Jordan's Track Talk

Tag: Azerbaijan GP

  • Round 8- Azerbaijan GP

    Round 8- Azerbaijan GP

    Another Azerbaijan GP complete and we definitely had a few shock surprises along the way!

    Max Verstappen takes his 5th win of the season, with his team mate joining him making it Red Bull’s third 1-2 of the season also. George Russell’s keeping it consistent as he finished in P3!

    The full top 10 are- P1: Verstappen, P2: Perez, P3: Russell, P4: Hamilton, P5: Gasly, P6: Vettel, P7: Alonso, P8: Ricciardo, P9: Norris and P10: Ocon.

    What a weekend for the Bull’s! Both drivers are making it count at the moment and you can see that when there driving. Perez seems like his got so much more confidence in the car, since his win and signing a 2 year deal!

    This isn’t what Ferrari wanted or needed, Charles had a power unit issue and Carlos with a hydraulic issue – no points for either driver and it’s having some effects to the drivers and constructors standings…

    What a weekend for Mercedes! Being there when it matters is key and that’s what they keep on doing. Both drivers in top 5 and another podium to add George’s tally! A quick side note- I hope LH is okay considering he couldn’t barley move after the race and getting out of the car was a struggle!

    Gasly back in the top 5 is nice to see, and at a track he done well at last year makes it even better, let’s hope Baku is a turning point for Alpha Tauri now!

    Someone else who needs a mention is Seb! P6 finish after going straight on in one of the run off areas and then having to spin round (which was beautiful) and then climb his way back up to get those all important points.

    Now onto the Papaya team, I said they had an opportunity to score points, and they did – a double points finish for Lando and Daniel! Again maybe this is the start of turning things around, especially for Daniel.

    The Championship-

    Max Verstappen still leads the championship with 150 points, his teammate is close behind him in 2nd with 129 points and then its Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in third on 116 points. But, Leclerc needs to watch himself as Mr Consistency is making moves, Russell finds himself in fourth on 99 points – just 17 points between the pair. We then have Carlos Sainz in fifth on 83 points.

    Red Bull remain in the top spot and extend their lead as they sit comfortably on 279 points, then it’s Ferrari in 2nd of 199 points, with the Silver Arrows coming at them rather quickly, they are on 161 points. We then have a big gap to 4th, which is McLaren who are on 65 points and then Alpine are now in fifth on 47 points after a double points finish today.

  • Round 8- Azerbaijan Qualifying

    Round 8- Azerbaijan Qualifying

    The grid is all set for tomorrow’s Azerbaijan GP! With a mixed qualifying which saw a red flag, a stunning lap for a Ferrari driver and an Aston Martin driver in the top 10…

    But it was Charles Leclerc who took pole position once again, his 6th this year. He is joined by Sergio Perez who out qualifies his teammate for the second weekend in a row. Max rounds out the top 3.

    The full top 10 are- P1: Leclerc, P2: Perez, P3: Verstappen, P4: Sainz, P5: Russell, P6: Gasly, P7: Hamilton, P8: Tsunoda, P9: Vettel and P10: Alonso.

    I am actually quite surprised at the McLaren’s it looked like both drivers had pace to be in the top 10 but things don’t always work out that way – they are in the middle of the pack which isn’t always the best but they could benefit by any first lap incidents and starting from 11th and 12th you can still get into the points, especially because it’s Baku and anything can happen!

    The Alpha Tauri’s WOW! They needed a good result and they got it, Gasly starting P6 which we love to see and takes us back to his great qualifying form from last year. And Yuki Tsunoda starting 8th is like a dream for the team. Hopefully both drivers can keep out of trouble and score a good amount of points and make up for this season!

    A driver who I expected to be in the top 10 was Bottas, his starting P15, behind his teammate so it will be interesting to see how both Alfa Romeo’s can get through the field…

    It feels good, this one. Obviously all pole positions feels good, but this one I probably did not expect it, because I thought Red Bull were stronger, especially in Q1 and Q2, I really struggled to see that we were faster, but then in the last lap, everything came together and I managed to do a good lap, so extremely happy… I’m really excited for tomorrow.

    Charles Leclerc on pole position in Baku!

    Predictions-

    My top fie for the race tomorrow is – P1: Leclerc, P2: Verstappen, P3: Perez, P4: Sainz and P5: Russell.

