Azerbaijan GP
Slow, reliable cars still get points, Christian Mattia. For a race with little racing, there was certainly a lot of intrigue. Questions are looming over the Ferrari Power Unit’s reliability, and if the FIA should step in to get a handle on the porpoising.
Let’s jump into it.
Race 8 Summary
June 12, 2022
Charles Leclerc had a slow start, which Sergio Perez made him pay for, as he lunged up the inside on Turn 1, completed the move and was the leader of the race. No incidents on lap 1, which was kind of surprising, so I felt like we were in for a snoozer.
Spoiler: it was. But, Ferrari pumped some early intrigue (I don’t want to say I was excited) into the race with Carlos Sainz’s early retirement. His engine failed (and I believe his hydraulic system), causing him to pull into the run off, and eventually bringing out the VSC. We saw an early shuffle to the pits, as Leclerc, both Mercedes, both Alpha Tauris, and several others pitted for a fresh set of tires, while both Red Bulls (and a handful of others including both McLarens and both Alpines) stayed out. It was a pretty big strategy gamble, as expecting those drivers to make those tires last the whole race, would have been a HUGE ask.
Leclerc’s only hope was the fact that he was on a different strategy than the Red Bulls. However, his power unit had something different in mind. On lap 20, the camera cut to Leclerc, who had smoke pluming from his rear. The announcers initially thought it was a blow-out, but quickly realized that his tires were fine. He limped his smoking car all the way back to the pits, and his hopes for challenging the Red Bull drivers retired with his car. Elsewhere, just before Leclerc’s PU failure, Perez was given team orders, and told “no fighting” as Max went past him on lap 14. And thus went any hope for some actual racing for the lead.
Smoke coming out of the rear of Leclerc’s Ferrari
Ferrari wasn’t the only team who suffered- both Zhou Guanyu with Alpha Romeo, and Kevin Magnussen with Haas, who’s teams use Ferrari PUs, also retired. (For the record, Lance Stroll also retired, but he was having issues all weekend).
One final note of reliability, Yuki Tsunoda’s Alpha Tauri had a broken DRS flap. More specifically, it was split in half vertically, which meant one half opened, and the other remained shut. He was shown a flag I haven’t seen in my few short years of F1 fandom, the black and orange flag. This meant he HAD to come into the pits to either repair his car, or he would have to retire. His crack-team of engineers used the best tools available- duct tape. Yuki couldn’t use his DRS the rest of the race, which to be fair, was only about 10 or 11 laps. The pinnacle of motorsport.
The race as a whole wasn’t THAT exciting. The majority of genuine overtakes came from Lewis Hamilton, who had some nice moves against Ocon, Tsunoda, Gasly, and Ricciardo. I’ll dive more into the Silver Arrows’ race in my Silver Arrow Points section below.
The last bit of intrigue came from the two McLarens. Obviously F1 fans and media are all loving to speculate what will happen to Daniel Ricciardo this season and beyond. I won’t participate in that right now, but one can imagine that Daniel is feeling some pressure. With that being said, he nearly matched his teammates qualifying pace, only losing out by a few tenths of a second. In the race, he elected to start on Hard tires, and he surprisingly had more pace. He had hoped the team would let him by Norris, who wasn’t gaining as much on the cars in front, but the team had them hold position. This likely affected Ricciardo’s race, as he wasn’t able to get out in clean air. In the second stint for both drivers, Lando Norris was now on the Hard tires while Daniel was on the Medium ones, and Lando began lapping quicker than Daniel. He begged to be let through, but McLaren ultimately ordered them to hold position again, as neither driver could likely overtake Alonso. Norris was quite frustrated, because he felt like this situation was different than earlier in the race, since it was towards the end of the race and they were fighting for “finishing positions”. He looked like he was going to race Daniel all the way to the end, maybe not to overtake and ignore team rules (although I wouldn’t be surprised- he’s the team’s future, and there would be no consequences for him), but to prove some point. Lando Norris is an interesting driver, who I have loved, but I’m not going to lie… I’m not loving him so much this year. Anyways, Team Papaya finished P8 and P9, which is fine, but obviously not where they want to be.
This was Evan’s face when Lando was asking to be switched with Daniel on track… He wasn’t happy
So that was pretty much it. Reliability and team orders provided some intrigue, while Lewis Hamilton was one of the few drivers actually racing out on the track.
Max ran away with P1, with Perez in P2 and Russell securing another lucky podium in P3.
WINNERS AND LOSERS
Winners:
-Red Bull
-Sebastian Vettel
Red Bull- Another double podium and maximum points for the team. I don’t really have much to say other than I think this is their championship to lose now.
