Azerbaijan Grand Prix: the Editorial’s Top / Flop

The TOP 3:

A epic end of race signed by Michael Masi

THANK YOU! If we often tend to criticize the sometimes questionable decisions of the FIA regarding regulations, it is also important to recognize their role when it is perfectly fulfilled.

In another time, the Azerbaijan Grand Prix would probably have ended under the Safety Car with a pit lane pass and would have had a much less pleasant ending than this Sunday.

Since taking office, Michael Masi has become a master of this aspect of the show, notably with standing starts in the rain or those at the resumption of a red flag like this past weekend.

Masi also spoke about his decision to restart the race two laps before the end. A decision appreciated by the entire F1 community!

2. An incredible track and a show on offer: Baku, what a thrill!

Slightly criticized when it first joined the calendar due to its lack of history in motorsport, the Azerbaijan Grand Prix has become over the years one of the highlights of modern Formula 1.

With a rather complete track, mixing technical winding sections, right angle corners, and straight lines (including the impressive start/finish straight), the Baku circuit is appreciated by drivers and fans, especially for its second sector in the heart of the old town.

In addition to being a superb track, the show is often there and this 2021 edition will go down in history. Baku is crazy!

3. Pérez, Vettel, Gasly: a refreshing podium

Often accustomed for a good while to the traditional Hamilton-Verstappen-Bottas podium, which is also the most seen trio on the podium in the history of F1, this Sunday none of the three protagonists answer the call!

If Verstappen was cruelly unlucky this Sunday, the situation at Mercedes is quite different as we will analyze in more detail below.

The 3 men “out” are Sergio Perez who went to pick up his second success in the premier category. The Mexican had a solid race and allows Red Bull to take the lead over Mercedes in the Constructors’ Championship. “Checo” fulfilled his role perfectly!

Behind him, Pierre Gasly also delivered a great performance by notably holding off Charles Leclerc’s attacks during the restart to secure the 3rd place on the podium, his 3rd in his career.

And what about Sebastian Vettel? The four-time world champion seems to have come back to life in the last two Grand Prix and has proved that retirement is not yet on the cards for him!

In 11th place, the four-time world champion implemented a very good strategy by making the tires last longer than his opponents and passing many of his competitors. He overtakes Pierre Gasly after his pit stop and gains another position on Hamilton when the latter falters at the restart.

The German driver delivers the first podium in Aston Martin’s history with this second place and boosts his confidence. A good sign for what’s to come!

The FLOP 3:

A guaranteed spectacle but a tarnished image: Pirelli where the art of paradox.

It is not necessarily necessary to shoot red bullets at Pirelli but this Grand Prix is a real paradox for the Italian manufacturer.

Indeed, by providing the softest range of compounds, Pirelli has contributed to the show on the track with unconventional strategies that are not always common on other circuits.

However, the successive accidents of Stroll and Verstappen have raised questions within the community. How is it that a tire called hard cannot last more than about twenty laps before exploding?

Pirelli is once again in turmoil for the quality of its tires, unable to find a middle ground between tires that are too hard (hello Portimão…) and tires that are too soft like this weekend.

If it is not excluded that debris may also be at fault, using the same range as in Monaco on a circuit where the loads are much higher may have been a bit too ambitious.

We should not wait for a serious accident to happen before reacting. Expected to be closely followed in the next Grand Prix.

2. Bottas increasingly annoying.

Alright, maybe the Mercedes wasn’t the dominating car that it had been in the past this weekend in Baku. Nevertheless, Bottas’s performance this Sunday is a real disaster.

10th only in qualifying while his teammate Hamilton once again stood on the front row, first glitch.

The next day was going to be even worse. After a bad start, the Finn was not making any progress either on the track or in terms of strategy. Worse: Bottas was at one point under threat from his rival for his seat George Russell, driving a much less powerful Williams.

11th at the finish, the impression left by Bottas and the communication with Mercedes really suggests that the adventure with the German manufacturer is coming to an end. It is up to him to prove us wrong in the next races… if he has the means!

3. Feverish and under pressure: Unrecognizable Hamilton

Since the end of his historic rivalry with Nico Rosberg, we had rarely seen Lewis Hamilton under pressure. However, since the beginning of the year, we can feel that the seven-time world champion is less confident than usual.

The Briton is becoming more and more nervous on the radio and this is also felt on the track where, after his mistake at Imola which he managed to recover from, Hamilton once again faltered this weekend with this missed braking at the first turn two laps from the end.

Irony of fate, it’s after Verstappen’s abandon, a golden opportunity to take the lead in the championship, that Sir Lewis broadcast a radio message saying that the race was a marathon and not a sprint, implying not to take any risks at the start.

Having inadvertently pressed a button linked to the braking system on his steering wheel, the reigning world champion has not shown such fragility in a long time!

It is urgent to react at Mercedes because Red Bull and Verstappen are becoming increasingly credible rivals while the season is only in its quarter!