New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.<\/a><\/p>\nBaku was always likely to favour Mercedes. The unique layout, combining F1\u2019s longest flat-out blast with the sport\u2019s narrowest section of track as the circuit slaloms through the old town, puts a high price on aero efficiency that allows a driver to carry more downforce without the sacrifice of drag.<\/p>\n
Mixed with Mercedes\u2019s class-leading engine, the German marque already looked comfortable before pit lane even opened. Russell merely confirmed expectations.<\/p>\n
But there\u2019s a but.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s a representative gap, honestly,\u201d Mercedes deputy team principal Bradley Lord said, per Racer. \u201cWe ran more timed laps on the soft tyre in FP2. Max had only one go. So did the McLarens.<\/p>\n
\u201cProbably don\u2019t read too much into it, because every time you did [a lap], the lap times were improving.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe did one more than everyone else and therefore probably found a bit more in the track and a bit more in the tyre than they were able to.\u201d<\/p>\n
Russell was the only frontrunner to complete two flying laps on softs, in part thanks to the timing of Arvid Lindblad\u2019s red flag, which arrived just as teams were about to send their drivers out for their qualifying simulation laps.<\/p>\n
Despite his soft tyres having been well worn by the time of his final lap, he found 0.412s with his second attempt.<\/p>\n
His first lap would still have been quick enough to top the session, but only by 0.014s over Antonelli \u2014 though Verstappen still would\u2019ve been a chunky 0.415s back.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s worth noting that if the results of FP2 were to be repeated in qualifying, they would represent the biggest gap between the quickest and second-quickest teams since the season opener in Australia. We know that the gaps have closed significantly since then, and we\u2019ve been to other power-sensitive tracks more recently, so for now the risk of a blowout seems low.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s worth noting too that Russell benefited from good slipstreams for both his laps \u2014 and on both occasions they were double tows, with the driver ahead following driver further up the road. The value of the slipstream is considerable down the long front straight.<\/p>\n
But it\u2019s also worth acknowledging that the slipstream on his final flying lap went somewhat wrong when he suddenly found himself with a massive closing speed different to Gabriel Bortoleto ahead.<\/p>\n
He had gained 0.1s on his previous best by the time he stumbled over Bortoleto halfway down the straight. He lifted off the throttle briefly and then began losing time instead. Arguably there was more in it.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is one [circuit] where traditionally he\u2019s had some really strong results,\u201d Lord continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think he\u2019s just getting dialled into the circuit and is able to judge exactly where the limit is.<\/p>\n
\u201cHopefully he can continue doing that through the rest of the weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n
Is there any hope of anyone overhauling Russell on Friday?<\/p>\n
ANTONELLI\u2019S MESSY DAY HIGHLIGHTS OLD MERCEDES DICHOTOMY<\/p>\n
The biggest caveat on Russell\u2019s performance had nothing to do with Russell at all.<\/p>\n
Teammate Antonelli, the title leader, was rarely spotted throughout the day.<\/p>\n
His FP1 session was canned after just nine laps thanks to a hydraulics problem that forced him to park his car on track.<\/p>\n
Seeing smoke emanating from the Mercedes, the trackside marshals then spritzed his car \u2014 including the engine bay beneath the bodywork \u2014 with extinguisher foam.<\/p>\n
The foam forced Mercedes to swap out the otherwise undamaged engine for checks and cleaning.<\/p>\n
It took until almost halfway through FP2 to complete the change, including time lost to the red flag. In essence Antonelli completed half a session of running \u2014 25 laps to Russell\u2019s 48 for the day \u2014 and he still ended up second on the time sheet.<\/p>\n
\u201cCompromised day because of the issues we had,\u201d he said, per Racer. \u201cNever ideal, but overall with the laps I did, I felt quite okay in the car, but of course lots of work to do ahead of tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite Mercedes\u2019s comfortable position at the top of the standings \u2014 or perhaps because of it \u2014 it was difficult not to feel a sense of deja vu about the vastly different outcomes from the two cars.<\/p>\n
Reliability was a bugbear of Mercedes\u2019s early in the season, when the team was at its most dominant. It\u2019s been tamed since, but clearly there\u2019s still some fragility in the car.<\/p>\n