Sebastian Vettel- I’ve not normally done drivers in my “Winners and Losers” sections, but I make the rules, and I’m changing them. Seb deserves some credit. After a lock up nearly cost him his race, he did a nice spin and managed to get back on track. He managed P6 in this race, and had a great drive.
Losers:
-Ferrari
-Any Ferrari powered team
Ferrari- Double DNF, and major reliability concerns. The championship WAS their’s to lose, and they have. I’m really hoping they can sort this out, because someone needs to challenge Red Bull. (Ideally it would be Mercedes, but they weren’t the favorites going into the season, and are still struggling.)
Ferrari powered teams- Haas and Alpha Romeo are probably quaking in their boots. 4 out of 6 drivers retired for PU issues/failures, which is pretty awful to see. Time to throw this batch out, and put some fresh power units in, and hope they work.
Driver of the Day: Sir Lewis Hamilton, who I actually voted for during the race, and he secured the fan vote as well. He had some great overtakes (on cars that should have had more pace than him this race AND while in immense back pain).
>SILVER ARROW POINTS
You may be wondering “why aren’t Mercedes in your Winners category?”… Well, their drivers (especially Hamilton) drove their hearts out, but I’m finally ready to talk about this car.
Before I do, let me hit some quick points:
>George had another great race result. He didn’t have to overtake anyone on track, but he kept the car in a great position. He is Mr. Consistency, which I think he deserves. (Yes he’s lucky, and yes Hamilton is running experimental set-ups. But, this season, having one driver, particularly the less experienced and decorated driver, finishing in top 5, and securing some lucky podiums is keeping Mercedes in this. Lewis is and always will be the GOAT, nothing George is doing should take away from that, even though the media is painting it that way).
>Sir Lewis once again had to overcome adversity, overtaking 4 cars while losing a second the straights due to bouncing.
>Strategy was better. I’m glad you brought them both in for the VSC. I was annoyed at first, but I think Hamilton would have struggled without that pit stop, as the Hard tires seemed to work better during the race.
Okay, so the W13… Let’s talk about it.
I have been pretty vocal about giving Mercedes time. When Red Bull showed some early reliability issues, I really thought that bought Mercedes some additional time. And while there’s still plenty of races left, I’m concerned about their ambitious design, not because it doesn’t work or that they are just slow (both of which are true), but how the significant bouncing is causing Hamilton (and Russell) back and neck problems. Now, they aren’t the only ones, which I’ll get into another day, but let’s just focus on Mercedes and what they should do.
It seems like they’ve hit a crossroads. Continue trying to fix this complex problem on their ambitious design, while injuring and harming their drivers, or abandon the ambitious design and opt for their first iteration while continuing some developments to hopefully unleash this bad boy next year. The choice would seem simple, but even the drivers admit that they are competitors, so if the FIA doesn’t do something, they’ll keep driving. This design was always high risk, high reward, but the risk isn’t just about potentially a mediocre season… Hamilton was in immense pain, and struggled to get out of the car. There are already some concerns that it could be so bad he’d have to miss next week’s race (which is another bouncy, street circuit). The good news is, Hamilton is feeling healthy enough to compete in Canada.
I think the FIA should step in, and I want to talk more about that, but the FIA has proven time and time again that they aren’t the best decision makers. In the event that the FIA doesn’t intervene, I still think Mercedes needs to make some tough calls and ask themselves: is it worth it?
Before the excitement (or dread) for the Canadian GP begins, go check out these other amazing creators!
On the Chicane: Azerbaijan GP Race Review. “Paris and Marium unpack everything from the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Ben Sulayem's controversial comments; double team orders at Red Bull and McLaren; Mercedes jackhammering Lewis's back and so much more!”
Quick Stop F1: Azerbaijani GP Review. “Nyasha and Thandie are joined by our brother TOMImusic to break down an uncharacteristically tame GP in Baku. We discuss the new regulations and the effect they've had on racing, Mercedes and Lewis. We then shine a light on Ferrari's engine woes before dishing out Star of the Day and Donkey of the Day. Checo's... transgressions also get a mention...” (This is one of the funniest things I’ve listened to in a LONG time- go give it a watch/listen!)
Brad Philpot: Baku GP Questions Answered (Through the Visor). “Answering your questions from Twitter about the driving side of Formula 1. We discuss etiquette, driving standards - and those juicy on-track incidents from the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.”
We’re racing in Montreal (a BEAUTIFUL city that I’ve personally visited before) this weekend, so buckle up… it’s gonna be a bumpy ride!