The Azerbaijan Grand Prix is a Formula One motor race that was held for the first time in 2017. It is held on the Baku City Circuit, a street circuit in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan. The first Formula One race at the circuit, in 2016, was named the European Grand Prix.
Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Round four of the 2018 Formula 1 season
Circuit Name: Baku City circuit (street Circuit)
Race Laps: 51
Circuit Length: 6.003 km (3.73 mi)
Race Length: 306.049 km (190.170 mi)
Number of corners: 20 (8 Right, 12 Left)
Circuit Direction: Anti-Clockwise
Distance from pole to t1 apex: 280 m
Pole position 2017: Lewis Hamilton – Mercedes 1:40.593
Pole position side: Right
Pit lane length under speed limit control: 390 m
Drive-through time at 60 km/h: 23.4 s
Lap time at full throttle: 57%
Lap distance at full throttle: 72%
Gear changes per lap: 110
Braking events (>2g): 10
Heavy braking events (4g): 6
Fuel consumption: High
Maximum lateral g-force: 3.8 G
Maximum speed: 333 kph
Track evolution (p1 – qualifying): High
DRS zones: T2-3, T20-1
Key overtaking opportunities: T1 / T3
Race lap record: 1:43.441 Sebastian Vettel – 2017 on lap 47
Absolute lap record: 1:40.593 Lewis Hamilton – Mercedes (Q3) 2017
Baku City Circuit
Pirelli used compounds
Tyres that must be available (one of them to be used) at some point in the race:
One set of P Zero Yellow soft
One set of P Zero Red Super-Soft
Tyres assigned for Q3 in qualifying:
One set of P Zero Purple Ultra-Soft
Teams/Drivers compounds choice
| Nbr | Driver | Hard C2 | Medium C3 | Soft C4 |
| 44 | Lewis Hamilton | 1 | 4 | 8 |
| 77 | Valtteri Bottas | 1 | 4 | 8 |
| 5 | Sebastian Vettel | 1 | 5 | 7 |
| 16 | Charles Leclrec | 1 | 5 | 7 |
| 33 | Max Verstappen | 1 | 3 | 9 |
| 10 | Pierre Gasly | 1 | 3 | 9 |
| 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | 2 | 1 | 10 |
| 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | 1 | 2 | 10 |
| 20 | Kevin Magnussen | 1 | 3 | 9 |
| 8 | Romain Grosjean | 1 | 3 | 9 |
| 55 | Carlos Sainz | 1 | 2 | 10 |
| 4 | Lando Norris | 1 | 2 | 10 |
| 11 | Sergio Perez | 1 | 2 | 10 |
| 18 | Lance Stroll | 1 | 2 | 10 |
| 7 | Kimi Raikkonen | 2 | 2 | 9 |
| 99 | Antonio Giovinazzi | 1 | 3 | 9 |
| 26 | Daniil Kvyat | 2 | 2 | 9 |
| 23 | Alexander Albon | 1 | 3 | 9 |
| 63 | George Russell | 2 | 2 | 9 |
| 88 | Robert Kubica | 1 | 3 | 9 |
THE CIRCUIT FROM A TYRE POINT OF VIEW:
- • With the race starting just after 4pm, track temperatures cool rapidly as the sun begins to go down. None of the free practice sessions take place at exactly the same time as the race start though.
- • Because Baku is a street circuit tightly enclosed by buildings, there are many areas of lights and shade, making track temperatures even harder to assess.
- • The main straight is two kilometres long, which means that the tyres can cool down before the braking area at the end of it. After Spa, Baku is the second-longest lap of the season.
- • Last year’s strategy was affected by safety cars and a red flag, which can play a prominent role on the narrow track – cars have often tangled in the tight confines of Baku previously.
- • The winning strategy involved three tyre changes last year, with the second one taking place during the safety car period and the last one under red flag conditions. Daniel Ricciardo won the race starting from 10th position on the grid with a supersoft-soft-supersoft-supersoft strategy.
- • One of the biggest challenges for drivers last year was warming up the front and rear tyres at the same rate. With cooler conditions, this problem is likely to be accentuated.
