Formula 1: What to watch for at the 2018 Azerbaijan Grand Prix

Formula 1’s European season starts in Azerbaijan. Here are the storylines you should follow for this weekend’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku.

Formula 1‘s European season is set to start in Azerbaijan on the streets of Baku this weekend and there are plenty of storylines following a chaotic and exciting Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai.

As teams and drivers descend on the Land of Fire, the Baku City Circuit, a fast but narrow 6.003-kilometer (3.73-mile) street circuit will play host. However, eyes will be on Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton, and the man of hour: Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo. Here’s what you can expect from F1 this weekend in Baku during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Ferrari Team Battle

Commentators have speculated that the SF71H is better suited for Ferrari’s elder statesman Kimi Raikkonen. However, due to on-track mishaps and a few untimely strategy calls, the Finn is fifth in the driver standings, while his German teammate Sebastian Vettel is leading the championship.

With questions over driver preference and Baku being known as a track where overtakes are rare, it’ll be interesting to see if Ferrari will allow Raikkonen to run wild in the Land of Fire or concede in favor of the championship leader Vettel.

Mercedes Closing In

Despite the now well-repeated statistic that Mercedes have failed to win each of three consecutive races for the first time in the V6 turbo hybrid era, team principal Toto Wolff remains optimistic for 2018, as he should be.

Despite not winning (yet) in 2018, Mercedes currently lead the constructor standings by a single point. With Vettel’s 8th place finish in Shanghai due to contact from Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen, Mercedes lead driver Lewis Hamilton is only nine points adrift in the driver standings, which is within striking distance of points leader Vettel.

Hamilton drove an error-free race in 2017, but his team-described “diva” W08 had issues with the headrest coming loose causing Hamilton to pit to repair, lest disqualification. Being another power circuit, Baku should play well into Mercedes’ hands and if Hamilton and his “princess” W09 can control the race, Mercedes and Hamilton may be headed for their first win in 2018.

All Eyes On Ricciardo

After a thrilling win from 6th place in Shanghai due to some fearless driving and clever strategy from Red Bull Racing, Ricciardo is no doubt F1’s man of the hour. Ricciardo won last year’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix from 10th thanks to timely safety cars and another on-point strategy call from Red Bull Racing.

Will the strategy prowess of Red Bull Racing show itself in Baku again and is that enough for the Milton Keynes-based outfit to keep Ricciardo past the end of this season despite issuing the Australian a contract ultimatum?

Can Ricciardo ride his current wave of momentum to back-to-back wins or will the high speeds of Baku’s streets prove too much for the unreliable Renault (Tag Heuer-branded) engine, which caused Ricciardo’s teammate Verstappen to retire after starting 5th last year?

Midfielders Battle Heating Up

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Haas driver Kevin Magnussen says that Haas can beat Renault in the midfield battle despite trailing the Enstone-based team by 14 points going into Azerbaijan. Meanwhile, McLaren seem to be conceding that Azerbaijan will be a lost cause and will use the weekend to trial a “speed fix” after losing out in the speed traps in Australia and Bahrain. Whether this will help McLaren keep Fernando Alonso beyond the 2018 season or whether it will damage McLaren’s attempts to get out of the midfield over the rest of the season remains to be seen. However, McLaren putting speed ahead of improving the reliability of the Renault engine could cost them anyway.

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With the third ever Azerbaijan Grand Prix set to kick off the European season, we’ll see if Ferrari can survive out front, whether Lewis Hamilton can channel his energy and take Mercedes back to the top of the podium, and whether Daniel Ricciardo can keep his momentum as he plans his future.

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