[jfxavier]

The Azerbaijan GP weekend at Baku street circuit is here.



Many constructors and Engine manufacturers are bringing their updates here.
Ferrari and Honda have some updates on their engines.
Low drag aero kits are making their appearances.


See the evolution on Haas Bargeboards and sidepods.




Renault turning vanes and bargeboards also starting to look complex.



Two different approaches towards the low DF rear wing.


Teams trying out different designs of low DF front wings too.


Not to be left behind, Force India drivers debuted their new overalls.

Pics courtesy: As mentioned in the watermarks.

[GTO]

With just 12 points separating Hamilton & Vettel, this season is a closer fight than anyone expected it to be! And it's only 8 points on the constructors. 7 races up, 13 delicious ones left . The game is on and how.

Alonso fans will be disappointed. Just wondering how he digs deep into his reserves and gets the motivation to race with such a sad car:

"It will be like this all season long. We used already the maximum engines that we are allowed in the first seven races and now we will start last in a couple of other races".

Source

[RPM1500]

ALO said he's losing 3 seconds on the straight. Even the speed trap showed him on 308 today, although his DRS was not working, Vandoorne reported 315.

I just want him to finish this race, preferably in points (would take a miracle to do that!)

As always, Verstappen will be the one to watch as well (with VET and HAM). He's been really quick on the starts this season. And he just topped the FP1!

Looking forward to the race!

complementary WELL DONE BAKU

[arun_josie]

Verstappen tops both FP1 and FP2 . And another retirement for Alonso during FP2

FP1 Results


FP2 Results

[jfxavier]

The PU components usage so far is as below.



Obviously Honda tops the numbers.
Must add that the FP2 stoppage for Alonso was due to a gearbox (McLaren) failure. But when that happened, Alonso's ICE fell into an over-rev state.
Hence Honda is likely to take out that engine to investigate further and it is likely to revert back to spec 2 again today.



The speed trap numbers (obviously with it's own limitations) show the progress that Honda has made with their engine. Not bad in my opinion if it's just half the improvement that they expect to make with the next engine spec, as rumored.

[jfxavier]

Hamilton showed the real pace of Merc during the quali and secured pole.



Mercs have locked out the front row.



This puts Hamilton on 2nd place in the all-time poles list.

[mp417]

That was an excellent lap by Hamilton. Half second faster than other Merc

Ricciardo's mistake with 3 minutes remaining in Q3 had put everyone in vulnerable position (other than Merc).

It will be interesting race tomorrow. Surely will see one/two safety car appearances. This track is really unforgiving for the drivers.

[deetjohn]

Looks like Mercedes is winning the development war already. A few points to ponder:

1) Bottas didn't have the best of laps, yet he was comfortably P2.
2) Baku is a street circuit - a bit like Monaco where the Ferrari should be more comfortable, but that wasn't the case here. Yes, Baku is a strong track for Mercedes with it long straights, but a Ferrari shouldn't be trailing by 1.1 seconds.
3) The red flag left time only for one hot lap in the end and Mercedes was totally fine with it. Looks like they have found a way around the tyre warming issues.

Baku was rated - the worst race of 2016 in terms of engagement and entertainment. I don't see a reason why it wouldn't be the case this year too, but let's just hope it will be much better today.

Here is that great lap from Lewis.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PK1_Y9JU1Ow

PS: Alonso has been sent so far back that he will start the race from Canada.

[shibujp]

The tires seem to be the key, either making drivers look heroic or pedestrian. Almost every driver was talking about the difficulty of getting the tyres switched on. As a circuit too Baku has a take no prisoners approach making it very difficult for drivers to get away with mistakes. All the more reason why Hamilton's lap was great. Perhaps aided by a tow from his teammate but a 0.5 second gap was stunning.

Tables seem to have been turned with Mercedes seemingly able to work with their tyres better than Ferrari.

Canada seems to have done Stroll a world of good, with him qualifying 8th in a circuit that he is driving on for the first time. What's more he has out qualified his teammate for the first time.

For a race perspective unless the Ferraris or the Red Bull of Vestappen jumps the Mercs, it might end up to be a procession with overtaking opportunities limited.

Drive on,
Shibu.

[asr245]

Hotstar (website) doesn't seem to be working for me. Anyone else facing this problem? Any other quick alternatives?

[ashwin.terminat]

Originally Posted by asr245

Hotstar (website) doesn't seem to be working for me. Anyone else facing this problem? Any other quick alternatives?

Same problem for me. It isn't showing the option of the Main Race for me.

Opening this link: http://0dt.net/video/1137927.html

Using Opera's VPN option turned on works for a Sky Sports HD stream.

EDIT: The race starts at 18:30 IST. formula1.com is showing the schedule for The Austrian GP by mistake! I guess the stream will start to show once we get closer to 6:30PM IST.

[jfxavier]

Hopefully will be a nice race.
Hard to beat the excitement provided by Rossi & co. in the MotoGP race.

Here's the tyre situation before race.



Ferrari does not have any new SuperSoft tyres left.

[mayankk]

This is a pointless circuit. It's more a test of the safety car ,it seems . After the motogp nail biter, this is such an anti climax.

[TSIboy]

Drama filled race! Any thoughts on the Vettel & Hamilton incident?

[speedmiester]

What a Race!!!
One of the best in the recent times. Incidents all around.
Riccardio would have never dreamed of a win today. Good drive by Bottas and Stroll for the poduims.

Hamilton and Vettel rivalry will reach a new high after today's race.
Turning out to be a great season this year