    I feel like we will have a crazy race tomorrow, no doubt that there will be a safety car which the teams will have a strategy for as they know how this circuit can be, but who will get that strategy right and will we see a surprise podium? Or something we didn’t expect…

    Times for tomorrow-

    Feature Race F2 – 08:05am (BST)
    F1 Race – 12:00pm

  • Azerbaijan Grand Prix

    The Azerbaijan GP is here once again, and it hosts Round 8 out of 22! After an unexpected race here last year, what could happen this year and will Max settle his unfinished business here after last year’s retirement?

    Just like Monaco, the Baku City Circuit has areas where mistakes can’t be made, but unlike in Monaco there is more overtaking chances, especially down the straight.

    Who needs a good weekend?

    The Ferrari boys need a good weekend, the last 4 races a Red Bull has won, which has led them to lead both championships and have Perez close in on Charles in 2nd. Sainz needs to get a good amount of points on the board as he is 27 points away from Perez who is in 3rd. Either way a Ferrari needs to win this weekend to get back on form which we saw in the early few races.

    Both Haas’ will also be wanting to do well this weekend, as they look to try and score double points (fingers crossed). After having both cars DNF last time out, Haas will be wanting to score to get further up in the constructors, they currently sit in 8th just two points away from Alpha Tauri in 7th.

    Guanyu Zhou will be hoping for a good weekend, having scored a point in his first ever F1 race, it hasn’t all gone his way this year, finishing just outside the points in both Saudi Arabia and Australia, he then finished 15th in Imola and had two DNF’s in Miami and Spain, he then bounced back to finish 16th in Monaco. In F2 last year, he finished 3rd in Sprint Race 1 – hopefully he can put that to good use and get in the points this weekend!…

    Predictions for qualifying-

    My top five are- Pole: Verstappen, P2: Leclerc, P3: Perez, P4: Sainz and P5: Hamilton.

    I feel like the battle for 5th will be between both Mercs, Lando Norris and Valtteri Bottas – all have very good cars and it looks like McLaren and Alfa Romeo have unlocked a bit more than Mercedes at this moment in time.

    Times for the weekend-

    Friday 10th

    • Free Practice F2 – 09:35am – 10:20am (BST)
    • Free Practice 1 F1 – 12:00pm – 13:00pm
    • Qualifying F2 – 13:30pm – 14:00pm
    • Free Practice 2 F1 – 15:00pm – 16:00pm

    Saturday 11th

    • Sprint Race F2 – 10:30am – 11:15am (BST)
    • Free Practice 3 F1 – 12:0pm – 13:00pm
    • Qualifying F1 – 15:00pm – 16:00pm

    Sunday 12th

    • Feature Race F2 – 08:05am (BST)
    • F1 Race – 12:00pm

  • Azerbaijan tyre allocation

    After a weeks break, we are back racing once again as we have another double header, with our first destination being Azerbaijan this weekend.

    Pirelli have chosen the tyres for this weekend those being the softest tyres in the range, C3 (Hard), C4 (Medium), C5 (Soft). This is the same selection as last year’s Azerbaijan GP.

    Baku’s street circuit has a personality of its own, combining rapid straights with some narrow and technical sections, especially around Turn 9 in the old city centre. As a result, the high downforce setups which the teams used in Monaco won’t be used here, teams prefer to go for a low to medium downforce set up.

    The weather can be warm in Baku, with the track temperature in excess of 50 degrees, but the tight confines of the building around the circuit mean that there are areas around the track with light and shade, varying the track temperature quite a bit around the lap.

    The winning strategy last year was effectively a one-stopper (although the race was red flagged close to the end). The favoured strategy was soft to hard, with the soft tyre being fitted for the last three laps.

    Until Jeddah came along, Baku was the fastest street circuit of the year. But the demands of this city track are still relatively low, as none of the corners take a huge amount of energy out of the tyres due to the low levels of abrasion and contained lateral loads – which means that we can have the same nomination as Monaco. Having said that, the high speeds in Azerbaijan still place a certain demand on the tyres. The main point is all about traction, with finding the right balance between front and rear axles being the key challenge for all the teams: you need to have enough heat in the front tyres to generate grip, despite the long straights that cool them down, but not too much heat at the rear, otherwise it’s easy to overheat them in the traction zones. Track temperature is also inconsistent in Baku, so all in all it’s quite a specific track with a few different technical challenges, which are nonetheless the same for everyone.

    Mario Isla, Motorsport Director.

    Formula 2

    The Medium and Supersoft tyres have been chosen for this weekend in Baku for Formula 2. This is the same nomination as previous years, even though the supersoft is a new compound for 2022. But the same compounds have already been seen this season at Imola.