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Thread: Azerbaijan Grand Prix 2021: Post Race Analysis

  1. #1
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    Azerbaijan Grand Prix 2021: Post Race Analysis

    I hope you set your DVR's like I suggested. It was a long race that was well worth watching. It took awhile for the drama to show up, but Baku always seems to deliver a wacky up and down race. Furthermore, it was great to hear the communication between the FIA and the teams, as it's a new level of insight that takes place on the pitwall.

    Red Bull Racing had the biggest roller coaster day. Max looked set to cruise to victory thanks to a brilliant defensive drive by Perez, only to have his tire fail just a few laps from the end. It was heart breaking, especially as that promoted Hamilton up to 2nd. On the standing restart, it was gut wrenching to see Perez have a terrible start and let Lewis get into P1 before turn 1, but we all know what happened and thankfully his Red Bull race car held on for a stunning victory.

    Aston Martin really stood out in the race. Starting Stroll on the hard tires was a great strategy that was really working. Such a shame to see it fall apart due to tire failure. I think points were very likely. But how about Vettel? Another astonishing drive. Made some great moves in the race, even put pressure on Hamilton, and a well deserved 2nd place finish.

    AlphaTauri finally was able to translate their good qualifying into a good race result. I should say great race result. We have to be happy for Gasly. When you consider what a driver does for their team, he is right up there with Max Verstappen. Hats off to Yuki, he was aggressive in the final laps, but fair and some great points for the young Rookie.

    Ferrari had a difficult day and honestly it exposed the engine is still a weakness. Hamilton got passed Leclerc without DRS with ease. That was approximately a 15+ kph difference in straight line speed. That was in the opening laps when the batteries are still quite charged up even. It was evident again when Leclerc overtook Gasly down the straight, only to be repassed by Honda power before turn 1. Both drivers made mistakes on hard tires which didn't help their cause. 4th and 8th, honestly it could have been worse. On a positive note, they scored more points than McLaren.

    McLaren has to be disappointed with their showing. With the Mercedes power pushing them through the streets of Baku, they really didn't make any moves. Their starting positions were obviously not ideal, but they didn't show much for race pace.

    Alpine did not have the long run pace like I expected. Perhaps the car just couldn't get the hard tires to work. Alonso showed his crafty skills on the restart, some how finding his way into 6th place. A great result for what looked like a day that would have ended out of the points.

    Alfa Romeo scored points in back to back races! They are the vultures on the grid. If there are any points to be scooped up, they will in a position to get them. Kimi, much like Alonso, had some crafty moves during the race. Well done to them.

    Mercedes. OUCH. In the opening laps I got the impression that perhaps Mercedes pulled one over our eyes once again, as the car was fast... very fast. Especially down the straights where Hamilton's car was massively faster than the cars he was racing. If it wasn't for Hamilton making a mistake off the final restart, he would likely went onto win the race. There would be no way Perez could have passed the Mercedes on the straight without DRS. It's too bad that Bottas does not seem get the same equipment as Hamilton. His qualifying was compromised to help Lewis, and doesn't get the faster rear wing setup, and his engine power just doesn't appear the same either. I have to believe at this point Bottas is shut down and has no fire left being in the second seat at Mercedes.

    Haas. 13th and 14th and Mazepin almost takes both cars out on the final straight of the final lap. In the end the both finished, and they finished ahead of Williams. So that's a fabulous result for the team and they must be happy.

    Williams gave nothing to talk about. Sure they can catch our eye on Saturdays, but in the races they look terrible. If they don't start improving, they will be battling with the Haas for the rest of the season.

    Driver of the Day: Sebastien Vettel. This was an easy decision today. Excellent tire management, excellent pace, excellent race craft, and an excellent result.

  2. #2
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    I'm still gutted that Charles dropped like a stone, I was hoping for podium.
    as for Driver of the day, I can't decide between Vettel and Perez, Vettel was great but Perez was great too, withstanding the pressure from Ham.
    I would have liked a RBR 1-2 (just to give Max a little clear air) but I'm happy with the result. I'm really hoping Ferrari can properly challenge for wins next year.

