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

[Sodemo]

It felt like a moment from the 1980s…

[E.B]

Originally Posted by GT6

Shambles at the end did not help.....

It seems the FIA have been found in breach of their own Sporting Regulations over it.

The stewards summoned the FIA over the matter, finding two articles of the International Sporting Code had been breached.

Specifically, Article 12.2.1h relates to “Any unsafe act or failure to take reasonable measures, thus resulting in an unsafe situation.”
https://www.speedcafe.com/2023/05/01...lane-incident/

[Taxi645]

Originally Posted by E.B

It seems the FIA have been found in breach of their own Sporting Regulations over it.

The stewards summoned the FIA over the matter, finding two articles of the International Sporting Code had been breached.

Specifically, Article 12.2.1h relates to “Any unsafe act or failure to take reasonable measures, thus resulting in an unsafe situation.”
https://www.speedcafe.com/2023/05/01...lane-incident/

Indeed, the first two people jumping aside seemed to be FIA folk by the look of the outfit, but could be wrong. Beyond that it is unsafe anyway, the fact that Ocon still had to pit did not seem make the necessary people extra aware.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by Taxi645

Indeed, the first two people jumping aside seemed to be FIA folk by the look of the outfit, but could be wrong. Beyond that it is unsafe anyway, the fact that Ocon still had to pit did not seem make the necessary people extra aware.

I doubt they were aware Ocon had yet to pit, hence they were milling about on pit lane. Which begs the question, why were they even allowed onto pit lane in the first place, when the race hadn't ended?

[Taxi645]

I found the teamwork from Alonso and Stroll very refreshing. So kudo's to them for that. "Tell Alonso I won't attack him, were on the same plan", "He can have a go if he wants", "tell Stroll my brake settings, it might help him".


You don't see that often. Often it is I need to better my teammate. To see two guys racing full on, but putting the team first is quite nice to see.




On the Verstappen-Russell incident yesterday. Racing incident for me. If two go side by side into a 90 degree corner like that, well it's just very hard to fight for position inside and produce the necessary restraint to leave enough space on the outside. It's a tough balancing act. Could've been noted though.



I was a bit disappointed that one of the directors of the GPDA apparently feels that if you are on the outside and ahead at the apex (like Verstappen was at T2) you are taking a risk and apparently would be better to just relinquish the corner. As if any racing driver is ever going to give up his position in that situation or would not be looked down upon if having done so.


I reckon a director of the GPDA should do better to promote higher standards of racing. Note, I'm not defending Verstappen, as said it was a racing incident and he's no angel himself.

[Taxi645]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

I doubt they were aware Ocon had yet to pit, hence they were milling about on pit lane. Which begs the question, why were they even allowed onto pit lane in the first place, when the race hadn't ended?

Yes, strange. Apart from Ocon having to pit there could always be a technical reason why somebody needs to come in. So yes, unsafe in any case. That said, the first two seemed to be FIA people. They surely should have been aware that Ocon could only come in on that lap.

[S griffin]

Seems some people forgot, although curious why Ocon had to pit then, just for tyres considering there was no chance of FL. Maybe they should close the pit on the last lap. Either way it’s something that could have been avoided

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by S griffin

although curious why Ocon had to pit then, just for tyres considering there was no chance of FL.

It's mandatory to use two compounds during the race. Ocon was mandated by the regulations to switch to another compound and chose to do it that lap.

[Taxi645]

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

It's mandatory to use two compounds during the race. Ocon was mandated by the regulations to switch to another compound and chose to do it that lap.

If I'm not mistake on top of that it is not allowed (anymore) to do it in the last lap, so the chance of him coming in that lap was close to 100%

[P38 in workshop]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

Congrats again to Perez.

I agree with the sentiment.The thing is though it does make me question just how much of the lead in the constructor's championship is attributable to the excellent design work and how much comes from the drivers.I think we know the answer to that now that we have seen Perez take two successive wins.He has had a solid career outside the ranks of the acknowledged megastars and now he has beaten a double world champion in the recent events.

[S griffin]

I think it’s still early days and we shouldn’t draw too many conclusions. But Checo is certainly making a claim to keep that Red Bull seat and get the upper hand on Max

[S griffin]

The other teams could catch up and I wouldn’t be surprised. It will be interesting to see how the RBR drivers react to that. Perez certainly seems to be showing his stuff now, which could be very handy when the going gets tough

[ChrisA]

Glad Perez won the race, albeit fairly boring. Now the fun starts within Red Bull. Can't see Vestappen giving in to easily. According to Horner they're both free to race. Who's kidding who?

