2021 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Baku, June 04 - 06

[JordanMugen]

This, from Ferrari, after last year?

Ferrari have a good chassis and the engine is not as far as it was.

Ferrari found a good direction with the chassis in the latter part of 2020 and showed continual improvement.

[politburo]

Leclerc really pushes the car in the 2nd sector, this guy is really good. Ferrari start pole but on the evidence of yesterday they're 3-4 tenths down in race pace. Hopefully they can win but it's unlikely they have Ham and Verstappen behind, and Gasly in front of their other car.

[Just_a_fan]

Shout out to our "Bottas is not a wingman" - crew.

Exciting grid for tomorrow! It will be heated at the front. But Mercedes not only sacrificed Bottas' qualy but also limited their strategic options for the race with Bottas starting in P10 now.

Good move for keeping Hamilton in the championship. And Bottas is used to it anyways.

Mercedes alternate their drivers going first on track. Next race, Hamilton will be ahead and give Bottas the tow opportunity on the straights of Paul Ricard.

Strange you're not moaning about Perez being used to give Max a tow too...

[El Scorchio]

Hamilton really pulled it out he bag. But Verstappen right behind him you know that those first 2, 3 corners will be elbows fully extended outwards.

The start is going to be a thriller. Verstappen will not be shy and not will LeClerc. I can see Hamilton conceding second place and concentrating on the long game. I just hope LeClerc and Verstappen don’t have a d*** waving competition and end up shooting themselves in the foot.

Since Lewis is P2 he will be on the inside I believe so if he gets a really good launch Charles has to be careful on the outside, and if he gets a bad lunch Max has to be careful on the outside.

I hope no one has a bad lunch- food poisoning would be the last thing any of them needs

But I know what you mean.

Verstappen’s starts have been superb this season so he could be right there. Still wondering if any other cars are going to copy his clever trick of getting a few extra inches in the grid box.

[NL_Fer]

Nah Ferrari could not expect Mercedes to slow down on the first lap.

[godlameroso]

Can I just say well done to Mercedes for turning it around! We need everyone competing for that win, it's more fun that way!

You actually believed they were nowhere?

I knew they had a good race car, and it just needed a setup tweak, others, not so much. It's not like I was saying they were going to finish behind Russell or anything.

[Fulcrum]

Tsunoda SAN!!!!!

That aged well.

[Sevach]

Hamilton really pulled it out he bag. But Verstappen right behind him you know that those first 2, 3 corners will be elbows fully extended outwards.

The start is going to be a thriller. Verstappen will not be shy and not will LeClerc. I can see Hamilton conceding second place and concentrating on the long game. I just hope LeClerc and Verstappen don’t have a d*** waving competition and end up shooting themselves in the foot.

Since Lewis is P2 he will be on the inside I believe so if he gets a really good launch Charles has to be careful on the outside, and if he gets a bad lunch Max has to be careful on the outside.

Hamilton won't go "elbows out" with Charles, if things go wrong he loses everything.
He might if it's Max by his side.

Mercedes fixed it's pace by doing 2 warm up laps.
I wonder what it means for the race, surely not a powerful undercut(again), and maybe vulnerable lap 1.

[politburo]

Hamilton really pulled it out he bag. But Verstappen right behind him you know that those first 2, 3 corners will be elbows fully extended outwards.

The start is going to be a thriller. Verstappen will not be shy and not will LeClerc. I can see Hamilton conceding second place and concentrating on the long game. I just hope LeClerc and Verstappen don’t have a d*** waving competition and end up shooting themselves in the foot.

For some reason the clear air in race conditions has been really good, I was watching earlier today when Shwartzman won the race by 5+ seconds after breaking out of DRS. If Ham and Verstappen lose time fighting then Leclerc must take full advantage. If not then he will just be a sitting duck there...

[godlameroso]

Tsunoda SAN!!!!!

That aged well.

It's his first Q3 appearance, baby steps man, and he qualified ahead of Alonso. Plus that AT has some serious chops. Honda POWAAAAAAHHHHH!

[El Scorchio]

Can I just say well done to Mercedes for turning it around! We need everyone competing for that win, it's more fun that way!

You actually believed they were nowhere?

I knew they had a good race car, and it just needed a setup tweak, others, not so much. It's not like I was saying they were going to finish behind Russell or anything.

I agree. I’d have thought 5th at best after the practice sessions. (But as you say they were obviously not going out in Q2 or anything) They have done a good job in minimising/shielding the weaknesses of the car round here and got a bit of luck as well. Well, as ever Bottas didn’t with no second run due to the accident.

[McMika98]

Gasly almost quicker than Max on a sister car, if only he had a bit of a slipstream he would be in the front. Perez for all the talk failed to deliver again, the second car is cursed. Gasly on same car would probably be in same position.
Leclerc is a star in the making, Hamilton pulled something out should be an easy win for him tomorrow.

[Shrieker]

I don't like how you can't see what's 10 meters ahead of you doing over 300 kph in places with the blind corners here.

It's just extremely dangerous.

[dans79]

Mercedes fixed it's pace by doing 2 warm up laps.
I wonder what it means for the race, surely not a powerful undercut(again), and maybe vulnerable lap 1.

I think the extra fuel load will negate the warm-up issues to some extent.

[El Scorchio]

Hamilton really pulled it out he bag. But Verstappen right behind him you know that those first 2, 3 corners will be elbows fully extended outwards.

The start is going to be a thriller. Verstappen will not be shy and not will LeClerc. I can see Hamilton conceding second place and concentrating on the long game. I just hope LeClerc and Verstappen don’t have a d*** waving competition and end up shooting themselves in the foot.

For some reason the clear air in race conditions has been really good, I was watching earlier today when Shwartzman won the race by 5+ seconds after breaking out of DRS. If Ham and Verstappen lose time fighting then Leclerc must take full advantage. If not then he will just be a sitting duck there...

Definitely- and hope the tyres don’t go off too quickly in comparison, otherwise he’s going to find it so hard to keep them behind. Tyre life will probably win or lose this one. I can see Hamilton falling a little behind both after a few laps but coming back at them later in the stint as has been the trend this season so far.