did nothing to prove worth of sprints, like every sprint before it.

[brands]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

Congrats to Perez.

I'm still not sold on these sprint races.

Agreed.

[chunterer]

George massively trolling Max today then! Lol!

Seriously though, Georgie was possibly a bit too combative but he had to strike while the iron was hot.

Max got a duffed up but he's in no position to preach about aggressive tactics.

So far this weekend Tsunoda has had possibly his worst weekend in F1 to date.
Please will no one else pipe up anymore about this guy being top line potential or a 'seriously improved driver.' He's never going to be top liner and on current form ought to be shown the door by the end of the season!

[peebee2]

Originally Posted by chunterer

So far this weekend Tsunoda has had possibly his worst weekend in F1 to date.
Please will no one else pipe up anymore about this guy being top line potential or a 'seriously improved driver.' He's never going to be top liner and on current form ought to be shown the door by the end of the season!

Which would you kick out first, as the Lawson to replace de Vries rumours are certainly getting louder.

[steve_r]

Clearly neither of the AT drivers are ever going to be in the main RBR team. So I do wonder what the point if having a junior team is?

[Akrapovic]

Max is just unhappy someone treated him like he treated others.

Not much to say about the Sprint. It was certainly a thing that happened.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by steve_r

Clearly neither of the AT drivers are ever going to be in the main RBR team. So I do wonder what the point if having a junior team is?

Both Vettel and Verstappen drove for them when they were called Scuderia Toro Rosso.

[steve_r]

Yes, I think we all know that - I am talkign about the current crop and indeed other recent AT drivers.

At the moment the AT team have probably the weakest driver pairing on the grid, and clearly neither are good enough for the main RBR team.