Few F1 circuits have a more chaotic history than the Baku City Circuit. Starting from the second row in the race, Carlos Sainz is not obtuse toward the obstacles of the race. Speaking about the challenges, he highlighted the one thing that makes the upcoming Azerbaijan GP race extremely unpredictable.
Speaking at the post-qualifying presser, the Spaniard was asked about the unpredictable nature of the race and how he prepares for it. Sainz replied, “I think the biggest challenge of Baku normally is when there are red flags because that breaks the rhythm of the race.”
“So whenever there’s a Safety Car restart, it’s very easy to front lock, very easy to go wide into the first three corners. So yeah, all these aspects make Baku an unpredictable race.”, he added.
A sad moment for Lewis and his fans. All the effort went to zero with one late braking error on penultimate lap on the restart where Sergio Perez takes the lead and won the race.#F1 2021 #AzerbaijanGP
— PeaCup: The Token of Champions! (@PeaCup2024) September 11, 2024
There is plenty of evidence to substantiate the Ferrari man’s answer. The famous 2017 Azerbaijan GP saw Daniel Ricciardo start from P10 and emerge as the winner after multiple stoppages. A similar scenario saw Sergio Perez take the win in the 2021 edition of the race after two red flags due to incidents on the main straight.
However, in the upcoming race, the Italian team and its drivers would be hoping for a relatively quiet outing on the narrow streets of Baku. The likelihood of Sainz and even Charles Leclerc finishing on the podium will increase in a smooth and incident-free race. So, a boring race is what they would hope for to cover more ground in the championship.
Sainz and Co. have bigger goals at stake in Baku
After a slump in the middle after the Monaco GP win, Ferrari recovered well in Monza. The Italian team brought a major upgrade package for their home race which translated into a win. Now, they will hope to build on the momentum, and starting from P1 and P3, they’re already in a prime position.
Now, if Ferrari keeps coming away from positive race results, they might just end up increasing their chances of silverware in the championship. In the constructors’ standings, there’s still hope for a late charge and possibly winning the title. Ferrari currently trails by 39 points from leaders Red Bull, and given the Austrian team’s ongoing troubles, a 39-point deficit is recoverable.
However, this isn’t a two-horse race. McLaren is the hot favorite for the title so the Italian team has two powerful opponents to overcome every race weekend till the very end. Thanks to Lando Norris’ poor output in qualifying, they can perhaps make more ground on both its rivals in Baku. However, it will take a mammoth effort from Ferrari to consistently beat both Red Bull and McLaren at every weekend.
