2021 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Baku, June 04 - 06

[Pany]

In favour for MErcedes of course.....

Huh ... do they want to avoid red flags/SCs because of crashes in that choke point at any cost?

Interesting decision. You could still misjudge the corner and whack the opposite barrier, of course, but this does provide a bit more breathing space.

[Juzh]

Mercedes and Mclaren with a lot of downforce.

As is tradition. A mercedes PU allows you to do that, provided you have at least some semblance to aero efficiency. Red bull with their medium wing will still be slower or at best equal in qualifying than both on straights, then they'll be murdered on Sunday when inevitably they run into ERS deficiency problems. Wait and see.

[Herr_Koos]

In favour for MErcedes of course.....

Huh ... do they want to avoid red flags/SCs because of crashes in that choke point at any cost?

Interesting decision. You could still misjudge the corner and whack the opposite barrier, of course, but this does provide a bit more breathing space.

Verstappen has had more track limit incidents than the Merc drivers. Leclerc introduced his Ferrari to the barrier at this corner in 2019. So how does this change benefit Merc?

[Just_a_fan]

In favour for MErcedes of course.....

Huh ... do they want to avoid red flags/SCs because of crashes in that choke point at any cost?

Interesting decision. You could still misjudge the corner and whack the opposite barrier, of course, but this does provide a bit more breathing space.

The old layout has been raced 3 times and of those, Mercedes took 2 wins. So it's not as if Mercedes needs help, is it?

[El Scorchio]

In favour for MErcedes of course.....

Interesting decision. You could still misjudge the corner and whack the opposite barrier, of course, but this does provide a bit more breathing space.

The old layout has been raced 3 times and of those, Mercedes took 2 wins. So it's not as if Mercedes needs help, is it?

Agree. Silly unfounded remarks like that from Pany just serve to drag the forum down into the mud. Sad to see.

[godlameroso]

That's changed the whole concept of that part of the track. Removing that kerb opens up the entry to the castle section.

In such a tight part of the track, making the track wider by 1.5m makes a huge difference.

You can now fit two cars side by side through the corner.

Before you had to hop the kerb and the bounce afterwards would force you wide. Now there's no bump, and you can get right up to the wall.

It makes the corner faster on entry and allows a chasing car to take a different line.

You'd have to be mad or 100% trusting of the other driver to try to go round the outside of that corner. The exit tightens in meaning anything other than perfect driving from both drivers is going to result in one or both cars DNF.

I love it!

It also has other benefits. Without that kerb, it favors a more stiff setup in general, although the sudden elevation change has it's own effects on car behavior.

One benefit high rake cars have around here, is that ability to ride the nose due to the soft heave rate at the rear. Maybe low rake cars can't do that as well because they are more stiffly sprung. The aero platform has less freedom of movement. While beneficial in long corners when the aero is working, like in Spain, it may hurt it on shorter type corners. Or corners that require more finesse and platform control on the entry.

While not the definitive factor, it is one among many to consider what exactly are the differences between the cars, and how the balance of power can swing one way to the other depending on the nature of the track.

Mind you, these are tiny almost imperceptible differences in the grand scheme of lap time. They're incredibly close and it helps to not forget that.

[Sieper]

Is the kerb not just temporary removed so that no machines that may still need to drive to their position can ruin it?

[Wouter]

As is tradition. A mercedes PU allows you to do that, provided you have at least some semblance to aero efficiency. Red bull with their medium wing will still be slower or at best equal in qualifying than both on straights, then they'll be murdered on Sunday when inevitably they run into ERS deficiency problems. Wait and see.

"Murdered"?
Who will run into ERS deficiency problems and why?

[Sieper]

Mercedes and Mclaren with a lot of downforce.

I doubt they race with that wing.

“Look how much slower we are on the straight”.

[RZS10]

Leclerc said he liked the changes made to that corner, but he might not know more than we do.

[dans79]

This makes no sense, drivers don't go slow between turns 17 and 20. They do it between 12 and 16, or even earlier in the lap.


https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/fia-c ... u/6529344/

The new directive, issued by Masi in the second version of notes that he gave to the teams today, specified the last section of the lap that runs from Turns 17-20 and on to the start/finish line.

With specific reference to Turns 17-20 he added: "During any practice session, any driver intending to create a gap in front of him in order to get a clear lap should not attempt to do this between the entry to Turn 17 through to the exit of Turn 20.

"Any driver seen to have done this will be reported to the stewards as being in breach of Article 27.4 of the sporting regulations."

[PlatinumZealot]

Its high speed and nearly blind thats why they dont want anyone backing up at that point.

[SiLo]

Mercedes and Mclaren with a lot of downforce.

I doubt they race with that wing.

“Look how much slower we are on the straight”.

I figured someone would say that, but they aren't going to throw away points for the sake of this flexi-wing kerfuffle.

[dans79]

Its high speed and nearly blind thats why they dont want anyone backing up at that point.

what I meant is that drivers already don't do it, because it would compromise their hot lap. They want to be at max speed when they cross the start/finish line.

[Sieper]

I doubt they race with that wing.

“Look how much slower we are on the straight”.

I figured someone would say that, but they aren't going to throw away points for the sake of this flexi-wing kerfuffle.

I doubt they would race any wing they don’t deem the best overall. If that is this high DF one they can say what I just said “free of charge”.