The engines are howling in Baku: Questions & Answers

What's up? After a disappointing start to the season, Ferrari and Sebastian Vettel want to strike back in the fight for the world championship against Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) at the fourth race of the season in Azerbaijan (Sunday, 14.10:XNUMX p.m.). While last year's winner Hamilton knows how to win on the treacherous course on the Caspian Sea, Vettel has only experienced disappointments in Baku so far. Will Vettel continue to be preferred by Ferrari? Yes. Ferrari team boss Mattia Binotto recently emphasized in China that the German has the right of way over his young teammate Charles Leclerc “in a 50:50 situation”. This doesn't suit the up-and-coming Monegasque, but the 21-year-old isn't yet rehearsing the uprising either. The pressure is growing on Vettel to justify his captaincy role with appropriate performances. Who screws new parts onto the car? Honda is giving the Red Bulls around World Cup third place Max Verstappen (Netherlands) a new expansion stage for the combustion engine within the drive unit. Max Verstappen in his Red Bull. © APA/afp / WANG ZHAO

This should not only improve reliability, but also a little bit of performance. Ferrari announced “some updates” without going into detail. 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 give full throttle for 24 seconds; here, wings that are as flat as possible are required in order to increase top speed. Advantage Ferrari. 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. Advantage Mercedes. 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 should drive past as many sights as possible. You want to present yourself to the world. Will there be another chaos race? Very possible. In Baku, even the smallest mistake is immediately punished with an impact. In 2017, the safety car had to be deployed three times; last year, Bernd Mayländer came onto the track twice. In addition, surprise candidates like Sergio Perez or even Lance Stroll repeatedly made it onto the podium.

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The engines are howling in Baku: Questions & Answers

The Azerbaijan Grand Prix is on the agenda in Baku this weekend. Here are the answers to the most important questions about the treacherous course on the Caspian Sea.

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Football

Italy

International leagues

International

Winter sports

Tennis

Other sports

Motorsport

Cycling

Watersports

Events

Favorites

The engines are howling in Baku: Questions & Answers

The Azerbaijan Grand Prix is ​​on the agenda in Baku this weekend. Here are the answers to the most important questions about the treacherous course on the Caspian Sea.

Suggestions

Comments (0)

The Azerbaijan Grand Prix is on the agenda in Baku this weekend. Here are the answers to the most important questions about the treacherous course on the Caspian Sea.