MARIO ISOLA – HEAD OF CAR RACING
“The Azerbaijan Grand Prix should have quite a different look to it this time, being held two months earlier and presumably presenting a contrast to last year in terms of weather conditions, when track temperatures peaked at more than 50 degrees centigrade. Last year, we felt that we were a little too conservative with the tyre nomination in Azerbaijan, in the first year of the new tyre regulations, as the medium wasn’t really used. So, we felt that this year we had scope to be a little more aggressive with the nominations. This should lead to all three compounds being used as realistic race options, and some inventive race strategies, as we saw at the last two grands prix in Bahrain and China”.
BAKU MINIMUM STARTING PRESSURES (SLICKS) & EOS CAMBER LIMIT
Azerbaijan Grand Prix Winners 2016 – 2018
| Year | Driver | Constructor | Location |
| 2018 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | Baku City Circuit |
| 2017 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull-TAG Heuer | |
| 2016* | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | |
| * European Grand Prix | |||
Numbers and Facts
Most wins (driver) 1 NICO ROSBERG 2016 (EVENT HELD AS GP OF EUROPE) AND DANIEL RICCIARDO 2017
Most wins (constructor) 1 MERCEDES 2016 (EVENT HELD AS GP OF EUROPE) AND RED BULL 2017
Wins from pole position 1 2016 EVENT HELD (AS GP OF EUROPE)
Lowest grid for past winner 10 Daniel Ricciardo 2017
Most emphatic win (here) 2016 / 16.69S (NICO ROSBERG – SEBASTIAN VETTEL) (EVENT HELD AS GP OF EUROPE)
Closest winning margin 2017 / 3.904 (DANIEL RICCIARDO – VALTTERI BOTTAS)
Safety Car-affected races 1 / 2017
Most podiums (driver) 1 / ROS – VET – PER – RIC – BOT – STR
Most podiums (constructor) 2 / MERCEDES
Most pole positions (driver) 1 / NICO ROSBERG 2016 (EVENT HELD AS GP OF EUROPE) AND LEWIS HAMILTON 2017
Most pole positions (constructor) 2 / MERCEDES 2016 (EVENT HELD AS GP OF EUROPE), 2017
What Happened last race here?
Lewis Hamilton started the race from pole. Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo recovered from a crash in qualifying to claim his fifth career victory ahead of the Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas, while Lance Stroll became the first Canadian to stand on the podium since Jacques Villeneuve at the 2001 German Grand Prix, and the second youngest driver ever to finish on the podium.
2018 Race Classification
|
Pos |
Driver |
Constructor |
Time/Retired |
Grid |
|
1 |
Daniel Ricciardo |
Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer |
2:03:55.573 |
10 |
|
2 |
Valtteri Bottas |
Mercedes |
+3.904 |
2 |
|
3 |
Lance Stroll |
Williams-Mercedes |
+4.009 |
8 |
|
4 |
Sebastian Vettel |
Ferrari |
+5.976 |
4 |
|
5 |
Lewis Hamilton |
Mercedes |
+6.188 |
1 |
|
6 |
Esteban Ocon |
Force India-Mercedes |
+30.298 |
7 |
|
7 |
Kevin Magnussen |
Haas-Ferrari |
+41.753 |
12 |
|
8 |
Carlos Sainz Jr. |
Toro Rosso |
+49.4 |
15 |
|
9 |
Fernando Alonso |
McLaren-Honda |
+59.551 |
19 |
|
10 |
Pascal Wehrlein |
Sauber-Ferrari |
+1:29.093 |
14 |
|
11 |
Marcus Ericsson |
Sauber-Ferrari |
+1:31.794 |
17 |
|
12 |
Stoffel Vandoorne |
McLaren-Honda |
+1:32.160 |
18 |
|
13 |
Romain Grosjean |
Haas-Ferrari |
+1 Lap |
16 |
|
14 |
Kimi Räikkönen |
Ferrari |
Oil leak |
3 |
|
Ret |
Sergio Pérez |
Force India-Mercedes |
Steering |
6 |
|
Ret |
Felipe Massa |
Williams-Mercedes |
Suspension |
9 |
|
Ret |
Nico Hülkenberg |
Renault |
Accident |
13 |
|
Ret |
Max Verstappen |
Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer |
Oil pressure |
5 |
|
Ret |
Daniil Kvyat |
Toro Rosso |
Electrics |
11 |
|
Ret |
Jolyon Palmer |
Renault |
Engine |
20 |
Did you know?
