Baku chaos tests favorites

Of all the urban circuits that have joined the ‘big circus’ recently, the one in Baku It is one of those that has fallen on its feet, to the point that it has become one of the most anticipated dates by fans. Tomorrow Russel He will have to face history to maintain the lead at the end of the race and the ‘bugs’ behind will seek to take advantage of a crazy race to try to finish as high as possible.

Being on pole gives no guarantees

Of all the circuits on the current calendar where more than five races have been held (which excludes Madring and Miami), Baku is the circuit where the lowest percentage of polesitters has managed to win the race; only 33% have done so. Russell will have to prevent the curse of Charles Leclerc chase him. The one from Monaco has achieved pole position up to four times, but has never won.

From the beginning, the streets of Baku have not been kind to the polesitter. In 2017the first year of the layout, hamilton He took pole position and was comfortably leading the race after Sebastian Vettelwith whom he was fighting in the championship at that time, hit him under a safety car period.

This surreal episode occurred because Vettel thought that Hamilton had intentionally braked to make the German crash into him and ruin his front wing. The race was under a red flag after an incident and both Hamilton and Vettel were able to repair their cars, but the Ferrari driver was penalized with a 10 second stop & gothe most severe sanction that can be received before a black flag.

Everything seemed to be going smoothly for Hamilton, who with the victory put himself first in the championship. But your headrest He betrayed him, and he had to stop alone to fix it, so he ended up even behind Vettel. This gave victory to Daniel Ricciardowhich was in 17th position at times, but the safety cars and the red flag meant that it was able to take victory on a podium that they completed Valtteri Bottas and Lance Stroll.

The victory from further down the grid

That victory for Ricciardo, who started from tenth place, represents the victory from further down the starting grid. Something that will try to overcome Kimi Antonelli tomorrow and sets a good precedent for Verstappen and hamiltonwho come out 8th and 6th respectively.

In more than half of the races there is a safety car

The next seasonthe one who got pole was Vettel with his Ferrari. In Baku there has been a safety car in 56% of raceswell above the average of the current circuits in the category, so in a second everything can change.

Bottas was the beneficiary this time, as he had extended his stop and benefited when the safety car came out after the incident between the Red Bull of Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo.

You can’t even trust your own teammate in the Asian country. Those from the energy drink brand signed one of the most memorable incidents when, during lap 40 on the main straight, Ricciardo hit the back of the Dutchman after several changes of direction of both on the straight and braking.

This unleashed the safety car that allowed Bottas put yourself first, but the land of fire had one last twist of script. The remains of the accident caused Bottas to puncture when he was leading and a braking pass by Vettel at the start meant victory for Lewis Hamilton. So Mercedes will have to measure very carefully when to stop its drivers, since A safety car could ruin Russell’s race, but it could also solve the mess he’s gotten himself into for Antonelli. after his accident in Q1.

This race is also remembered for the effort it made Fernando Alonso returning to the pits with two of his tires flat after the first lap. Not abandoning allowed him to take advantage of the chaos to achieve a creditable seventh position while still at McLaren.

Danger everywhere

The accident that leaves you out or the inconvenience that makes you lose the race can come at any time and come from any angle. In it 2021, Verstappen and Hamilton They were in a fierce head-to-head fight for the World Cup, however, Baku would leave them without points for different reasons.

After Pierre Gasly, entering the pit-lane, forced Hamilton to start a few seconds slower, Verstappen had managed to take over the lead and his teammate, Sergio Pérez, was also ahead of the Englishman. But on lap 46, the left rear wheel Max suffered a puncture reaching the end of the main straight, causing a spectacular accident and giving way to the image of the Red Bull driver kicking the tire on which he had suffered the puncture.

At the start, Hamilton tried to go for it to snatch first place from Pérez and make a big splash in points in the world championship that at the end of the year would have earned him the crown of an eight-time world champion.

but accidentally He touched a button on his steering wheel which made him modify the distribution of braking so that it was almost completely focused on the front wheels. He overbraked and finished 15th, without scoring.

From safety cars to punctures, touching buttons incorrectly or colliding with your partnerthe blows on this circuit are not easy to see coming and it was not necessary to even mention the walls. So the demand will be capital for any driver who aspires to finish on the top of the podium.