After almost a month of waiting, Formula 1 is back, and it’s returning to the Baku City circuit where Max Verstappen and Red Bull triumphed last year, aided in part by yet another reliability problem with Ferrari’s F1-75 power unit. This year the Azerbaijan Grand Prix will see two qualifying sessions take place for the first time in Formula 1 history in the same weekend. The first one will determine the grid for Sunday’s race, while Saturday will be completely devoted to the Sprint Race, which will now have its own qualifying session.
As we’ve unfortunately grown accustomed to, Red Bull arrives as the clear favorite, while the values between Scuderia Ferrari, Aston Martin, and Mercedes will need to be discovered: the Maranello engineers are confident that the SF-23 has the potential to be the second fastest car on the grid this weekend. In terms of development, we’ll finally see the updates from McLaren, and as a result, the true MCL60 and its potential.
The Baku city circuit is known for its long straights in the first and third sectors, where efficiency and power are very important. However, most of the track is traveled at speeds below 250 km/h, particularly in the second sector, and the 19 corners are taken at less than 150 km/h, with seven of them below 100 km/h. With the fuel load, Ferrari showed great progress at low speeds in Australia, and this weekend, they will need to confirm this trend.
In 2022, the F1-75’s excellent traction, combined with a great lap from Charles Leclerc, made the difference on Saturday, despite a lighter wing for the Ferrari car. This year, the RB19 will be able to exploit these characteristics by taking advantage of the tremendous load generated by the British car’s floor and its excellent efficiency. For Ferrari, it will be essential to at least replicate these advantages over Aston Martin and Mercedes, and in the straights, the Italian engine will make the difference, as explained by F1 expert Andrea Vergani for the well-informed Italian website formu1a.uno.
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There are no medium or high-speed corners in the six kilometers of the Azerbaijan circuit: between 150 and 250 km/h, the lack of aerodynamic load on the SF-23 was felt in the first three races, especially on Sunday in terms of race pace. It will be more crucial to find the right mechanical compromise ahead of the Sprint race and the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, something that was achieved in Australia despite partially sacrificing qualifying preparation.
Pirelli has chosen the softest available tire compounds, with pressures that, as seen in Jeddah and then Australia, have been kept higher. The teams will have the same tires available as in Melbourne: C3, C4, and C5. The winning strategy in 2022 was a two-stop race with a set of mediums and two sets of hards, aided by a virtual safety car that favored the second pit stop. Red flags, safety cars, and virtual safety cars will likely not be absent during the 51 laps; otherwise, a one-stop race is very probable, as confirmed by Pirelli.
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