Grand Prix 2023 Azerbaijan Grand Prix Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

after a massive 4 week break since the last time we had any racing because of Chinese GP still not appearing on the calendar due to covid. i think you might have to go back to 1999 for the last time there was month gap between races that wasnt either the summer break or post season break. strangely that after Australia as well & in 1999 they had 3 races in 2 months. 7th march, 11th april & 2nd may which would never happen now. but to reward all F1 fans for their patience there will be 6 F1 races in 8 weeks, Baku, Miami, Imola, Monaco, Spain & Canada. to add to that Le mans 24 hrs is happening in the week between Spain & Canada. but the way this season is going Max Verstappen might enter Le Mans & win that as well

Baku has become an modern classic almost as soon as the 2nd year with the chaotic 2017 race where everyone came away saying they could've won but Daniel Riccardo did from 10th, Baku is a street circuit that feels like it has everything, its high speed but also has very technical middle sector, which features narrowest point of the F1 season the 12th century castle section is just 7.6 m wide & where Leclerc put it in 2019 qualifying when he looked certainty for pole. discounting the Inaugural Baku race which was the European GP which was because appartantly F1 drivers watched the GP2 races which were best races of 2016 & spooked into being very cautious. but since its been Azerbaijan GP it has been 1 of the highlights of the season on this forum bar 2019 it has been highly rated & in the top 5

on this weekend it is fully expected that this will be 1st of the new Stand Alone Sprint Format as Sprint Schedules are increased from 3 to 6, as Liberty media are desperate to shoehorn & find its place on the weekend calendar. unsurprisingly for F1 its Tuesday & despite FP1 starting in 70 hours nothing is official yet on whether Friday qualifying will set the grid for Saturday or Sunday

but to the best of my Knowledge this should be schedule (UK time)

Friday
Free Practise 1 - 10.30am
Qualifying - 2 pm

Saturday
Free Practise 2 or Sprint Qualifying - 10.30am
Sprint Race - 2.30pm

Sunday
Race - 12pm

 

[cider_and_toast]

but then havent that always been the case back in the day everyone wants to win at Nordschleife in 70's. recently its means more to win in Monaco, Japan, Britain, Spa & Monza than Spain or Canada

Surely that's a false equivalence though? Of course drivers often took more satisfaction in winning races they deemed a greater challenge and fans appreciated certain tracks more than others but at no stage were extra points awarded for winning races there.

Imagine if certain football matches were granted an additional point for a win as they're more important than other games. The winner of a derby match gets an extra point because it means more to the fans.

The changes made to F1 over the last 25 years have not improved the sport even of some can claim it's improved the show. It has however generated a lot of revenue for some groups within the sport.

My race day general admission ticket for the 1992 British GP was £45. In today's prices that would be approximately £96 pounds. I checked on Friday general admission prices for the 2023 British GP and they are now £169. As I predicted up thread, free grandstand roaming has gone so if you want that privilege you now have to pay £189 for Friday.

In 2018 a general admission Friday Silverstone ticket with free grandstand roaming cost £50.

 

[Brogan]

Off topic but check out the prices for the Miami GP.

A ticket for Sunday alone starts at $350.

The cheapest 3-Day Campus Pass tickets (General Admission) are priced at $590 USD, while grandstand tickets can be had from around $750 USD – though most seats are priced between $1000-2000 USD.

Hospitality access doesn’t come cheap in Miami, with few options priced below $5000 USD for the weekend and access to the exclusive Paddock Club priced north of $10,000 USD.

How Much Does it Cost to Attend the 2023 Miami Grand Prix?

Formula One stopped being a racing series a long time ago.
Now it's just a commercial event designed to make as much money as possible for the current owners.

 

[The Artist.....]

Well that was shit.

 

[The Artist.....]

Surely that's a false equivalence though? Of course drivers often took more satisfaction in winning races they deemed a greater challenge and fans appreciated certain tracks more than others but at no stage were extra points awarded for winning races there.

Imagine if certain football matches were granted an additional point for a win as they're more important than other games. The winner of a derby match gets an extra point because it means more to the fans.

The changes made to F1 over the last 25 years have not improved the sport even of some can claim it's improved the show. It has however generated a lot of revenue for some groups within the sport.

My race day general admission ticket for the 1992 British GP was £45. In today's prices that would be approximately £96 pounds. I checked on Friday general admission prices for the 2023 British GP and they are now £169. As I predicted up thread, free grandstand roaming has gone so if you want that privilege you now have to pay £189 for Friday.

In 2018 a general admission Friday Silverstone ticket with free grandstand roaming cost £50.

I remember, back in the day, that 15s and unders were massively marked down…. I seem to remember having a weekend ticket for about £30-40 in 1995, whilst general admission were about £100 for the entire weekend.

 

[Johnny Carwash]

When a mid pack driver in Perez is winning a race on merit, you know it’s the car.

 

[F1Brits_90]

Well that was shit.

yeah its worrying because baku is usually 1 of the best races of the season. but i had a realisation about lap 27 that this was it & we have another 24 laps to suffer. i think Pirelli have to take the brunt for this 1, because the tyres were too soft for this circuit bringing the C5 & they all spent too much time babysitting than racing. all races are crap when everyone wants to do a 2 stopper but are forced onto a 1 stopper as nobody else was stopping

 

[FB]

My son was selling a sim rig and the chap buying it turned up 10 laps before the end of the race, so I missed it as I was helping load the car. There was a time when that would have been annoying, but not with the current state of F1.

 

[F1Brits_90]

maybe its an easy scapegoat & i could be wrong but i think pirelli have been terrible tire supplier for F1. maybe cause of alot of problems that F1 have faced. it could be rose tinted glasses but we never had these issues with Bridgestone, the pirelli full wet tyres are still not fit for purpose we raced in conditions just as bad beligium 2021 before with no bother, we have the issue where full wets are barely used as the teams would still rather run intermediates at the 1st chance they can even if it isnt inters weather. & the thermal deg on the tyres just ruins any chance you have close racing as they have to drop back

 

[Speshal]

My son was selling a sim rig and the chap buying it turned up 10 laps before the end of the race, so I missed it as I was helping load the car. There was a time when that would have been annoying, but not with the current state of F1.

I haven't watched since Oz last year.