You\u2019d be getting far, far ahead of yourself to think it could be enough to keep the title alive given Antonelli\u2019s 81-point advantage, but it could be enough to irritate him on what should be an easy march to the trophy.<\/p>\n
Can Piastri find Azerbaijan redemption? | 03:11<\/p>\n
McLAREN: WHEN IT DOUBT, USE A CABLE TIE<\/p>\n
McLaren surprised with some sweeping upgrades to its car in Baku. Though the team had signalled that it will continue to push development until late in the season given the rules are stable next year, but the significant changes wrought by this new upgrade package were bigger than expected.<\/p>\n
Most obvious is the aggressive new interpretation on the sidepods and radiator inlets, but the engine cover is also new, as is the rear suspension. The team has brought back its rollover rear wing, but that too has been modified since it was last used in Italy.<\/p>\n
The new parts got off to an inauspicious start, however, when the team discovered weakness in the bargeboard area \u2014 the upright aero parts behind the front wheels but ahead of the radiator inlets.<\/p>\n
Repairs kept both Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris garaged for most of the final part of FP1. When they re-emerged, the extent of repairs was the addition of some trusty cable ties to hold together the intricate, sculpted and undoubtedly extremely expensive bodywork.<\/p>\n
A permanent solution will be worked on tonight.<\/p>\n
Cable ties aside, the team is absolutely certain its upgrade is working as intended.<\/p>\n
But the car was also miles off Mercedes\u2019s pace.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s clear we haven\u2019t yet unlocked its full potential,\u201d said chief technical officer Rob Marshall.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe first session was slightly disrupted, and we are still in the process of dialling in both the chassis and the power unit to suit the unique demands of this circuit.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a history of making strong progress from free practice into qualifying, and that remains our objective.\u201d<\/p>\n
Norris, though, was far less optimistic.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re miles off,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re up there relative to [other teams], we\u2019re in the position we expect to be in, but 1.5s off the pace \u2014 pretty pants.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe car didn\u2019t feel that bad. It\u2019s a little knife in the heart when you see how far off you are.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s deeply unlikely the 1.5s gap is representative, however.<\/p>\n
Quite aside from McLaren and Mercedes sharing the same power unit \u2014 and McLaren tends to run in a lower power mode during practice \u2014 Norris abandoned what would have been his quickest lap, pitting after setting a purple first sector and a personal best second sector.<\/p>\n
Had he matched that with an equal best final split, he would have been within 0.1s of Verstappen \u2014 not Mercedes pace, but about half the distance.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a similar story for Piastri, who left around 0.3s on the table comparing his best sector times.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a different circuit, but Monza makes similar low-drag demands of the cars to Baku, and there McLaren was only 0.18s short of an admittedly chaotic qualifying session.<\/p>\n
Whatever the case, it\u2019s clear we should expect a much closer competition for qualifying tonight.<\/p>\n
2027 Aussie Grand Prix gets sprint race | 01:29<\/p>\n
HAMILTON REPRIMANDED IN FIRST BAKU FLASHPOINT<\/p>\n
Arvid Lindblad aside, drivers kept things generally tidy throughout the opening day of practice in Baku, but Liam Lawson and Lewis Hamilton came close to having an aeroplane accident around halfway through FP2.<\/p>\n
Lawson had just exited turn 16 and had put his foot down for the long flat-out run to the finish line.<\/p>\n
Hamilton had just completed a flying lap and was travelling slowly through the fast, blind series of corners between turn 18 and turn 20.<\/p>\n
His Ferrari suddenly appeared in Lawson\u2019s visor, and in an instant he was right on Hamilton\u2019s gearbox.<\/p>\n
The closing speed was a whopping 67km\/h \u2014 300km\/h to 233km\/h. Lawson had no choice but to back out and take evasive action \u2014 and vent about it on team radio.<\/p>\n
Hamilton was summoned to the stewards afterwards and reprimanded for travelling slowly on the racing line contrary to instructions.<\/p>\n
But don\u2019t expect that to be the last flashpoint at this high-risk section of the circuit.<\/p>\n