DRIVERS
✪ Sebastian Vettel is now only 1 of 18 drivers to have started 200 or more F1 World Championship Grand Prix. The most is 325 by Rubens Barrichello.
✪ Vettel has scored 49 wins and 101 podiums in F1. Only Michael Schumacher, (155) Lewis Hamilton (1189 and Alain Prost (106) have scored more podiums than Vettel
✪ Vettel will be looking for a 50th GP win on Sunday. Only Michael Schumacher (91), Lewis Hamilton (62) and Alain Prost (51) have won more
✪ In China Vettel started a F1 GP from the front row for the 86th time to equal Alain Prost’s career record. In Azerbaijan he’ll be aiming to start from the front row for the 87th
time which, if he manages it will equal Ayrton Senna’s career record
✪ Since Lewis Hamilton has been at Mercedes he has taken pole 47 times already, almost 50% of all races he’s started for the team (47/ 98 = 48%)
✪ Hamilton’s win to starts percentage is almost identical that of Michael Schumacher’s
✪ Hamilton has been classified as a finisher in all Grand Prix for over a season. His last DNF came in Japan 2016
✪ Hamilton in China beat Kimi Raikkonen’s all-time record for consecutive points finishes. Hamilton has finished the past 28 GP in the points, the run starting in Japan ‘16
✪ Hamilton has won 29.4% of all GP he’s started (62 wins from 211starts) and is in the top 10 drivers races to win ratio of all-time. Here’s how he compares:-
- Fangio 47.0%, 2. Ascari 40.6%, 3. Clark 34.7%, 4. M. Schumacher 29.7%, 5. Hamilton 29.4%, 6. Ja. Stewart 27.2%, 7. Prost 25.6%, 8. A. Senna 25.5%, 9. Vettel 24.4% (49/201), 10. Moss 24.2%
✪ Kimi Raikkonen’s next win if ever it comes will be the 21st of his F1 career and will also be the most by a Finnish driver in F1. Currently he shares the record of 20 wins
by a Finn with Mika Hakkinen
✪ Raikkonen is the only driver to have started all 3 GP so far this season from the front row
✪ Raikkonen has now started a F1 GP from the front row 42 times, the same front row appearances made by Graham Hill and by Jackie Stewart in their F1 careers
✪ Daniel Ricciardo in china won his 6th GP to equal Gilles Viileneuve, Jochen Rindt, John Surtees, Tony Brooks, Jacques Laffite, Riccardo Patrese and Ralf Schumacher
✪ Just 10 drivers have won more GP than Ricciardo and not won the World Championship at some point in their career
✪ Verstappen scored his first GP win from a P4 start, his second from P3 and his 3rd from P2. You might be forgiven for waging money when he finally manages to take pole!
✪ Sergio Perez needs just 1 more podium to become the top Mexican in terms of F1 podiums. He currently shares the record (7) with Pedro Rodriguez
✪ Romain Grosjean was 32 on 17 April
CONSTRUCTORS
✪ Mercedes will be aiming to lockout the front row for the 51st time. The all-time record is 62 and is jointly held by McLaren and Williams.
