The 2019 Azerbaijan Formula One Grand Prix
Welcome to Baku, the glorious capital city of the Republic of Azerbaijan, and our preview for the Formula 1 Socar Azerbaijan Grand Prix 2019.
Azerbaijan is a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia at the crossroads of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west and Iran to the south.
The Azerbaijan Democratic Republic proclaimed its independence in 1918 and became the first democratic Muslim state. In 1920 the country was incorporated into the Soviet Union as the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic. The modern Republic of Azerbaijan proclaimed its independence on 30 August 1991 shortly before the dissolution of the USSR in the same year.
Azerbaijan is a unitary semi-presidential republic. While more than 89% of the population is Shia Muslim, the Constitution of Azerbaijan does not declare an official religion and all major political forces in the country are secularist. Azerbaijan has a high level of human development that ranks on par with most Eastern European countries. It has a high rate of economic development and literacy, as well as a low rate of unemployment.
The countryâs official language is Azerbaijani. At 92% of the 10-million strong population, the Azerbaijani make up the largest ethic group in the country. âAzerbaijaniâ is also the correct demonym for the people of Azerbaijan.
Baku is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. Baku is located 28 metres below sea level, which makes it the lowest lying national capital in the world and the largest city in the world located below sea level. Officially, about a quarter of all inhabitants of the country live in Bakuâs metropolitan area.
The city is the scientific, cultural, and industrial centre of Azerbaijan. The city is renowned for its harsh winds, which is reflected in its nickname, the âCity of Windsâ.
Azerbaijan is one of the birthplaces of the global oil industry. Its history has been linked to the fortunes of petroleum since 1871 when Ivan Mirzoev, an ethnic Armenian, built the nationâs first wooden oil derrick. Nowadays Azerbaijan produces about 875,000 barrels of oil per day and 29 billion cubic meters of gas per year.
Itâs perhaps fitting therefore that the official sponsor of the 2019 F1 Grand Prix is the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic. Largely known as SOCAR, the company is the 100% state-owned national oil and gas company with its headquarters in Baku.
This weekend sees Formula One Grand Prix #1001 take place on the Baku City Circuit. The 2019 Azerbaijan Grand Prix is Round #4 of 21 in the 2019 F1 season. It will be only the third official Azerbaijan GP, but the fourth time that Baku will host an F1 Grand Prix. (The inaugural race in Baku was designated as the 2016 European Grand Prix).
With the Mercedes duo of Hamilton and Bottas scoring P1 and P2 finishes in all three of the opening races, they and their team are comfortably ahead in the season standings so far:
The Schedule
With Baku lying just a smidge or two to the east of South Africa, the clocks there are just 2 hours ahead of ours. That means that the weekend activities all take place at reasonably sane times for us:
The Circuit
The Baku City Circuit is a 6.003km temporary street circuit designed by Hermann Tilke. It joins the other temporary circuits of Monaco, Melbourne and Singapore in the current season. The race is run for 51 laps making the race length 306km.
At just over 6km in length, Baku is the calendarsâ second longest circuit after Spa-Francorchamps. The circuitâs combination of 20 corners (half of them 90° turns), 2 DRS zones, tight and narrow and twisty sections, and the very long and wide high speed main straight have produced some memorable racing in its short life.
The long main straight along the Baku shoreline is a slipstreaming mecca with cars able to run three abreast into Turn 1. From there, the track loops around into the cityâs narrow, winding old town, dramatically twisting past Bakuâs medieval city walls. As in Monaco, slightest mistakes are punished quickly and severely. Set-up wise, the teams are forced to choose between downforce for the twisty bits and less drag for the straight.
The official race lap record is held by Sebastian Vettel (1:43.441) set during the 2017 race. Qualifying for the 2017 GP saw the track lap record of 1:40.593 being set by Lewis Hamilton on his way to pole position for that race.
Hereâs Bakuâs 2018 Formula 2 pole-sitter and Feature race winner, Alexander Albon, to show us around the circuit.
Hereâs the circuit overlaid on a street map of Baku. Note the location of the pubs in the area in case you ever get to go to see a Grand Prix there in the future:
The Tyres
With low grip and medium tyre stress from the city streets, and in light of the need for a balanced compound for both the tight corners and the long straight, Pirelliâs professors have opted to make the mid three tyre compounds available to the teams. The C2 tyre will be the white walled Hard, the C3 compound gets the yellow Medium markings, and the C4 tyre becomes the red branded Soft tyre.
As we can see from the Selected Sets graphic, the teams are all leaning to the softer side of the rubber menu for the weekend.
The Weather
Low altitude and a long open coastline help give Baku its âCity of Windsâ nickname. And while the long-range forecast for the weekend shows clear skies, warm temperatures and lots of sunshine, the 20kph+ winds forecast for both Saturday and Sunday could play a part in the outcome of Qualifying and the Race itself.
Not much more to share at this stage, but may be back later to add in a couple of other bits and pieces.
Enjoy the race!
