Grand Prix 2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

Baku.

No, fear not fellow clippers, it's not my hayfever getting the better of me but it's the next F1 venue in the 2017 F1 season. Designed to be the worlds fastest street circuit, this year the grand prix carries the name of the host country unlike last year when, for reasons never fully explained it carried the European GP title.

Last years race was effected by kerb bolts not being fully tightened down, causing a number of tyres to be shredded and a flying drain cover that re-arranged the underside of one of the cars. These little issues to one side, on the whole, the circuit did set out to achieve its aim of speed with some of the highest straight line speeds ever recorded in F1, along the long back straight.

The race itself saw the top 6 spread out by over a minute showing that the key to success was a powerful engine and a high top speed. Hamilton suffered badly due to starting in the wrong mode. This highlighted the 'radio driver instructions' issue once again and was the catalyst for this rule being quietly slide into oblivion not long after. The track itself drew praise from several drivers.

So, to this seasons GP. Given the criteria for success at this track, Mercedes and Mercedes powered cars must start as favourites to do well. With Perez rounding out the podium spots in 2016 and with Force India's strong performane in Canada, they will surely be in the mix as the next best Merc runners.

Ferrari will be looking to bounce back after a difficult GP in Canada where Vettel did brilliantly to recover to 4th however, his pace over the weekend could have delivered more, and Kimi suffered from failing brakes which meant his race disolved into nursing the wounded car home over the last few laps.

Red Bull's season continues to underwhelm with pre-season predictions of title challenges now very much a distant memory. With Ferrari and Mercedes clearly a measure better than RBR and with this track requiring power, Force India should be right on Red Bull's tail. Max will be looking to bounce back after his DNF, and hopefully not over Seb's front wing this time while Danny will want another good finish.

Williams should do well here. They have the Merc engine and Stroll will have a certain spring in his step after a strong enough performance in Canada to show why he's in the car. Massa is also confounding some critics this season by driving pretty well. It's clear that neither driver have a great car underneath them but they should be able to do something here.

Torro Rosso, Haas and Renault will be pounding around looking for a sniff of some points. Of these three teams, none of them seem to be setting the world of F1 on fire and mediocrity is the best they can expect. Of the 6 drivers, Jolyon Palmer has the most to loose. He MUST start out performing his team mate or come the next set of European races he'll be watching from the sidelines. The Hulk looked pretty on it in Canada so Palmer has no easy task.

Last up comes Sauber who, running last years Ferrari engine, will stand little hope of doing anything here and will be praying for a race of high attrition. Much to everyone's suprise, last year there wasn't a single safety car period and only 4 cars DNF'd so it's not looking good for the team.

So I can't see much further than a Hamilton win and should anything go wrong, Bottas will more than likely pick up the pieces.

Oh..... hang on.... I missed one team out.

McLaren.

Hmmmm, it's a high powered circuit that requires a lot of grunt from the engine. It's a street circuit so the car needs to be able to handle bumps well, be well balanced but at the same time have a high straight line speed.

I'll give both cars about 10 laps before they are smoking and stationary track side.
 
In my view every quali should be single lap format. I know it's not as entertaining but to me it's a better test and would prob lead to more mixed up grids. How many times have we seen the likes of Hamilton and Vettel mess up there first laps and then recover?
 
Seb interview was 'interesting' the ramming of Lewis doesn't exist in the world of Seb. Pure psychopath.

Well they all are, racing drivers. but Seb higher on the scale than most.
 
I know these are the rules as they nowadays stand but something doesn't quite sit well with me that we can see a driver effectively being able to erase an entire lap's deficit through an opportune safety-car timing and being able to finish second. Just makes things look a bit silly and for one thing it sort of diminishes the incredible feats of those past few great drivers who have accomplished similar feats purely on the track i.e without the help of any safety-car/red flag interruptions.
 
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Vettel needs a significant ban after this
I agree but he was given his laughable punishment. Is there any precident for issuing a further punishment after issuing a punishment.

Lewis just didn't accelerate IMHO he didn't brake at all. He is innocent. This is all on Seb. His punnishment for 1st causing a crash. and 2nd deliberatly colliding with an other driver is a joke. He has shown he has a severe temper swearing regularly and at charlie and now this. He has issues and a 10 second stop go is a total joke. If he wasn't championship leader and multi world champion his treatment would be very different.
 
I agree but he was given his laughable punishment. Is there any precident for issuing a further punishment after issuing a punishment.

Yes - The FIA can choose to give a further penalty for bringing the sport into disrepute, for instance... There's also the Silverstone 1994 precedent - which can always be cited.
 
Danny Sulivan the driver steward today. Indy car driver. How is that appropriate. He is only 1 steward but he is the big influence. Wrong call. Huge wrong call.
 
Greenlantern101 Whilst I agree, I'm always happier when controversial significant penalties are given after the race - if a car is disqualified, it cannot reach the end of the race... I don't think this was a controversial penalty though - other than being rather lenient
 
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