Formula One 2019: Baku

Baku is the Capital of Azerbaijan and the largest City in the World below Sea Level. It is a Street Circuit and the 2nd longest track in Formula One. It’s a relatively recent expansion to the schedule having held its first race in 2017, just 2 years ago. Tires will run from C2 Hard to C4 Soft with Mediums adding 1.4 seconds per Lap and Hards 2.3. Most Teams will be running a 1 Stop except for Red Bull which seems prepped for 2.

Mercedes continues its string of good luck. After LeClerc and the Scuderia dominated practice he parked it quite heavily at the end of Q2 and will start no better than 9th if the car is in sufficiently good shape so as not to require a replacement chassis. Gasly of Red Bull will start from the pit after incuring a 5 position penalty for a gearbox replacement and then failing to report for a Steward’s inspection. Giovinazzi, also Maranello powered was penalized 10 spots. Kubica also parked in Qualifying and will start next to last.

Starting Grid-

Grid Driver Team Grid Driver Team
1 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes
3 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 4 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing Honda
5 Sergio Perez Racing Point BWT Mercedes 6 Daniil Kvyat Scuderia Toro Rosso Honda
7 Lando Norris McLaren Renault 8 Kimi Räikkönen Alfa Romeo Racing Ferrari
9 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 10 Carlos Sainz McLaren Renault
11 Daniel Ricciardo Renault 12 Alexander Albon Scuderia Toro Rosso Honda
13 Kevin Magnussen Haas Ferrari 14 Lance Stroll Racing Point BWT Mercedes
15 Romain Grosjean Haas Ferrari 16 Nico Hulkenberg Renault
17 George Russell Williams Mercedes 18 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo Racing Ferrari
19 Robert Kubica Williams Mercedes 20 Pierre Gasly Red Bull Racing Honda

Don’t let the length fool you. The fast Laps are in the low 1:40s but there are not really many places to pass. On the other hand there are a lot of corners that collect cars so Yellows and Reds can easily effect the results. Mercedes is crushing the early Manufacturer’s Standings and the Driver’s Championship is a duel between Hamilton and Bottas.

Driver’s Standings

Position Driver Team Points Position Driver Team Points
1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 68 2 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 62
3 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing Honda 39 4 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 37
5 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 36 6 Pierre Gasly Red Bull Racing Honda 13
7 Kimi Räikkönen Alfa Romeo Racing Ferrari 12 8 Lando Norris McLaren Renault 8
9 Kevin Magnussen Haas Ferrari 8 10 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 6
11 Daniel Ricciardo Renault 6 2 Sergio Perez Racing Point BWT Mercedes 5
13 Alexander Albon Scuderia Toro Rosso Honda 3 14 Lance Stroll Racing Point BWT Mercedes 2
15 Daniil Kvyat Scuderia Toro Rosso Honda 1

Needless to say Maranello is very disappointed because they thought this was their year. It’s a bit too early to panic but if things continue as they have so far there could be major changes in Management even before the end of the season.

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  1. Formation Lap

  2. We race

  3. Clean Start

  4. Lap 13, first Pit Window

  5. Lap 14, Kubica Stop and Go for leaving Pit Lane too early.

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