2016 European Grand Prix - Baku City Circuit, Fri 17 – Sun 19 Jun

[godlameroso]

Here's the thing, it's a fast circuit but I don't believe a lot of the fast stuff is going to be able to be taken flat out, certainly not in the race

[giantfan10]

I think RedBull will do well here because there is a lot of high speed corners in the run up to the straight.

That makes no sense. Red Bull has a power deficit, they therefor must run with less downforce & drag, they therefor will give up performance in high speed corners and will be disadvantaged anyway. Besides, Red Bulls advantage this year is in slow speed corners. I think they will be 3rd at best.

Not sure. They seem to have efficient downforce which means they can carry a bit more for the same drag. Getting a decent grid position is going to be important and they'll likely do a good job of qualifying. Being able to run through the fast corners before the long straight means going on to the straight with a good gap.

We'll see in a few days.

Since when was red bull good in high speed corners in the V6 era??? Red bull are good at low speed corners and their ability to generate more downforce than anyone else when teams pile on downforce.
The myth in canada was that red bull would be able to accelerate better than anybody else at the hairpin before the long straight due to their superior low speed traction....Vettel matching max through that corner and blowing by him on the straight killed that myth.
Red bull is the third best team and thats the end of that.. all these mythical qualities that fans gove them is laughable at times

[ME4ME]

Maldonado was insane fast at times, because he was able to push very hard to the limits.
BUT more times he exceeded the limits way to much ....
I think 2011 an 2012 were his goo years in F1, after that he was stil very fast but only flashes of it.
In order to be a good racing driver you need to be able to tone it down a bit, and bring the car home in one piece that is.

Ah yes, the Maldonado speed myth. Honestly even on raw speed he was ordinary. In qualifying he got beaten 90% of the time!


http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2015/12/07/2 ... e-battles/

[Just_a_fan]

Red bull is the third best team and thats the end of that.. all these mythical qualities that fans gove them is laughable at times

I'm no RedBull fan, thanks. I admire their cars but that's it.

If you have more downforce at low speed then you have more downforce in mid and high speed corners too. The rules sort of make that happen although the teams do try to find loopholes.

I'd be willing to bet that RedBull have the best or equal best L/D on the grid.

[Jolle]

Thank Goodness Maldonado is not driving anymore

Don't worry there are still drivers in F1 with more crashes and collisions than him in the last seasons, Raikkonen (3 in Monaco), Ricciardo and Verstappen

Lots of opportunities to have some major pile ups after the first corner!
Cold tires, heavy fuel, low grip and a few drivers who want to make a point, all on two straights with 90degree corners. I foresee some T-boning in turn 2 and definitely in turn 3.
I call for the installment of the "Coppa Maldonado"

Maldonado was actually very good at street circuit in Monaco but noticing that would require watching F1 with eyes opened. He outqualified Barrichello in his first season and was on track to score some nice points season before crashtor Hamilton crashed into him collecting his second drive-through. I'm not certain what coppa Maldonado means but if it's about number of crashes on a circuit like that it should be promptly renamed into Coppa Verstappenato. The driver with what 5 Monaco crashes in two races and 200% rate of complete failure. The one Maldonado outqualified in '15 in a slower car and the one that drove into him damaging FW. If reality...

).

Maldonado was insane fast at times, because he was able to push very hard to the limits.
BUT more times he exceeded the limits way to much ....
I think 2011 an 2012 were his goo years in F1, after that he was stil very fast but only flashes of it.
In order to be a good racing driver you need to be able to tone it down a bit, and bring the car home in one piece that is.

Before opening a whole Maldonado vs Verstappen discussion again, yes he crashed too much at Monaco and the Q1 crash was stupid, in the race, well, racing on slicks on a half wet Monaco is like brain surgery while skydiving, it's unfortunate.

I think Verstappen, in his 25 races took off one other driver? And crashed out of 3 or 4 Grand Prix? And not even the real stupid stuff like crashing into your team mate, crashing while on a lap behind, crashing into the same guy twice in one corner, etc etc.

Maldonado rode like the devil sometimes, but also crashed into cars after the finish line, t-boned them mid corner, etc. his overtaking strategy was based more on luck then physics.

What they do have in common, they both crashed at an exhibition.

[dans79]

according to the opening post, the longest straight at Baku is 2.2km long. At Monza, it is less than half that?? (Acccording to google about 1km in length)?

Is that info for real?

I think 2.2km is someone's creative licence.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baku_City_Circuit

the track is planned to have a narrow uphill traversal and then circle the Old City before opening up onto a 2.2 km (1.4 mi) stretch along Neftchilar Avenue back to the start line.

