European Grand Prix: Castle Run Edition

The European Grand Prix in Baku, Azerbaijan is the kind of event that results from a country with more money than good ideas and F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone’s need for large bags of money.  Anything is possible.  (Evidently, this new street circuit winding around Baku will be converted back to cobblestones when not in use for the F1 weekend....and that can't be cheap!)

Most street circuits in racing, whether it be Formula 1, or elsewhere present unique challenges and usually become single file parade laps where podiums are determined by strategy.  Baku appeared different.  A truly unique street circuit with sections marginally wide enough for one car to enter opening up to the longest straight-away on the F1 calendar. Predictions were that this race would suffer numerous safety cars.  That was not to be.

In what has become a typical occurrence, a Mercedes would lead from the front and Rosberg opened up an early gap that he would not relinquish.   The race would not result in mass carnage but a rather subdued affair .  Here are some takeaways from the race.

Man vs Computer

Lewis Hamilton started from 10th on the grid and took several positions in the opening laps but would later face an issue caused by a setting on his steering wheel.  A similar issue hit Rosberg’s car but he was able to resolve it quickly.  On the other hand, the team unable to provide any advice due to a ban on certain communications, Hamilton sounded like a senior citizen seeking tech support for his smart phone.  The more he pushed for information on what to do, the the team simply radioed back that they rules prevented them from helping.  While Hamilton sounded foolish, the entire incident raises questions about the radio ban rules with most teams decrying, what has become, a useless exercise.  F1 is a team sport and in no other sport would anyone say that coaches (engineers in this case) should not give instructions to the team.

Perez is no fluke.

Sergio Perez of Force India grabbed his second straight podium and managed to do so while passing Raikkonen on track for third place.  Kimi was facing a five second time penalty but Perez did not want to inherent his podium and decided to take it outright.  With his future not entirely locked down, Perez is likely to be highly sought after in the off season.

Glimmer of Hope at the Scuderia.

Vettel finished in second place and Raikkonen in fourth.  Yes, this is Ferrari and anything less than a win is a bad weekend, but given some of the poor strategy calls that limited their true abilities, grabbing two strong finishes was not bad.  It was also clear that no one was going to catch Rosberg, so being best of the rest may be the best they can hope for.

Red Bull Down to Earth.

Red Bull showed some promise in previous races but quickly went back to early season poor form with a 7th and 8th place finish for Ricciardo and Verstappen.

RACE RESULTS:

Grand Prix of Europe Race Results

Baku, Azerbaijan

1, Nico Rosberg (Germany)

2, Sebastian Vettel (Germany). +16.6 seconds

3, Sergio Perez (Mexico)

4, Kimi Raikkonen (Finland)

5, Lewis Hamilton (Great Britain)

6, Valtteri Bottas (Finland)

7, Daniel Ricciardo (Australia)

8, Max Verstappen (Netherlands)

9, Nico Hulkenberg (Germany)

10, Felipe Massa (Brazil)

11, Jenson Button (Great Britain )

12, Felipe Nasr (Brazil)

13, Romain Grosjean (France)

14, Kevin Magnussen (Denmark)

15, Jolyon Palmer (Great Britain)

16, Esteban Gutierrez (Mexico)

17, Markus Ericsson (Sweden)

RETIREMENTS:

18, Rio Haryanto (Indonesia)

19, Fernando Alonso (Spain)

20, Pascal Wehrlein (Germany)

21, Carlos Sainz Jr (Spain)

22, Dani Kvyat (Russia)