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    Hamilton still seems to have the best package out there, all excuses and sandbagging aside. If not for that rookie mistake, he would've won. A pity our boys have inferior hardware to produce conclusive results. We lack the speed to overtake even using DRS. A real shame.

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    Merc has had a distinct race pace advantage for 80% of the non-street tracks. Last time there was a non street-race Hamilton won by a landslide while Max could not even make a dent on Bottas with DRS. Red Bull have had quick car in Q and Max have made some rocket starts who made Hamilton have to work to get by Max. If Lewis had aced this starts in these r aces, he would have won with 15-25 seconds while taking it easy. Every race VER has led Hamilton has cruised 1 second behind him with lots of pace to unleash, sometimes as much as 1 second per lap, especially on the Medium tires.


    Mercedes is clear favourites until Red Bull prove that they have race pace on normal race tracks. Based on what we seen from the normal races its Hamilton that could be expected to close out this WDC quickly, absolutely not Max. Perez of course also has been nowhere before, so its not like he has been a force to be reckoned with. I am quite baffled on how many people that seem to have been duped into thinking Red Bull is the team to beat, even though thats not backed up by any facts.
    "Formula 1 is not a sport anymore” - Fernando Alonso

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    Quote Originally Posted by Lesky View Post
    Merc has had a distinct race pace advantage for 80% of the non-street tracks. Last time there was a non street-race Hamilton won by a landslide while Max could not even make a dent on Bottas with DRS. Red Bull have had quick car in Q and Max have made some rocket starts who made Hamilton have to work to get by Max. If Lewis had aced this starts in these r aces, he would have won with 15-25 seconds while taking it easy. Every race VER has led Hamilton has cruised 1 second behind him with lots of pace to unleash, sometimes as much as 1 second per lap, especially on the Medium tires.


    Mercedes is clear favourites until Red Bull prove that they have race pace on normal race tracks. Based on what we seen from the normal races its Hamilton that could be expected to close out this WDC quickly, absolutely not Max. Perez of course also has been nowhere before, so its not like he has been a force to be reckoned with. I am quite baffled on how many people that seem to have been duped into thinking Red Bull is the team to beat, even though thats not backed up by any facts.
    I agree that Mercedes for sure is the better car over a 23 race seasons. If Mercedes were legitimately struggling in their eyes and yet may have still had the fastest car today, then that's is demoralizing when they get to a track they are firing on all cylinders.

    Right now Max is not only hungry, but IMO the better driver than Lewis. Also Red Bull do have a package good enough to at least put pressure on Mercedes, and this seems to be forcing some uncharacteristic mistakes. That makes sense since they have barely the threat in 7 years.

    A conspiracy theorist may wonder if Mercedes is sand bagging with collaboration with the FIA to make for an exciting first half of the season. But come mid season, Mercedes will start to pull of 5 wins in a row. It will be similar to 2018 where Mercedes won 8 of the last 11 races. Its not completely unrealistic since every single time Hamilton gets behind, he cuts through the field like he's racing against cars in a different class. 54 races in the points. That kind of reliability comes from babying a car, and an awful lot of good luck.

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    Great analysis as always.. @SS454.

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    I just wanted to know why we dropped down the order and weren't able to recover.
    Was it as simple as the PU?
    Was it the tires?
    Was it the setup?
    Was it track characteristics?
    Or, was it a combination of all of the above?

    Also, how did AMR perform so well in Azerbaijan? (considering Vettel is one of the best in tire management and defending)

    *Great analysis man!

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    Latifi finishes ahead of his Williams team mate. And Mick in his Hass !!!! did them both in.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Toothlessrage* View Post
    I just wanted to know why we dropped down the order and weren't able to recover.
    Was it as simple as the PU?
    Was it the tires?
    Was it the setup?
    Was it track characteristics?
    Or, was it a combination of all of the above?

    Also, how did AMR perform so well in Azerbaijan? (considering Vettel is one of the best in tire management and defending)

    *Great analysis man!
    It's the Ferrari PU on a long 2.2km straight-->T16 thru T20 all the way down to T1. Lewis passed Leclerc without the use of DRS but used the slipstream instead. Honda and Mercedes PU plus the car overall are about equal in terms of performance. Bottas had a different downforce setup (rear wing) when compared to Hamilton.