Even before the weekend, it was clear this would be a problematic part of the track, with race control warning drivers to stay well off the race line due to the potential for massive closing speeds due to battery usage.<\/p>\n
But Hamilton, speaking before receiving his penalty, said it wasn\u2019t enough.<\/p>\n
\u201cBasically, with the rules that the FIA gave us this year, when you come into the weekend, there\u2019s no data or simulation to say, \u2018Okay, when you come to the last corner and you go to full throttle and you have 500bhp (373kW) less than the car behind you on a lap, this is the gap you need to have before they get on your [tail].\u2019 They don\u2019t tell you the closing speed that you\u2019re going to have.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was 4s ahead basically. I went into the last corner pushing. I could see him, but I thought the gap was enough. I got onto full throttle and then literally as we got into [turn] 18, the car just died, and he swallowed up the gap massively. That could happen to anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hamilton suggested the sport come up with some special settings that help drivers access full electrical energy at this part of the track to avoid triggering these massive speed differences.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a question worth pondering now given it won\u2019t be the only track that creates similar problems.<\/p>\n
The slalom between these corners is only a small part of this track but is representative of pretty much the entire Jeddah circuit that hosts the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, for example.<\/p>\n
But like almost every element of these hybrid engines, it\u2019s easier said than done when there are already so many intricate rules governing how they\u2019re used.<\/p>\n
CARNAGE as Max takes on 100 drivers | 02:04<\/p>\n
OCON GETS DEADLINE AS AUDI TAKES SEATS OFF THE TABLE<\/p>\n
Off the track, there were too key pieces of driver market information revealed on Thursday in Baku.<\/p>\n
The first came from Haas principal Ayao Komatsu, who attempted to argue that Esteban Ocon was still a chance to retain his seat despite the Frenchman telling reporters on Wednesday that he would \u201cdefinitely\u201d be a free agent next year.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe haven\u2019t made any decision yet,\u201d he said, though he admitted that Haas had let the option in Ocon\u2019s contract for a year\u2019s extension lapse.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve done all the evaluations, so we\u2019re just waiting to summarise our findings, have a discussion internally, have a chat with Gene [Haas, team boss], and then we\u2019ll take the final decision.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said the decision would come within \u201cthe next couple of weeks\u201d.<\/p>\n
Ferrari-backed Formula 2 title contender Rafael C\u00e2mara is tipped to take Ocon\u2019s seat, with some reports suggesting Ocon has already been told he won\u2019t be driving for the team next year \u2014 which almost certainly means he won\u2019t be driving in Formula 1 next year and perhaps ever again after 10 years in the sport.<\/p>\n
Audi certainly won\u2019t be an option, with team boss Mattia Binotto confirming nonchalantly in a press conference that both Nico H\u00fclkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto were signed up for 2027.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have no discussion about what\u2019s the plan for the next season,\u201d he said. \u201cOur drivers were contracted, so we knew that it would have been no change.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut on top of that, I think we are happy on the speed of them, so we never announced really what would happen next year because there was no necessity. We have a line-up which is confirmed and which we are happy with.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As far as practice margins go, George Russell\u2019s whopping advantage at the end of Thursday practice was as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":904259,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[573],"tags":[64,63,817,813,816,85],"class_list":["post-904258","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-formula-1","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-f1","tag-formula-1","tag-formula1","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/904258","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=904258"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/904258\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/904259"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=904258"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=904258"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=904258"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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