Formula 1: Azerbaijan Grand Prix Preview

James Minor ’23 Staff Writer

Formula 1 (F1) returns from nearly a month off this weekend when the sport travels to the streets of Baku, Azerbaijan. There was originally a race scheduled for the middle of April near Shanghai, China; however, the nation’s Covid restrictions prevented the event from happening and no suitable replacement was found. As a result, teams have had plenty of time to make small changes to their cars, both for long term performance gains and track specific demands for Baku.

Baku is a special circuit because it is what is known as a street circuit, a circuit that literally runs on streets. Other such tracks are in Monaco and Singapore. Albert Park, the scene of the most recent race, is also technically a street circuit, but it mostly runs through a park (as the name implies) and it offers substantial space between the track and walls at many points.

Baku is more of a pure street circuit as the race is run on the streets of downtown Baku and the walls are right up against the track for 90% of each lap. Monaco and Singapore are much more like Baku. These unique characteristics of street circuits leave little room for error, creating a high risk of damage for the teams and a lot of excitement for the fans as the drivers must get as close to the limit as possible to extract the performance they need.

The Baku City Circuit itself can be separated into two distinct sections; one with long straights and 90° angles, and another with a mix of low and medium speed corners. The run up to the start line is a 1.4 mi (2.2 km) straight that leads into a sharp left turn. The track then goes along a shorter straight that turns onto a 0.62 mi (1 km) straight. Then comes two left-right chicanes (a chicane is one corner in one direction quickly followed by another in the opposite direction) separated by a short straight. After the second chicane, the track flows into the more technical section that circles the old city. The most notable set of corners runs alongside an old castle and is aptly known as the “castle section.” The corners could theoretically fit two and a half cars, but with the racing line resembling more of a straight line through the two corners, it can only fit one — and barely so. After a cou - ple of left corners, the track runs along the start/finish straight to start another lap.

This weekend is also special because it is a Sprint Race Weekend. At the time of writing, there is still some uncertainty as to what this weekend in particular will look like. However, it is likely to follow the usual sprint format. The sprint race is borrowed from the junior categories (F2, F3, etc.) where there’s a shorter race on Saturday to increase the

Continued on page 20