Formula 1 Preview – Azerbaijan Grand Prix Predictions and Podium

Mercedes and Red Bull head into the sixth race of the season with the energy drink-backed team leading the constructors’ and drivers’ championships after the Monaco Grand Prix.

Max Verstappen’s win in the principality catapulted the Dutchman ahead of Lewis Hamilton and set up yet another fascinating battle in Baku this weekend for the Azerbaijan GP.

The Hermann Tilke designed track features the longest straight on the calendar at 2.2 kilometres. It has 20 corners in total, with a mix of fast and low-speed sections.

Unlike Monaco, there will be overtaking in Baku as drivers mainly in the first and second sectors. 51 laps over 306.049 kilometres will hopefully make for an entertaining race.

Mercedes has their work cut out in Baku after a disappointing outing in Monaco, in which Hamilton finished a lowly seventh, while Red Bull will look to carry the momentum from a fortnight ago into this weekend. The Mercedes is still the most powerful car on the grid, but Honda has made significant gains with the Red Bull power unit to match the Mercedes’ pace.

What to Expect in Azerbaijan

Crucially for Red Bull, the six-kilometre long track features numerous technical sections similar to Monaco, where Verstappen and teammate Perez showed how well the car dealt with low-speed corners.
It will be fascinating to see the reaction from Mercedes and whether they can tweak their cars’ setups to cope better with the street circuit. If Hamilton or Valtteri Bottas qualify on pole position, it‘s likely only Verstappen who will be able to challenge the Merc’s on race day. And with the power advantage on the long straights, the Brit and Finn are strong contenders to battle for the win.

The Brackley-based team will also need to make sure there’s no repeat of their poorly executed pit-stop strategy that saw Hamilton lose places to Sebastian Vettel and Pierre Gasly.

Ferrari is another team coming off a good performance in Monaco, Carlos Sainz scored his best ever F1 finish by placing second ahead of former McLaren teammate Lando Norris. Look out for the scarlet car, Sainz and Charles Leclerc could put in another dominant showing.

Verstappen doesn’t have great memories of Baku, he has never finished on the podium and crashed out twice, including the infamous incident with ex-teammate Daniel Ricciardo. The Australian won this race back in 2017

The 23-year-old Dutchman has been a revelation this season, taking on Hamilton and winning two of the five opening races. He leads the drivers’ championship for the first time in his career and will be fully aware of Hamilton’s intent on regaining the lead in the title race.

Predictions

Podium: Hamilton, Verstappen and Bottas.

First to retire: Mazepin