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[Wouter]

We are back on track this weekend for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix!

Daniel Ricciardo #3

“I’m looking forward to Baku, it’s a proper track and like any street circuit, you need to find the limits quickly. I know the team in Faenza have been pushing hard and I’m eager to try the new floor this weekend. It’ll be a good challenge but I’m confident we can come away with some points. Well done Baku.”

Yuki Tsunoda #22

“I like the Baku street track and its unusual mix of a very long high speed section all the way from the final right hander down to Turn 1 and the really tight part through the old city. In the past, it has suited our car and I’ve finished in the points twice. The walls are close so you have to be very precise, although they have moved some of them back for this year and added openings to remove cars that stop on track, so maybe that reduces the chances of a Safety Car, which is usually quite common here. It’s a track that keeps you busy, with a very high number of gear changes, just like Singapore which is coming up next.”



Jody Egginton (Technical Director)

“The Azerbaijan GP takes place on a street circuit in the capital city of Baku. On the F1 calendar since 2016 it usually delivers exciting racing. The six-kilometre-long circuit provides a good mix of challenges for the engineers and drivers with a long straight requiring good aerodynamic efficiency, as cars can exceed 345 km/h, while the 20 corners, which are predominantly slower speed, make strong demands on braking and traction performance. The circuit passes through the downtown streets including a section in the Old Quarter of the town and in this narrow section of track the proximity of the medieval walls adds a further risk factor for the drivers. This feature together with the more normal barrier-lined sections of the circuit combine to make Baku one of the most technically demanding on the F1 calendar and it can also provide a bit more unpredictability!

Our test programme for this race will be very busy because, in addition to the normal set up and tyre work which we conduct at every event, we also have a number of important tests planned to learn more and optimise the cars around the new floor package which we first evaluated in Monza. In terms of the battle in the midfield, it remains very tight and we are staying focused on maximising what we can extract from our cars with the goal of fighting for points with both our drivers.”

[djos]

Well the Monza upgrades do seem to work, Daniel is 8/10ths to 1.1 seconds faster on most laps, run around the same time, so far in FP1.

I wonder if this is down to Daniel’s experience setting up cars at RedBull and Renault? Or did RB bring additional parts that make the new floor work properly?

There’s 30 minutes to go, and both drivers have been on medium tires. Daniel was on a lap when Charles crashed, so Yuki’s 3/100ths faster lap is misleading.

[djos]

Yep, the upgrades work, Daniel (6th fastest) on his first soft tire run was a full 1 second faster than Yuki on his soft tire run.

Even better still, he’s faster than the Haas and Williams cars, and only 6/10ths slower than Lando’s fastest lap.

This is with 20 mins to go in FP1.

[djos]

Neither driver did another qually sim, and Daniel finished FP1 in 10th, and 3/10ths clear of the fastest Haas.

Yuki is down in 15th, so it’s clear the new parts do work. I assume they will give Yuki the parts in FP2 now that Daniel has proven them.

But wow, finding a full second between car specifications, that’s a really impressive turnaround by the RB team!

[ispano6]

Will need to dial out that porpoising on the main straights. Probably too much downforce from the floor on the straights.

Yuki did set his soft tire run when the track was less rubbered in earlier in the session and looked pretty comfortable.

[Bill]

Neither driver did another qually sim, and Daniel finished FP1 in 10th, and 3/10ths clear of the fastest Haas.

Yuki is down in 15th, so it’s clear the new parts do work. I assume they will give Yuki the parts in FP2 now that Daniel has proven them.

But wow, finding a full second between car specifications, that’s a really impressive turnaround by the RB team!

one second means these team break into top three no way .the upgrades didnt bring anything in monza

[ispano6]

Drivers and Team’s quotes after Free Practice

Yuki Tsunoda #22
First Practice Session – Best lap: 1:47.708, pos. 15, 21 laps
Second Practice Session – Best lap: 1:44.645, pos. 11, 24 laps

“It started pretty tricky, but we made good progress between FP1 and FP2, just not quite enough to be in the top of the midfield. It’s difficult on this kind of track to have nice balance everywhere, but we managed to improve session by session, we just need to work on some fine tuning and fix the bouncing I experienced in FP2. We have a couple of ideas already on how we can improve before FP3 tomorrow, to turn it around for a good qualifying.”

