2021 Formula One Azerbaijan Grand Prix

Baku Grand Prix Formula 1.jpg

Will Hamilton regain the championship lead at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix?


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Formula One is back in Baku for its fifth visit to the Azeri capital city.

The sport did not get the chance to race around the streets of Baku as expected last season. However, we are back by the Caspian sea as the race for the 2021 title begins to intensify.

The track is unusual in its nature, being a high speed street circuit. A fast lap around Baku requires a great deal of confidence through sectors one and two, which feature plenty of walls and heavy braking zones with limited runoff areas. The notorious castle section, an uphill stretch around the Old City features a track width of just over seven metres, and is set to become even faster this year. The inside kerb on entry to the castle section has been removed, so we should see the cars pass through the trickiest part of the lap quicker than ever before.

What makes the circuit particularly challenging, is that the last two kilometres of the lap are taken flat out. This of course forces teams to run less downforce than they otherwise would, making the cars even more of a handful through the twisty second sector. Conditions should remain dry, although the temperature is expected to be a fair bit hotter than on F1's last visit to the circuit.

Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton will head into this weekend as favourites, having won all five races this season between them. Sergio Perez has always gone well at Baku however, having taken podiums here for Force India in 2016 and 2018. McLaren could pose an outside threat too, having shown the strongest straight line speed of all the teams this year. Norris will no doubt hope to continue his good form from Monaco, and make the most of the two kilometre sprint to turn one come race day.

This weekend sees additional pressure applied to world champion, Lewis Hamilton, with rival Max Verstappen leading the drivers standings for the first time in his career. The Briton rued lost points in Monaco, describing Sunday as a "really, really poor performance from the team." He will no doubt bounce back this weekend, as he has done so often in the past. Do you think it'll be enough to regain the championship lead? Let us know in this weekend's poll, and tell us what you're looking forward to about Baku!
About author
Charlie Lockwood
23. Motorsport and Sim Racing enthusiast.

Comments

Baku is a dirty track. Leclerc reported a tree branch, in previous years there was a car that collected a plastic bag, Bottas lost the GP because of a debris, etc. So even if their choice of compounds looks dubious anyway, Pirelli's explanation of both accidents may be just right.
 
Baku is a dirty track. Leclerc reported a tree branch, in previous years there was a car that collected a plastic bag, Bottas lost the GP because of a debris, etc. So even if their choice of compounds looks dubious anyway, Pirelli's explanation of both accidents may be just right.
that would be shameless what happened to Ratzenberger at Imole in 1994 we should never want to again. That was where the wing was.. but at the same speed. Pirelli will come up with something that it wasn't mainly the tires. but we'll see. This should not happen, the tires that are chosen should last an x number of laps. but they break spontaneously. the team didn't see the tires going wrong. But again I'm waiting for the investigation maybe I'm wrong
 
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In contrast to Monaco, I have to rate this GP as excellent. There was something to laugh about, something to cry about, it was exciting, unexpected, everything that belongs to a good GP. As for the Pirelli tires, I would have acted differently, but who am I? Poor Verstappen, I had to smile about Hamilton, no nonsense, I had to laugh badly, that reminded me of the younger Hamilton, who often made mistakes.
 
The blowing up could have to do with the higher pressure, from 19 to 20 psi, in combination with the getting everything out of the car, could made the internal pressure to high. Max wanted the fastest lap, and pressed the car to the limit. This is not my wisdom.
 
The last 30 minutes were a dream that came true : both 1st place hoggers out... and another nice original podium! Too bad for Charles to only have a quali car and not a car able to sustain the pace of RB, Merc, and even the AT... Anyway, Super Gasly, Amazing Vettel and Good soldier Checo got a nice ending! Checo's first stop, I swear I really thought RB was slowing him down to not scare prima dona Max, and just enough to still be ahead of Lewis who, here again, was whinning like a baby about him getting past by Checo and Verstapen during the stop... lol... Anyway, As a Charles/Pierre follover, it was a little bittersweet... thanks to the great AM strategy for Vettel... Hope Charles gets a podium soon...
 
Pirelli is worried about the high speed banking corner at Zandvoort, so they are not confident about there own product.CRAP.
 
Man oh man, Hamilton is so damn LUCKY! Verstappen was going to have a flawless win, then BANG, red flag with a stand still restart. The race win fell on his lap perfectly.

GOOD THING THE SJW ****ED IT UP AFTER HIS HEROIC SPEECH ON THE RADIO HAHAHAHAHA!
Pérez, Checo and Hamilton, Lewis, 2021(colorized)
7 time WDC HA! HA! and he's laughing all the way to bank!
 

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