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

[jz11]

GP2 looks like chaos...

this circuit, with the low df setup, must be a total nightmare braking wise

[flickerf1]

That GP2 race was chaos. Nobuharu Matsushita's driving was disgusting. ALL SC restarts are going to be reviewed after the race. F1's going to wild IMO.

[Samraj_official]

drivers must behave at the start!!!

[Racer X]

To be honest I only wish for an accident free race. That'd my main concern I kept thinking about how fast but tight the circuit is. It's not like Monaco where it's packed but they go slower. It's high speed like Canada but... less safe and it's a green track.

I hope we don't see anything bad happen to the drivers. No more Jules Bianchi type accidents. I hoped Senna would have been the last one. Safety issues should have kept this GP from even existing in my opinion.

But let's hope for the best.

[Racer X]

Damn, I just watched the qualifying and I'm amazed how many drivers their flying laps were destroyed because of Hamilton's mistakes in each session.

You don't have to wait to the last minute to make a run. You are alowed to make your best run in the first few minutes.
Hamilton did mess up some people time tho.
Anyways anyone who caused a Yellow did but at the end of each run it was Hamilton oddly enough. But I agree this time he did mess up people's times.

[Wynters]

For those complaining about the tyre switch.

Pitting at the end of the first lap still has an unsafe car on the track for nearly an entire lap, with that car mid pack and the pack bunched. On a very fast circuit, surrounded by walls. People complained that Kimi didn't pull over in Monaco because he was unsafe and he only went a couple of hundred metres, slowly. This is a very long lap and speeds are much higher.

For those that think Hamilton should suffer a penalty for driving poorly in qualifying...he did. That's why he's tenth. If it's only fair to inflict extra penalties on people for damaging their car during qualifying where was the uproar for Sainz damaging his car in Canada or Verstappen in Monaco? And why were they allowed to repair theirs cars when they could have tried to limp around the track and pit at the end of lap one?

What people seem to be missing is that the FIA have looked at the data and decided that this qualifies as a safety issue.

I think Hamilton is in real trouble regardless of the rubber changed (only changing one tyre may cause balance issues anyway). Tenth, on a new track, with the liklihood of crashing at the opening corners being extremely high. Add to that the number of slippery cars he will need to pass and his inability to negotiate the track at a reasonable speed during Qualification and I'll be surprised if he finishes the race in the top 6.

[lebesset]

despite hamilton saying that it was his fault there is talk on the official F1 website that the team made setup changes on friday night
I wonder

[atanatizante]

In case of a SC period after a first lap incident is there important for Lewis to came in and change to the soft tyres?
Is there any race strategy benefits in doing that?

[Felipe 92]

For those complaining about the tyre switch.

Pitting at the end of the first lap still has an unsafe car on the track for nearly an entire lap, with that car mid pack and the pack bunched. On a very fast circuit, surrounded by walls. People complained that Kimi didn't pull over in Monaco because he was unsafe and he only went a couple of hundred metres, slowly. This is a very long lap and speeds are much higher.

Ham set his fastest time in Q2 on that tyres with "an unsafe car". Driving "unsafe car" at racing speed in qualifying is OK, but driving it in race is a safety issue!? Ham has flat spotted tyre which was good enough to get him through to Q3, Raikkonen had his front wing stuck underneath a car while the track was still wet, it`s not the same thing.

[basti313]

For those complaining about the tyre switch.

Pitting at the end of the first lap still has an unsafe car on the track for nearly an entire lap,...

He could just go the usual way and start from the pits if it is that unsafe.
He was able to do two further laps and a great time in Q2 on this "unsafe" set of tires, so I see absolutely no reason for the change. Mercedes should have stopped him in Q2 if the tires were too unsafe to drive.
No matter what you discuss, it is a big gift from FIA. And in the past (RedBull in Spa for example) changes like this were never allowed, unless the tire suffered a puncture on the inlap due to debris on the track.

[Phil]

Is there a problem with the webchat? I'm getting a session id problem using safari and OSX?

[Gaz.]

For those complaining about the tyre switch.

Pitting at the end of the first lap still has an unsafe car on the track for nearly an entire lap,...

He could just go the usual way and start from the pits if it is that unsafe.
He was able to do two further laps and a great time in Q2 on this "unsafe" set of tires, so I see absolutely no reason for the change. Mercedes should have stopped him in Q2 if the tires were too unsafe to drive.
No matter what you discuss, it is a big gift from FIA. And in the past (RedBull in Spa for example) changes like this were never allowed, unless the tire suffered a puncture on the inlap due to debris on the track.

If this was any other driver then it wouldn't even be discussed.

[SectorOne]

Vintage Alonso start, would have been sick if it worked.

[Tauri_J]

this race needs a SC soon

[Just_a_fan]

Looks like Hamilton might be having a problem in the car. Didn't hear the message though.