Neftchilar Ave. is turn 16 to turn 1.

check this google maps overlay for a good idea of the circuit.
https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mi ... o&hl=en_US

[bill shoe]

If turns 18 and 19 are flat then the whole stretch without lifting could be 2.2 km. In terms of passing someone this is very different from a 2.2 km genuine straight. You can't try to pass anyone until you follow them thru 18 and 19, so passing on the 19-to-1 stretch will require the rear car to have perfect timing and distance relative to the car in front.

The layout reminds me of the old Long Beach Grand Prix track-- long straights and very tight corners. It doesn't pay to have lots of downforce for the slow corners because they are slow speed and brief duration. Some Indycar teams like Newman-Haas finally started to understand that Long Beach was a low-downforce track despite its low average speed.

Anyway, I would think the downforce here at Baku will be lowest of the season.

[zac510]

check this google maps overlay for a good idea of the circuit.
https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mi ... o&hl=en_US

That maps overlay is wrong compared to the video posted and also the Wikipedia page.

Turn 3 should be at the upper-left corner of the park which is labelled Sahil Bağı.

[Fulcrum]

Regulations state the least number of laps required to exceed 305km, therefore it will be a 51 lap race.

The section from T16 to T1 is in the vicinity of 2.2km long. T17 will without question be flat. The only impediment is T18/T19. To my eyes the T18/T19 complex looks fairly similar to Maggots.



There are several differences though:

1) The right-hander from Maggots leads into another corner that involves braking.
2) The right-hander is tighter than the entry left-hander.
3) The entry to Maggots is probably faster.

T16 of Baku is tighter than, and doesn't open up like, Copse, so the exit speeds should be lower. From Copse to Maggots is about 300m, T16 to T18 is probably 450m, to T19 about 600m.

Point being, the entry to Maggots is virtually flat, and the exit wouldn't involve as much braking/downshifting if it opened immediately onto a long straight.

Given the distances involved and the likely exit speed from T16, I see T18 being flat as well; only T19 may not be. Exit speed from T19 could have a massively influential effect on this race.

I hope it isn't the case that its flat for everyone, every lap, on all fuel loads and all tyre conditions,as is the case these days with Eau Rouge.

[Vasconia]

Maldonado was insane fast at times, because he was able to push very hard to the limits.
BUT more times he exceeded the limits way to much ....
I think 2011 an 2012 were his goo years in F1, after that he was stil very fast but only flashes of it.
In order to be a good racing driver you need to be able to tone it down a bit, and bring the car home in one piece that is.

This. He is a very fast guy, but most of the times he doesnt know where is the limit for him and the car. This is a huge problem if you want to be competitive in F1.

This track will be a nightmare for McLaren, and thank God that the tyre degradation should not be a problem because of the surface. Because with 28-29 degreees McLaren would need at least to stop one more time than the others. And what about fuel consumption in this track? any expectations?

Even with fast corners before, a 2,2 km straight should be enough to see at least some overtakes.

[Roman]

Found some more photos (34 of them) over at Imgur: http://imgur.com/a/MwPQM

Great Photos, thanks! You can see that the Tower is actually the apex of the corner. I hope nobody touches it and takes some of the old stonework out...

[Andres125sx]

Verstappen, in his 25 races took off one other driver? And crashed out of 3 or 4 Grand Prix? And not even the real stupid stuff like crashing into your team mate

Sorry but...

[ThumbsUp]

Verstappen, in his 25 races took off one other driver? And crashed out of 3 or 4 Grand Prix? And not even the real stupid stuff like crashing into your team mate

Sorry but...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hb32tjSMcAI

To be fair Andres125sx, This is not crashing into his team mate, this was having contact with his team mate, because Sainz had a one of his major lock-ups he had through out the whole race..

[Ozan]

Baku's turn 15 looked fairly quick on the onboard lap but it's clear from the kerb layout it'll be a bit slower.(source f1 fanatic)

[Andres125sx]

Verstappen, in his 25 races took off one other driver? And crashed out of 3 or 4 Grand Prix? And not even the real stupid stuff like crashing into your team mate

Sorry but...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hb32tjSMcAI

To be fair Andres125sx, This is not crashing into his team mate, this was having contact with his team mate, because Sainz had a one of his major lock-ups he had through out the whole race..

What makes it even more embarrasing for Max, Sainz went long, and Max went even longer and crashed with him

He didn´t ruin the whole team race because of luck, as he even lifted Carlos car with his collision, he didn´t cause a puncture on Carlos car, or broke his own wing just because of luck, but he did all posible for this to happen

Before Manoah2u start saying I´m bashing Max because I´m in love with Carlos this was just a clarification to Jolle statement wich was not accurate, he said Max never crashed with his team mate and since he didn´t remind this incident, I posted it. Max is WDC material, but he´s also doing several mistakes, wich are normal for his age, but we cannot ignore or hide his mistakes as if they would have never happened