Questions and answers about the Azerbaijan Grand Prix

What's up? In the middle of Baku, the Formula 1 season is facing its first fork in the road: After the chaos race in China, Sebastian Vettel could consolidate and expand his championship lead again and take his status as top favorite with him into the following European races. But Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes also want their first victory of the year. If they succeed, Vettel's advantage after the excellent start to the season would be gone. On Sunday it's about setting an example in the World Cup fight. Can Mercedes still win? Three races without a Mercedes victory - the start of this season was completely unusual. The Silver Arrows haven't had to wait so long for success in more than four years. The reasons for this are varied: technical and human error play a role, and Mercedes, which has been so superior for years, has recently made life quite difficult for the engineers. The not new problem with the correct working temperature of the tires is a constant topic this year. It was too hot in Bahrain and too cold in China. Maybe the mild temperatures in Baku will now give the world champions a little courage. What is special about this route? Baku requires a set-up balancing act like hardly any other course: on the approximately two kilometer long straight, the pilots accelerate for 20 seconds; here the wings are as flat as possible in order to increase the top speed. But when the cars turn into Baku's old town, things get narrow and angular: at the narrowest point the asphalt strip is just 7,5 meters wide, the cars need a lot of downforce here and therefore actually have steep wings. This is even more important because the road surface here is brand new and therefore slippery: every year some cobblestone sections are covered specifically for the race. Incidentally, the German architect Hermann Tilke did not have a free hand when it came to the unusual route: the Formula 1 cars were supposed to race past as many sights as possible. You want to present yourself to the world. Baku 2017 - was there anything? However. The focus of last year's race was Vettel's scandalous ram against Hamilton. At the end of a safety car phase, the leading Englishman was allowed to set the pace and was driving provocatively slowly. Vettel then accidentally drove into his rear - and was so angry about it that he immediately caused a deliberate collision. There was great outrage and Vettel himself only admitted his mistake days later. In general, Baku 2017 was the most chaotic race of the year, in the end Red Bull man Daniel Ricciardo was ahead, Lance Stroll in the Williams achieved a sensational podium finish. A slightly quieter Grand Prix would probably be nice for the favorites this year.

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Questions and answers about the Azerbaijan Grand Prix

Formula 1 is moving to Baku, where the Azerbaijan Grand Prix will take place on Sunday from 14.10:XNUMX p.m. We answer the most important questions.

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