✪ Mercedes has scored a podium finish in 103 different Grand Prix
✪ Mercedes has lead 4 more Grand Prix than Red Bull (100:96)
✪ Mercedes scored 3 front row lock-outs in 2017. 2 of them were headed by Valtteri Bottas
✪ Ferrari scored consecutive pole positions in China for the first time since Fernando Alonso took pole for the Scuderia at the 2012 British and German Grand Prix and
scored a consecutive front row lock-out for the first time since Michael Schumacher and Felipe Massa locked-out the front row for the 2006 US and French Grand Prix. The last time Ferrari scored 3 poles in a row was in Monaco 10 years ago and the first front-row lock-out hat-trick since 2003 Australian GP (with Japan ’02 and USA ’02)
✪ Ferrari’s pole in China means that Ferrari engines have powered cars to 216 F1 Grand Prix pole positions, 3 more than any other engine manufacturer. Next-best is Renault (213) then Ford (139)
✪ A podium in Azerbaijan for Red Bull Racing would be their 150th in F1
✪ The 2018 season is the 40th anniversary of Williams Grand Prix Engineering, the team founded by Frank Williams and Patrick Head entering and racing a Williams
designed and built racing car. The team had started in 1977 with a chassis bought from March Engineering
✪ For the past 2 races Williams has finished its cars 14th and 15th and for the past 3, one of them has finished 14th
✪ McLaren has not led a F1 race lap since Jenson Button led lap 14 of the Hungarian GP in 2014. The team has started 69 GP since
✪ McLaren has now competed in 101 F1 Qualifying sessions and races since their most recent pole position and/ or victory (Brazil 2012)
✪ Renault has now competed in 101 GP since it last won a race (Japan 2008)
AZERBAIJAN GRAND PRIX / GENERAL
✪ 2018 marks the 60th anniversary of a British driver, Mike Hawthorn winning the F1 World Championship for driver’s for the first time
✪ 2018 also marks the 60th anniversary of the first Constructor’s World Championship award being made (Vanwall)
✪ Later this year we ill celebrate the 70th anniversary of the first Grand Prix at Silverstone, the 1948 RAC International Grand Prix as it was titled. An Alfa Romeo won it
Driver’s Championship standing
|
Pos |
Driver |
Points |
|
1 |
Sebastian Vettel |
54 |
|
2 |
Lewis Hamilton |
45 |
|
3 |
Valtteri Bottas |
40 |
|
4 |
Daniel Ricciardo |
37 |
|
5 |
Kimi Räikkönen |
30 |
|
6 |
Fernando Alonso |
22 |
|
7 |
Nico Hülkenberg |
22 |
|
8 |
Max Verstappen |
18 |
|
9 |
Pierre Gasly |
12 |
|
10 |
Kevin Magnussen |
11 |
|
11 |
Stoffel Vandoorne |
6 |
|
12 |
Carlos Sainz Jr. |
3 |
|
13 |
Marcus Ericsson |
2 |
|
14 |
Esteban Ocon |
1 |
|
15 |
Sergio Pérez |
0 |
|
16 |
Charles Leclerc |
0 |
|
17 |
Brendon Hartley |
0 |
|
18 |
Lance Stroll |
0 |
|
19 |
Romain Grosjean |
0 |
|
20 |
Sergey Sirotkin |
0 |
Constructor’s Championship standing
|
Pos |
Constructor |
Points |
|
1 |
Mercedes |
85 |
|
2 |
Scuderia Ferrari |
84 |
|
3 |
Aston Matrin Red Bull-Tag Heur |
55 |
|
4 |
Mclaren-Renault |
28 |
|
5 |
Renault |
25 |
|
6 |
Toro Rosso-Honda |
12 |
|
7 |
Haas-Ferrari |
11 |
|
8 |
Alfa Romeo Sauber-Ferrari |
2 |
|
9 |
Force India-Mercedes |
1 |
|
10 |
Williams |
0 |
Driver’s penalty points:
|
Driver |
Penalty points |
|
Kevin Magnussen |
6 |
|
Stoffel Vandoorne |
5 |
|
Max Verstappen |
5 |
|
Marcus Erricson |
5 |
|
Brendon Hartley |
4 |
|
Romain Grosjean |
3 |
|
Sebastian Vettel |
3 |
|
Sergio Perez |
3 |
|
Kimi Raikkonen |
3 |
|
Carlos Sainz |
2 |
|
Fernando Alonso |
2 |
|
Daniel Ricciardo |
2 |
|
Pierre Gasly |
2 |
|
Nico Hulkenberg |
1 |
|
Lance Stroll |
1 |
