[Scarlet_Rider]

The Baku City Circuit is located in Baku, Azerbaijan near the Baku Boulevard.

A lap of the circuit is 6.003 km, making it the fourth-longest circuit on the Formula One calendar after Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Jeddah Street Circuit and Las Vegas Strip Circuit.

One can expect multiple yellow / red flags but hoping that we don't have as many as we had in Australia.

Ferrari seems to have found some pace which should add some excitement.







Times (IST)







Starting Grid for the Sprint





Details of the track from Formula1.com

When was the track built?
It wasn’t - Baku is the newest street circuit on the Formula 1 calendar, joining the ranks of Monaco, Melbourne and Singapore.

When was its first Grand Prix?
The first Grand Prix in Baku was held in 2016, as the European Grand Prix. That was followed by the inaugural Azerbaijan Grand Prix in 2017, which witnessed one of the biggest upsets of the season, with Daniel Ricciardo winning out from Valtteri Bottas and the Williams of Lance Stroll, while Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel engaged in some argy-bargy behind the Safety Car.

What’s the circuit like?
A mixture of wide and open and tight and twisty. The lonnnnng main straight along the Baku shoreline is a slipstreaming mecca, and with cars able to run three abreast into Turn 1, the action often looks more IndyCar than F1. However from there, the track loops around into the city’s narrow, winding Icheri Sheher old town, dramatically wending past Baku’s medieval city walls. As in Monaco, slightest mistakes are punished quickly and severely, while set-up wise, the teams are forced to choose between downforce for the twisty bits and less drag for the straight.

Why go?
As with all city tracks, spectating at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix means that you’re right in the middle of the action when the cars get put back in their boxes. Baku itself is a buzzing city, while food is a key part of Azerbaijan’s culture, incorporating elements of Turkish and Middle Eastern cuisine – so eat up!

Where is the best place to watch?
The principal Absheron grandstand at the end of the main straight should be high up on your viewing wish-list, as you’ll be watching the cars braking from around 350km/h into the 90-degree Turn 1 – and you’ll likely get to watch the lion’s share of overtaking too. Elsewhere, the Icheri Sheher grandstand provides a unique vantage point, as you watch the cars wriggle through the city gate section and power on down to the super-fast Turn 13-15 complex.

Sources:
https://www.formula1.com/en/racing/2...n/Circuit.html
https://www.fia.com/news/f1-2023-aze...d-prix-preview

[ds.raikkonen]

3rd pole in a row for LEC! What a lap, Ferrari and Fred Vasseur needed something like this to get their tails up. Hoping for a competitive result in the race, though the Red Bulls will surely get past eventually with their amazing DRS. The sprint race will give an insight into what can be expected on Sun.

But the Scuderia will eventually find a way to throw it away with either of the following means:
a) Engine failure (most probable)
b) Strategy f-up (as usual)
c) Catastrophic pit-stop (though rare, can certainly happen, even though they have the fastest pit stop of 2023 at 2.2 sec!)
c) Any other means which only the Scuderia can imagine
d) All the above

[Sierra__foxtrot]

Once again FIA has decided F1 as spectacle>>>>> F1 as a sport.

I mean this format was absolutely unnecessary (More damage more expense but budget cap)
Well the king of street circuit keeps living to his name with that Energy
drink rocket ship. Lec getting p2 only due to the damage to max’s car from classic GR’s run into other move and the words exchange is spicing up for tomorrow.

[corvus corax]

Ted Kravitz and David Croft must be some of the vile people alive. They so wanted to deny Perez the win that they were discussing about expecting probable team order scenarios to let Max go. Its like if it is not a Briton winning then it shall be a European. Anyone out of the continent is a strict No for them!

[attinder]

Originally Posted by corvus corax

Ted Kravitz and David Croft must be some of the vile people alive. They so wanted to deny Perez the win...

Team order to deny Perez goes with their narrative of Max/RB as pantomime villains of F1. Ted need to let go AD21.

[Turbohead]

Originally Posted by corvus corax

Ted Kravitz and David Croft must be some of the vile people alive. They so wanted to deny Perez the win that they were discussing about expecting probable team order scenarios to let Max go. Its like if it is not a Briton winning then it shall be a European. Anyone out of the continent is a strict No for them!

Once burnt twice shy! Brazil 2022 was a lesson for Perez - you simply cannot expect Max to listen to team orders. You'll have to earn the right to win and I'm glad he's making good so far this season. Else there will be team orders.