    Yeah, Seb after Monaco is PROBABLY finding his MOJO back in the AMR which also has a Mercedes PU.
    It's not how start but how you finish.

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    Max is not happy with Pirelli, doesn't believe debris caused tyre failures:

    https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/v...wouts/6541671/

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    Quote Originally Posted by 20000rpm View Post
    Great analysis as always.. @SS454.
    Thanks :)

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    Quote Originally Posted by Ferrarichamp View Post
    Max is not happy with Pirelli, doesn't believe debris caused tyre failures:

    https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/v...wouts/6541671/
    It sure looks like tire failures, which makes me wonder about tracks like Spa, or Monza.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Toothlessrage* View Post
    I just wanted to know why we dropped down the order and weren't able to recover.
    Was it as simple as the PU?
    Was it the tires?
    Was it the setup?
    Was it track characteristics?
    Or, was it a combination of all of the above?

    Also, how did AMR perform so well in Azerbaijan? (considering Vettel is one of the best in tire management and defending)

    *Great analysis man!
    All of them. Personally, I don't buy the -20 deficit, it has to be more.
    Then, the tyre management is related to downforce. If they run a lower DF setup, they ate the tyres.
    Finally, it's also drivers mistakes, unfortunately.

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    To bad Ferrari just missed 3rd place but.... what a great looking podium filled with newcomers !

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    I'm surprised there isn't much talk on here about the tree branch. With the clear air after lap 1, I believe Charles had pulled away enough to be out of DRS (although DRS was not enabled at that stage). After the issue with the tree branch, Leclerc says he intentionally backed off so as to not gain an advantage. This allowed Hamilton by down the straight.

    I'm not saying it would have won Charles the race, but who knows, if we believe the story that the Mercedes is not good in dirty air, it may have taken Lewis quite a while to get by Charles, completely changing the complexion of the race, it would have atleast helped our chances at getting the podium.

    And someone has to explain the rules to Charles. I know Lewis likes to get on the radio and cry all the time, everytime he sees someone cut a chicane, but the rule is that you can't pass someone by going off the track or cutting the chicane. Verstappen in Bahrain, passed by going off track, that is a situation where you must give the position back. Norris in Monaco, where he was given a warning after cutting the chicane several times, there is no penalty. I'm sure Norris didn't intentionally slow up. Because if you cut the chicane, you can just keep on driving as if nothing happened despite what Sky and Lewis want you to believe. The worse that can happen is after doing it a few times you will get a warning and after that a black and white flag and then a black flag.

    Despite this, it was pretty much a clean weekend for Leclerc, a good bounce back which i felt he needed after Monaco. It looked like it was going to be amazing after qualifying, but it turned out just to be average. Which to consider Sunday's performance to be "average" after last year, is pretty remarkable.

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    I already said that drivers did mistakes...
    And being nice doesn't give a championship.

  17. #17
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    Quote Originally Posted by tpe View Post
    All of them. Personally, I don't buy the -20 deficit, it has to be more.
    Then, the tyre management is related to downforce. If they run a lower DF setup, they ate the tyres.
    Finally, it's also drivers mistakes, unfortunately.
    Yeah, I agree with that too.
    Usually, when a problem occurs there are a multitude of factors that contribute to it.

    But, I hope they can identify and rectify some of the problems.

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    If it was due to debris then the blame would squarely fall on FiA by putting the grid in danger. FiA allows the race to continue only when it is clear of the debris.
    It is definitely a tyre failure.

  19. #19
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    @mods,

    Can we keep all discussion in single thread for one GP weekend?

  20. #20
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    Quote Originally Posted by Cavallino View Post
    I'm surprised there isn't much talk on here about the tree branch. With the clear air after lap 1, I believe Charles had pulled away enough to be out of DRS (although DRS was not enabled at that stage). After the issue with the tree branch, Leclerc says he intentionally backed off so as to not gain an advantage. This allowed Hamilton by down the straight.