Daniel Ricciardo #3
First Practice Session – Best lap: 1:46.687, pos. 10, 23 laps
Second Practice Session – Best lap: 1:45.056, pos. 16, 26 laps

“Today was mixed. FP1 went well, it was nice to get back on this circuit, it’s been a couple of years since I last drove here. I felt like I got into the flow of it relatively well and felt good. We made some changes for FP2 to see if we could improve grip, as it’s very slippery here. However, we didn’t feel the conclusion of this enhanced things. We know what worked this morning and was in a good position, so if we use our FP1 set up and try to get a little bit more out of it, we’ll be fighting towards the front of the mid-field with a good lap in qualifying tomorrow. Like any street circuit, if you can put the lap together you can go very well. We’ll try our best to make it work.”

Alan Permane (Racing Director)

“A decent day for us although still plenty of pace to find, as the car balance was not quite perfect. It meant that neither driver was fully happy. We carried out our floor comparison with Daniel running the latest spec in FP1 and both cars running it in FP2 and we will continue analysing the data this evening. The initial impression is that it’s a decent step in the right direction. As usual at this street circuit, the track evolves throughout the day and that involves adjusting the balance to follow the improvement. Tonight, we will look carefully at our level of downforce and we might adjust that for FP3 and possibly into qualifying.”

[djos]

Will need to dial out that porpoising on the main straights. Probably too much downforce from the floor on the straights.

Yuki did set his soft tire run when the track was less rubbered in earlier in the session and looked pretty comfortable.

I didn’t stay up late enough to watch FP2, but Daniel didn’t have any issues in FP1. I did see Yuki complain of bouncing in FP1 with the old floor.

[djos]

Drivers and Team’s quotes after Free Practice

Yuki Tsunoda #22
First Practice Session – Best lap: 1:47.708, pos. 15, 21 laps
Second Practice Session – Best lap: 1:44.645, pos. 11, 24 laps

“It started pretty tricky, but we made good progress between FP1 and FP2, just not quite enough to be in the top of the midfield. It’s difficult on this kind of track to have nice balance everywhere, but we managed to improve session by session, we just need to work on some fine tuning and fix the bouncing I experienced in FP2. We have a couple of ideas already on how we can improve before FP3 tomorrow, to turn it around for a good qualifying.”

Daniel Ricciardo #3
First Practice Session – Best lap: 1:46.687, pos. 10, 23 laps
Second Practice Session – Best lap: 1:45.056, pos. 16, 26 laps

“Today was mixed. FP1 went well, it was nice to get back on this circuit, it’s been a couple of years since I last drove here. I felt like I got into the flow of it relatively well and felt good. We made some changes for FP2 to see if we could improve grip, as it’s very slippery here. However, we didn’t feel the conclusion of this enhanced things. We know what worked this morning and was in a good position, so if we use our FP1 set up and try to get a little bit more out of it, we’ll be fighting towards the front of the mid-field with a good lap in qualifying tomorrow. Like any street circuit, if you can put the lap together you can go very well. We’ll try our best to make it work.”

Alan Permane (Racing Director)

“A decent day for us although still plenty of pace to find, as the car balance was not quite perfect. It meant that neither driver was fully happy. We carried out our floor comparison with Daniel running the latest spec in FP1 and both cars running it in FP2 and we will continue analysing the data this evening. The initial impression is that it’s a decent step in the right direction. As usual at this street circuit, the track evolves throughout the day and that involves adjusting the balance to follow the improvement. Tonight, we will look carefully at our level of downforce and we might adjust that for FP3 and possibly into qualifying.”

It sounds like Daniel is doing the bulk of the setup work, his times where definitely worse, relative to the mid pack in FP2, so I’m glad they are going back to his FP1 setup.

