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.
 
this guy LOL
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The brake check thing is something Schumacher was commonly known for when he use to be the lead car behind the safety car

3 incidents come to mind

Monza - 2000 when after 4 cars went out and a marshall was being attended to , the race was not stopped and controversially ran behind a safety car ( now being Monza with a Ferrari leading you can work out yourselves!:whistle:)

Schumacher suddenly coming up to the Parabolica decided to brake suddenly to keep his brakes warms - the 4 cars immediately behind all had to suddenly brake unfortunately a certain Jenson Button was too close and had to go on the outside to avoid hitting one car and into the gravel which damaged his rear wing and put him out of the race

Supposedly the rules were changed to outlaw this sudden braking


Austria 2003 when I think Schumacher was behind the safety car and he again on the long straight suddenly brake checked to gap himself which irated Montoya who was gesturing to him to maintain the pace after nearly going into him at relatively low speed

Monaco 2004 - I don't see how it was Montoya's fault when Schumacher was the lead car and decided to warm the brakes out of the tunnel and got on the dust running wide and tried coming back in. Montoya was just staying to the inside line but with nowhere to go hit Schumacher
 
Just got back from me hols. Anything happen in this race?

Actually, I got to watch the C4 feed on a satellite in the villa which got British TV. Fun wasn't it.
 
Just seen a video from F1.com (so I can't share it) which shows Nico Hulkenberg going to sit in one of the grandstands after the disappointing end to his race in Baku. It was posted by the Renault F1 team on Facebook with the caption "We wondered where Nico was for the rest of the race" :lol:
 
No mention (that I spotted) of Hammy asking for Bottas to be used to slow Vettel up so that he could try and overtake. I think this demonstrates where the power lies within the team.
 
You have to wonder if the answer would have been different if Bottas hadn't been chasing Stroll down.
 
Well you can wonder, but as it was, the answer was no.
Toto demonstrated clearly last year that Mercedes decisions will always be made by what most benefits the team not the driver.
Bottas had a guaranteed third and possible second. Baking Vettel into Lewis would have said goodbye to second, jepordised third and had no guarantee of getting Hamilton safely past Vettel. Toto's answer was a no brainer.
 
I know you're a Hammy fan racecub but don't you find it a little disappointing that he even asked the question? The Merc was, without doubt, the class of the field in Baku and, given the pole lap Hamilton put in, even faster when he was driving it, but he couldn't find the speed to challenge Vettel after the head restraint incident. He shouldn't have needed help and I don't think should have even asked it.
 
Yes I agree he shouldn't have asked, and it was disappointing that he did. In his defence he was probably a tad upset and disappointed himself that a race where he'd been faultless and had the race in the bag was lost due to a technicality. ( I know this is racing).
At least his disappointment didn't manifest itself in ramming a competitor.
 
I do wish that you would stop all this baking of Vettel racecub. There's no point unless someone is going to eat him and I think that is unlikely, if you back me into a corner I will still refuse.:o
 
I just remembered were Vettel be disqualified , he would lose his points and Hamilton gain an extra two points which means they would be going level in the championship

:thinking:
 
I guess the FIA has no balls after all .. it was just an exercise to remind everyone they still exist before Jean Todt disappears in his shell for another 6 months:whistle:
 
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