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Azerbaijan Grand Prix

Everything you need to know about the Azerbaijan Grand Prix

Round 04  - April 28th - 30th

History

Baku City Circuit, is a street circuit located in the capital city of Baku, Azerbaijan. The circuit was designed by renowned circuit architect Hermann Tilke and first hosted the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in 2016.

The circuit is 6.003 km (3.730 mi) long and features 20 turns, including a long straight that runs parallel to the Caspian Sea. The track is known for its high-speed corners, tight hairpin bends, and narrow sections that make it one of the most challenging street circuits on the Formula One calendar.

The Azerbaijan Grand Prix is held annually at the circuit and has become known for its dramatic and unpredictable races. The circuit is also used for other motorsport events, such as the FIA GT World Cup and the FIA Formula 2 Championship.

In addition to the racing action, the circuit also offers stunning views of Baku's historic Old City and modern skyline, making it a popular destination for fans and tourists alike.

One of the most unpredictable tracks in history is the Baku city circuit. The race always throws up a storm from the first race. The first ever Grand Prix held in Baku was the 2016 European Grand Prix, won by Nico Rosberg. The first Azerbaijan Grand Prix was held the next year, in 2017, with Daniel Ricciardo as the winner in a race that was tense from start to finish. 2021 gave another memorable race with Max Verstappen crashing at over 200pmh thanks to a puncture on the 2.2km start finish straight. The race was red flagged and on the restart it looked like Lewis Hamitlon had the win in the bag but locked up in turn 1 dropping him down to last place. Sergio Perez kept a cool head and took his first win for Red Bull along with Sebastian Vettel scoring Aston Martin's first podium and his last in a glorious F1 career.

Bahrain Grand Prix Track.png

Baku City Circuit

Turns: 20
DRS Zones: 2
Circuit Length: 6.003 km (3.730 mi)
Total Race Distance: 306.049 km (190.170 mi)
Number of Laps: 51
Lap Record: 1:43.009 (Charles Leclerc, 2019)

What the 2023 Azerbaijan Grand Prix gave us

The 2023 Azerbaijan Grand Prix saw sprint race weekend of 2023 with a new format. On Friday FP1 and qualifying for the race took place. Charles Leclerc took the fastest lap in qualifying meaning he would start on pole position for the grand prix on Sunday ahead of Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez.

On Saturday FP2 was removed and replaced with sprint qualifying to determine the grid for the sprint race later in the day. This is apart of Formula 1's idea to seperate the sprint race from having any effect on the grand prix. Charles Leclerc once again took pole position for the sprint race this time leading Sergio Perez and then Max Verstappen who would start third. The sprint race was won by Sergio Perez who managed to get passed Leclerc after an early race safety car due to debris spread all over the track thanks to Yuki Tsunoda who hit the wall and ended up with a puncture and broken suspension.

The main story to come out of the race was the lap 1 battle between Max Verstappen anda Mercedes driver George Russell. The two fought down to turn 1 and into turn 2 where they made contact after Verstappen tried to go around the outside of the Brit who had locked up and understeered into the sidepod of the Red Bull punching a 30cm hole in the car. The fight continued on down to turn 3 where Verstappen once again tried to go around the outside of the Mercedes but ended up clipping the wall on the exit. The two ended up having words in parc ferme afterwards with Verstappen promising he would do the same to Russell next time the two are fighting on track.

In the race there was a lot less chaos and more controversy with Sergio Perez taking the win over teammate Max Verstappen. The 1-2 meant that they scored the 25th 1-2 finish for Red Bull in the teams history. Verstappen pitted one lap before a safety car for Nyck De Vries who hit the wall at turn 5 and braking a toe-link on the front left corner of his AlphaTauri. With the safety car pausing the race Perez managed to pit and comeback out on track leading. The two drivers would go onto trade fastest laps throughout the race until the chequered flag.

Meanwhile further down the grid Esteban Ocon managed to do a 50 lap stint on a set of hard tyres and pitting on the last lap. However in the pitlane the FIA had released the photographers into the pitlane early, with Ocon having no idea what was waiting for him the pitlane. When he got onto the limiter he was greated with photographers coming into his way nearly hitting some other before they quickly jumped out of the way. The person who was responsible for releasing the photogrpahers ended up being summoned to the stewards immediately after the race with a further investigation waiting.

Last 5 Winners

2023: Sergio Perez, Red Bull
2022: Max Verstappen, Red Bull
2021: Sergio Perez, Red Bull
2019: Valterri Bottas, Mercedes
2018: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes

FORMULA 1 AZERBAIJAN GRAND PRIX 2023 SCHEDULE

Friday Apirl 28th:
Practice 1 (FP1) : 10:30 - 11:30 (Finished)
Qualifying: 14:00 - 15:00 (Finished)

Saturday April 29th:
Sprint Shootout: 09:30 - 10:15 (Finished)
Sprint Race: 14:30 - 15:30 (Finished)

Sunday April 30th:
Race Start: 12:00 (Finished)

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