    I'm not saying it would have won Charles the race, but who knows, if we believe the story that the Mercedes is not good in dirty air, it may have taken Lewis quite a while to get by Charles, completely changing the complexion of the race, it would have atleast helped our chances at getting the podium.

    And someone has to explain the rules to Charles. I know Lewis likes to get on the radio and cry all the time, everytime he sees someone cut a chicane, but the rule is that you can't pass someone by going off the track or cutting the chicane. Verstappen in Bahrain, passed by going off track, that is a situation where you must give the position back. Norris in Monaco, where he was given a warning after cutting the chicane several times, there is no penalty. I'm sure Norris didn't intentionally slow up. Because if you cut the chicane, you can just keep on driving as if nothing happened despite what Sky and Lewis want you to believe. The worse that can happen is after doing it a few times you will get a warning and after that a black and white flag and then a black flag.

    Despite this, it was pretty much a clean weekend for Leclerc, a good bounce back which i felt he needed after Monaco. It looked like it was going to be amazing after qualifying, but it turned out just to be average. Which to consider Sunday's performance to be "average" after last year, is pretty remarkable.
    I agree. Leclerc was pulling out some good gaps on Lewis in the twisty bits and it was enough that Lewis was out of DRS until he slowed for the branch. After that Leclerc said he was losing time from dirty air from cars ahead. So if he could have stayed in front in clean air, might have stayed there until at least the first stop. Don't think it would have changed much overall, but it does show that we have a great chassis. Just need that extra bit of power.

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    Ferrari losing too much pace in traffic – Binotto
    2021 Azerbaijan Grand PrixPosted on
    9th June 2021, 12:44 | Written by Dieter Rencken and Hazel Southwell

    After a promising qualifying, where Charles Leclerc took pole, Ferrari say they only lacked race pace when running behind other cars in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
    Leclerc took pole during a heavily disrupted qualifying session. Team mate Carlos Sainz Jnr crashed heavily, bringing Q3 to a premature close, but qualified fifth.
    During the race, Leclerc was passed by the Red Bull cars and Lewis Hamilton‘s Mercedes. He also lost out to Sebastian Vettel and Pierre Gasly, ending the race fourth after Verstappen’s retirement and Hamilton’s error at the final restart.
    Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto admitted they “were expecting something better after quali”, though they foresaw a difficult start to the race on the soft tyre compound.
    “We knew that on the soft we would have struggled,” said Binotto. “As a matter of fact, we struggled the most with the soft.
    “I think on the hard tyres, when in free air, I think that Carlos’ pace in free air was representative. We were competitive.”
    While Sainz’s lap times did not match those of leader Verstappen, who was running in the mid-1’45s, Sainz reached the low 1’46s. This compared well with the team’s main rival this season, McLaren, whose cars were lapping in the mid-1’46s.

    “Certainly we still need to improve our pace in the race, no doubt,” admitted Binotto. “But I don’t think that overall we were poor in performance today, when in free air. So we suffering the dirty air and that’s where we need to focus our analysis.”
    Having lined up first and fifth and finished fourth and eighth, Binotto admitted it had been “a difficult race” for the team. “We have not been perfect in many areas and finally the result is what it is.
    “But as usual, it may be a lesson learnt. There are things that we can improve. I’m pretty sure that reviewing the entire race, we will find areas of improvement and that’s important for us overall. I think it’s still a good weekend and we should keep our heads up positive.”

    However Binotto drew satisfaction from overtaking McLaren in the constructors championship.
    “We made the pole, which I think was outstanding, second pole in a row, showing the progress of the team and the car and finally, we are third in the constructors’ championship. Since the start of the season that never happened, it’s only by two points, but it’s showing that somehow we are progressing.
    “So I think there are positives from the weekend but certainly, as I said, things to be learned. Now we’ve got three races in a row in the next weeks, which will be important again. So certainly the team will remain focussed on getting better in the future.”

    Racefans.net

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    Binotto says the team will focus on getting better in the future! His updates are really helpful . Who would think that about Ferrari ;the team focusing ?

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