I wasn't listening to the commentary but that's expected anyway. Max is here for the win and his contact is supposedly skewed in that direction. But it's unlikely they'll try make Perez play second fiddle cause Perez reportedly brings in massive revenue through their social media accounts. Not something to write off.

Either way, that's a solid race from Perez. Not the most gifted or talented driver but definitely someone who works for it.

[Rocky_Balboa]

Good Race for the most part, baring the last lap farce by the FIA.

Esteban Ocon was on his way to the pit-lane for his mandatory pit-stop, only to see the pit-lane entry almost blocked (pit-lane was open) with officials and photographers. FIA were plain lucky to have escaped an untoward incident.

[Sierra__foxtrot]

Originally Posted by corvus corax

Ted Kravitz and David Croft must be some of the vile people alive. Anyone out of the continent is a strict No for them!

This is exactly why I have switched to the other commentary folks on F1 TV app. Quite unbiased I should say and was getting angry/ irritated/disgust with the British duo for the one sided commentary all this while. The new commentary option is a blessing in disguise for viewers like me.

[Mik]

This wasn't the best race to spectate - after the initial skirmishes. Still don't know what happened in the last few laps as i slept off.
Infact, the F2 race was much more fun.
Jehan Daruwalla had a great chance at podium but was undone by sheer bad luck on a safety car restart.
F1 app has been a great boon. Different (read British-are-right or boring but fair) commentary options, and the ability to switch to different battles throughout the race.

[Viper21]

How are you folks seeing the races? is it only on F1 TV or are there any other ways / channels / apps ?

[Fx14]

Originally Posted by Turbohead

Either way, that's a solid race from Perez. Not the most gifted or talented driver but definitely someone who works for it.

He's developed quite a record now at Baku - winner of 2 full races and 1 sprint race.

While he did get lucky with the safety car, his prowess in street circuits was very much on display. He needs to step up on the normal racetracks if he wants to win the championship.

[chandrda]

Race was quite boring after the safety car. Everyone settled and accepted their position.

Though I am not a fan of Red Bulls, but was cheering for Perez to win. Hope he doesn't fade away like Bottas used to do after winning few races at the start of the season in Mercedes.

I would be very happy if Perez could beat Max to win 5-6 races more this season if not challenging for Driver Championship itself.

Seems like Cameraman don't have good positions on the street of Baku. The angles were somewhat OK when compared to other races.

Regards

[sushan]

Baku was entertaining! While the top spot for Checo Perez is well deserved considering his career seniority and consistency, Max needs to learn to be more of a gentleman - someone who has made a career out of elbowing others at corners (as Will Buxton put it) preaching about the incident with George Russel.

Alonso was wonderful. Pushing 42, he is still the man! Was heartening to see him mentor Lance Stroll over team radio about car setup. And Aston is in its career best season too.

F1 is getting more and more interesting especially in the midfield where the real fight is.

[supermax]

Originally Posted by corvus corax

Ted Kravitz and David Croft must be some of the vile people alive.

Totally. Pathetically partisan reporting. Any errors by their golden boys HAM and RUS are totally okay and everybody else is a villain.

Originally Posted by Rocky_Balboa

Good Race for the most part, baring the last lap farce by the FIA.

Probably the biggest and most dangerous incident due to an FIA screwup after the Japanese GP farce last year, where a crane was allowed to drive across the racing lane, in conditions of atrocious visibility, resulting in a near-miss with Gasly.

Originally Posted by sushan

Baku was entertaining! While the top spot for Checo Perez is well deserved considering his career seniority and consistency, Max needs to learn to be more of a gentleman - someone who has made a career out of elbowing others at corners (as Will Buxton put it) preaching about the incident with George Russel.

Max has indeed much to learn, and a long way to go with maturity and the need to learn to pick his battles. That said, Russell is one of the most arrogant drivers I've come across in a really long time. He's already made it amply clear that he never owns up for his mistakes, of which there are many. His infamous incident with Bottas was borderline, where he might even be given the benefit of the doubt, but his clashes with Carlos Sainz,
Zhou Guanyu, and now Max show that he's aggressive, unconcerned, and doesn't even acknowledge his screwups. After smashing into Sainz, he tried to blame Sainz for it, though he had no business braking so late and ramming into Sainz's side. His feeble attempt to offer not an apology but an excuse, blaming cold tires for running into Max was indeed not acceptable. He's the director of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association (GPDA) for crying out aloud!