2021 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Baku, June 04 - 06

[NL_Fer]

I wonder what BOT can do tomorrow? He’ll have to pass SAI, NOR and PER amongst others to get back up to 4th.

Undercut them on the hard tire like Hamilton in Monaco

[sosic2121]

Love the way Di Resta is trying so hard to emphasise Bottas is playing ‘the team game’ for Hamilton yet not acknowledging in the slightest Red Bull have done the same.

That's because RB didn't put a barn door RW on Perez's car

How do you know it wasn’t Bottas’ preference to try and help himself in s2. It’s just lazy and wrong to say Mercedes are the only team who ever ever does it.

Because of eyes. I have eyes

He sure helped himself into P10

[El Scorchio]

That's because RB didn't put a barn door RW on Perez's car

How do you know it wasn’t Bottas’ preference to try and help himself in s2. It’s just lazy and wrong to say Mercedes are the only team who ever ever does it.

Because of eyes. I have eyes

He sure helped himself into P10

That’s your opinion, but I think you’re wrong.

[maxxer]

looking at how gutted Max was in the interview guess they set his car up for qually and he knows it will be the weak in the race

[Mr.S]

looking at how gutted Max was in the interview guess they set his car up for qually and he knows it will be the weak in the race

He was going to have pole or atleast would have finished ahead of Hamilton. This ridiculous assertions should stop. X reacted bad so his race pace is weak !

If anything both Ferrari's & RB/Alpha's top speed was surprising (especially RB given they are using 5 race old Honda engines)

[sosic2121]

Well the issue isn't what is being written but how :^)

Leclerc's tow off Lewis > Lewis' tow from Bottas > Max' tow off Perez ... quite ironic how Lewis in P2 pulled Charles to P1

Actually I think you are right. Lec drove a great lap, but Mercedes' 2nd warm up lap put Lec in a great position for the final straight. He got above average tow there, without paying a penalty for being too close in the corners.

[sosic2121]

How do you know it wasn’t Bottas’ preference to try and help himself in s2. It’s just lazy and wrong to say Mercedes are the only team who ever ever does it.

Because of eyes. I have eyes

He sure helped himself into P10

That’s your opinion, but I think you’re wrong.

You just believe that Lewis is 1.2s quicker than Valtteri, on a street circuit, after what's happened last race?

[godlameroso]

Once again fate seems to stop the RBR from qualifying where it's supposed to. Enjoy the show man, it's a long race, a lot can happen, the wind is catching people out in turn 15 and turn 4. I believe it has to do with the way the wind interacts on track. Those turns have run off that allows wind to channel through due to the walls, and the track itself also has wind being channeled. When they meet they create a gust of recirculation at the apex of the corner partly stalling the aero. Normally the cars have a head, or right side cross wind through those corners, but sometimes the wind changes direction.

The drivers will have to be mindful of that in the race because they can easily get caught out in those corners.

Just admit it, Redbull should have dominated this track, yet a ferrari mclaren and alpha tauri split them.
As for the race, with the fuel onboard they will have zero issues. Redbull has at least a second advantage in race but crucially Hamilton is ahead of Max.

It's a nice setting, a very fast Ferrari in front that may suffer from graining issues, Hamilton with a slightly slower race car than Verstappen. It's now Verstappen with a chance to overtake him like Hamilton did in Spain, and make it stick this time. If Hamilton wins he'll be 3 points ahead of Verstappen, if Verstappen wins Hamilton is 11 points down, then on to France where the Mercedes has traditionally been a very strong car. Things are shaping up nicely!

[djones]

Max will not have a faster race car than Lewis. Mercedes is all about the race setup and pace.

I could see max finishing lower than 3rd.

[grubschumi13]

Hamilton was faster than Max in 2 of the 3 Qualifying sessions. He was only a tenth down in FP3. Why should RBR have been on pole?

The lap times don't lie. If anything Mercedes have had 3 poles this year possibly nearly 4 if Bottas is to be believed in Monaco, so they, if anyone should have been on pole today.

[Tvetovnato]

This time you cannot really base tomorrow’s pace prediction on the Friday running, since Merc have completely overhauled the setup, which of course will have an impact either for the better or the worse. But most likely for the better. Lots of unknowns. Great!

[HungarianRacer]

It's a nice setting, a very fast Ferrari in front that may suffer from graining issues, Hamilton with a slightly slower race car than Verstappen. It's now Verstappen with a chance to overtake him like Hamilton did in Spain, and make it stick this time. If Hamilton wins he'll be 3 points ahead of Verstappen, if Verstappen wins Hamilton is 11 points down, then on to France where the Mercedes has traditionally been a very strong car. Things are shaping up nicely!

Wait a minute, I thought HAM overtook VES in Spain with a "slightly slower race car" already...

I mean, you can knock on wood all you want, you are prepping yourself yet another bitter pill that - if your prediction fails - you'll have to swallow...

[SparkyAMG]

Baku is often such a lottery it could be any of the top 10 who end up on the podium tomorrow, especially with this combo of 2021 car + tyre which seem to be a bit more of a challenge than we've seen in recent years.

I suspect we'll see a few drivers binning it on cold tyres at the start and after pit stops so the result will likely depend on who was in the right place at the right time, or if there's a late safety car / red flag, who can afford to throw the dice and stick a new set of tyres on.

I'd put some spare change on Norris winning tomorrow if I was a betting man.

[godlameroso]

It's a nice setting, a very fast Ferrari in front that may suffer from graining issues, Hamilton with a slightly slower race car than Verstappen. It's now Verstappen with a chance to overtake him like Hamilton did in Spain, and make it stick this time. If Hamilton wins he'll be 3 points ahead of Verstappen, if Verstappen wins Hamilton is 11 points down, then on to France where the Mercedes has traditionally been a very strong car. Things are shaping up nicely!

Wait a minute, I thought HAM overtook VES in Spain with a "slightly slower race car" already...

I mean, you can knock on wood all you want, you are prepping yourself yet another bitter pill that - if your prediction fails - you'll have to swallow...

I'll gladly swallow it, being wrong doesn't affect me. Failure doesn't make you a loser, blaming your failures on others makes you a loser.

[Restomaniac]

Is anyone watching F2?

I worry about tomorrow at this rate. So many crashes today and then loads more here.