‘Kimikaze’ Antonelli and Russell’s insulting pole in Baku; Sainz surprises and Alonso, without options
In the ‘City of Fire’, Kimi Antonellihe leader of the F1 World Cupit burned. He played with that element and ended up paying for it, taking his car to hit the wall in Q1, something that will make him start 16th, in need of another great comeback in this Saturday’s race in the F1 Azerbaijan GPin Bakuwhere his companion, George Russelltook pole position without breaking a sweat.
The British, without opposition due to Kimi’s hasty goodbye, did not fail. And not only that. Crushed. He mercedes He has no opponent here and he walked through the streets of Bakuin the also known as ‘Windy City’. George was a gale. A tornado. He destroyed everything and did not leave even a crumb behind for the golden opportunity that Kimi gave him. And as an example, the times, which rarely lie.
George took pole over Leclerc, who was 2nd1 at 0″837. Piastri was third at 0″838, to one thousandth of Charles. And Hadjar, 4th, at 0″974. It was surprising that oscar or Hadjar outperform their peers. And it is that Norris was 5th at 1″146in view of hamilton (6º to 1″332) and Verstappen could not be more than 8th at 1.555more than half a second behind the recently returned Hadjar with the same car.
And against the 4-time champion, a Alpine that shines on very straight circuits. Gasly He couldn’t do it with the pole like in Monza due to the twisty second sector, but he did more than comply with the 7th place against Max and the surprise of the day: Sainz9th, with a good step forward from a Williams which in theory only aspired to Q2.
Kimi is human
In this way, Kimi reminded the world that he is still a boy of only 20 years old. Error of inexperience, of youth, no matter how much his numbers as the next world champion say the opposite week after week. This time, Kimi was wrong. Nico Hülkenberg told MD a few days ago that “right now Kimi is the superhero, it seems like he walks on water.” But he showed that he is humanin case anyone had any doubts about their superiority this year.
The Italian took unnecessary risks in Q1 and touched the inside wall of Turn 1, damaging his car’s suspension. He wanted to try to return the car to the garage, but his team told him over the radio that there was no room to fix that car to continue. The time he set just before helped him get into Q2, but he couldn’t get out again. He had to keep that 16th starting position.
We say that it was unnecessary because with the rocket it has, the dominating Mercedes, it would have passed to Q2 and Q3 even with its elbow on the window. Your car and its engine allow it. He just had to make sure he reached Q3 and take risks there, in the fight for pole. Not before. He did it. He rushed. He paid for it. A lesson for him to keep learning and keep improving, and Incidentally, another opportunity to take advantage of the insulting superiority of his car to repeat the Monza comeback, without breaking a sweat.
This time, his teammate, George Russell, will have the option to redeem himself from what happened in Monza and show that he is taking steps forward in adapting his style to a car that does not allow him to be as aggressive with the rear tires as he used to be, as he said in an interview with MD. The Briton may have already lost the crown to Kimi, he is too far away, but he must save his honor and regain his sensations. This Saturday could be the day.
To do this he will have to face Leclerc and Piastri start and wait until Kimi doesn’t arrive. If he does, it would be a huge emotional blow to George. He will also have to fight against luck in a race in which any mistake is synonymous with an accident against the wall and trouble with safety cars. Russell, who a few days ago highlighted in Mundo Deportivo that he had also been affected by bad luckhopes that within the walls of Baku this time destiny will respect him. And Kimi, with nothing to lose, will attack. He is doing so well in the World Cup that he has little to care about what happens this Saturday.
Sainz’s high
Carlos Sainz premiered in Baku the second major evolutionary package of his car, focused on a very important reduction in the weight of his car (it is said to be about 30 kg). A net improvement was expected, although the rest of the teams in the middle zone once again showed evolution.
Williams came from far behind, so Sainz, on Thursday, thought that his goal should be to fight for Q2 and gain some position in that session. Q3 seemed impossible after being 17th in FP2. But he achieved much more than expected.
Carlos Sainz managed to get into Q3, while his teammate Albon stayed in Q2 in 13th position, 4 tenths away. And in the final session, the Madrid native managed to scratch another place for a very good 9th position against Franco Colapinto (10th).
We have to wait to see how the Williams works on other types of tracks. Baku is a very specific track, but the step forward was important, at least, to try to fight for points or with better weapons in the middle zone.
Alonso, without options
Fernando Alonso will start from the back of the grid, along with his teammate Stroll, due to the engine changes he made before and during the weekend. But that does not change the story much for the Asturian, who in qualifying, on a track with so many straights and the longest in the championship (2.2 km), had a great disadvantage compared to his opponents due to the enormous lack of power of the Honda engine compared to the other engines.
Thus, Fernando Alonso finished 19th, 2″9 behind the best Q1 time, yes, because he could not complete a good final lap by going wide to a breakaway. He was improving, but the film would have been similar. And Fernando set a maximum top speed in the detection zone of 316 km/h in qualifying, far from the 330 of Ocon or the 328 of Hamilton, Russell or Bottas’s Cadillac. He fought between walls like a gladiator without weapons. Nothing to do.