[S griffin]

It would be nice if they could more competition, it’s too easy for Red Bull atm. Max needs to watch out though. Horner will be keeping a watchful eye, I can see Perez getting the upper hand more often. But that’s enough from me

[seanyb505]

I think it's still too early in the season and close in points to start favoring one RB driver over the other. Although if Max pulls a point lead late enough Sergio will be instructed to support that. If Sergio pulls a lead it'll be up to max to overcome it. Slight difference.

[Akrapovic]

Originally Posted by ChrisA

Glad Perez won the race, albeit fairly boring. Now the fun starts within Red Bull. Can't see Vestappen giving in to easily. According to Horner they're both free to race. Who's kidding who?

Mr Spice was on the radio to Max saying he was just unlucky and Checo won due to a lucky break with the SC. In reality, Perez outdrove Max all weekend.

I think we know who is kidding who.

[billy bleach]

Originally Posted by Akrapovic

Mr Spice was on the radio to Max saying he was just unlucky and Checo won due to a lucky break with the SC. In reality, Perez outdrove Max all weekend.

I think we know who is kidding who.

It is pathetic how in the shadow of the Vestappens Mr Spice is

[Tourer]

Toto didn't think much of the race - wonder what he'd give it on our 10/10 "rate the race" thread?

Of course, give them all only 1 hour of Practice (less due to red flag) then lock them into that setup with only front wing & type pressure changes allowed and they'll all have to go conservative on tyres, drive to a number, try to manage tyre life - so as a result, we get a pretty ordinary race, particularly in comparison to previous Baku races.

Give them more time to Practice, or let them make changes to the cars between races and we might have seen a much better Grand Prix as more of them would have been able to commit harder for longer.

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by Tourer

Toto didn't think much of the race - wonder what he'd give it on our 10/10 "rate the race" thread?

Of course, give them all only 1 hour of Practice (less due to red flag) then lock them into that setup with only front wing & type pressure changes allowed and they'll all have to go conservative on tyres, drive to a number, try to manage tyre life - so as a result, we get a pretty ordinary race, particularly in comparison to previous Baku races.

Give them more time to Practice, or let them make changes to the cars between races and we might have seen a much better Grand Prix as more of them would have been able to commit harder for longer.

That's an interesting thought.

I wonder how true that would be though, when you consider the complaints about tracks where they test being boring because they are too 'dialled in'?

[Tourer]

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

That's an interesting thought.

I wonder how true that would be though, when you consider the complaints about tracks where they test being boring because they are too 'dialled in'?

Yes it's hard to REALLY know & I guess we'll rarely be fully satisfied but IMHO the lack of practice and then into Parc Ferme went too far.

I look at something like how hard Alonso came at Leclerc at the end of the race and makes me wonder if a bit more practice (say 90 minutes with stoppage time added, so they get a full 90) and then more changes allowed in Parc Ferme - after the Sprint, or something like that would have improved the GP.

[Sodemo]

I don’t see the problem in allowing teams to adjust settings on the car, things like wing settings, anti roll bar, dampers etc, although I’ve no idea if these cars even have that kind of technology any more.

[wolfhound]

How about the sprint race grid being set by the reverse of the GP grid, so de Vries would have been on pole for the sprint. That should produce a bit more overtaking and you are unlikely to get the front runners from sacrificing their qually for the sprint race.

[chillibowl]

I could be wrong on this but are working hours still limited per day/per race weekend?

Could a more elegant solution be allowing for more changes to be made provided they still adhere to those allowable work hours…perhaps even curtail those allowable hours to prevent cars from getting too setup too dialled in?

Either way though, it seems like the difficulty in following closely is creeping back into these designs….will more or less changes make much of a difference in how these tires respond to following in the dirty air?

[chillibowl]

As a side point, thought it was a bit useless in seeing cars doing multiple laps with this series of one hot lap followed by a cool down lap to reset the tires to do another hot lap.

Seems to be an issue of doing several quali laps in a row within these shorter quali sessions.

[Teretonga]

Originally Posted by wolfhound

How about the sprint race grid being set by the reverse of the GP grid, so de Vries would have been on pole for the sprint. That should produce a bit more overtaking and you are unlikely to get the front runners from sacrificing their qually for the sprint race.

Agree with you.
See my post #16 on the sprint race thread