[ispano6]

It sounds like Daniel is doing the bulk of the setup work, his times where definitely worse, relative to the mid pack in FP2, so I’m glad they are going back to his FP1 setup.

Yuki is getting to grips with the package and can again work with what he's been given and is actually finding more pace throughout the session. Seems like it's going to be about switching on the medium tyres and keep them in the window as long as possible.

Regarding Daniel, I'm disappointed to see that he didn't make any steps forward and actually went backward. It may be that Yuki's set up that he has worked on during FP2 is more ideal.

[djos]

It sounds like Daniel is doing the bulk of the setup work, his times where definitely worse, relative to the mid pack in FP2, so I’m glad they are going back to his FP1 setup.

Yuki is getting to grips with the package and can again work with what he's been given and is actually finding more pace throughout the session. Seems like it's going to be about switching on the medium tyres and keep them in the window as long as possible.

Regarding Daniel, I'm disappointed to see that he didn't make any steps forward and actually went backward. It may be that Yuki's set up that he has worked on during FP2 is more ideal.

Based on those comments by Alan P, Yuki ran the setup Daniel worked with in FP1, and in FP2 Daniel tested a different setup that gave him a balance he wasn’t happy with.

Yuki was slow in FP1 as he ran the old spec Daniel used at Monza for comparison.

[ispano6]

It sounds like Daniel is doing the bulk of the setup work, his times where definitely worse, relative to the mid pack in FP2, so I’m glad they are going back to his FP1 setup.

Yuki is getting to grips with the package and can again work with what he's been given and is actually finding more pace throughout the session. Seems like it's going to be about switching on the medium tyres and keep them in the window as long as possible.

Regarding Daniel, I'm disappointed to see that he didn't make any steps forward and actually went backward. It may be that Yuki's set up that he has worked on during FP2 is more ideal.

Based on those comments by Alan P, Yuki ran the setup Daniel worked with in FP1, and in FP2 Daniel tested a different setup that gave him a balance he wasn’t happy with.

Yuki was slow in FP1 as he ran the old spec Daniel used at Monza for comparison.

Equally the team may opt to use Yuki's FP2 set up direction, though Dan could revert to and stick to his FP1 set up. Yuki had bad porpoising in FP2 and if Daniel didn't that likely means they may need to accept a bit of bouncing in order to remain competitive.

But the comparison numbers aren't placing them in the points in the current situation. Haas has a clear edge in qualifying and straightline speed.

[djos]

Yuki is getting to grips with the package and can again work with what he's been given and is actually finding more pace throughout the session. Seems like it's going to be about switching on the medium tyres and keep them in the window as long as possible.

Regarding Daniel, I'm disappointed to see that he didn't make any steps forward and actually went backward. It may be that Yuki's set up that he has worked on during FP2 is more ideal.

Based on those comments by Alan P, Yuki ran the setup Daniel worked with in FP1, and in FP2 Daniel tested a different setup that gave him a balance he wasn’t happy with.

Yuki was slow in FP1 as he ran the old spec Daniel used at Monza for comparison.

Equally the team may opt to use Yuki's FP2 set up direction, though Dan could revert to and stick to his FP1 set up. Yuki had bad porpoising in FP2 and if Daniel didn't that likely means they may need to accept a bit of bouncing in order to remain competitive.

But the comparison numbers aren't placing them in the points in the current situation. Haas has a clear edge in qualifying and straightline speed.

True, Daniels comments strongly indicate that he’s going back to his FP1 setup for FP3. Which is good, because he was 3/10ths clear of the Haas cars in FP1.

[djos]

Btw, in terms of top speeds, I don’t think we have anything to worry about. Sauber are a joke, so they can be ignored.

[ispano6]

True, Daniels comments strongly indicate that he’s going back to his FP1 setup for FP3. Which is good, because he was 3/10ths clear of the Haas cars in FP1.

I guess, the Haas were fast in Fp2. They made a step in Fp2 and Dans going to need to build up again from his fp1 set up if he hopes to be 3/10 ahead. His FP1 best time is a ways off from Yuki's FP2 time.