2016 FORMULA 1 GRAND PRIX OF EUROPE

[Scott]

The circus heads to Azerbaijan for the first time in history this weekend.  A race so new the FOM hasn't had a chance to figure out how long it is...they just have "TBC" beside lap counts, race distance and that sort of thing - https://www.formula1.com/content/fom-website/en/championship/races/2016/Europe.html

A beautiful picturesque city of 2million, predominantly Muslim, it is situated on the west coast of the Caspian Sea.  Located 28m below sea level, Baku is the lowest lying national capital in the world and also the largest city in the world located below sea level. The world’s very first oil well was drilled just south of Baku and by the beginning of the 20th century Azerbaijan was supplying almost half of the world’s oil.

Sitting out on a peninsula on the west side of the vast Caspian Sea, Baku is known for it's brutal winter storms and ever present strong winds.  How this will affect the race remains to be seen. 

Part of Iran until the Russians took it in 1723, gave it back and took it again in 1813.  For a short time after the first world war, Baku enjoyed autonomy, but the Russians came back in 1920 and reinstalled the Bolsheviks and it remained under Russian control until the fall of the Soviet Union.  Almost immediately they demolished most of the Soviet era buildings built along the coast and opened a greenbelt of parkland and beaches that has transformed the city into a Caspian Riviera.

Still truly an oil town, the modern petroleum industry is busy developing new sources around the city and it continues to fuel one of Eastern Europe's (or Northern Middle East) strongest economies.

Notorious for it's night life, Baku is on the top 10 list of party cities in the world according to Lonely Planet. 

A true city track with zero runoff areas, this is shaping up to be another Monaco style race, but with higher speeds.  A good Youtube preview is below:

[cosworth151]

Bernie's way of making sure that no F1 drivers can drive at Le Mans. Nico Hulkenburg was a driver in last year's winning P1 car.

[Jericoke]

Bernie's way of making sure that no F1 drivers can drive at Le Mans. Nico Hulkenburg was a driver in last year's winning P1 car.

I'm surprised that Bernie has miscaculated this one.  F1 drivers are suposed to be Gods amongst men.  Having them dominate other classes in their spare time would play into this narrative.

Instead, it makes it look like F1 is scared of LeMans

[cosworth151]

I also wonder why it isn't The Grand Prix of Azerbaijan. The GP of Europe name was previously used when they wanted to stick a second race in a country with a very popular driver (Germany during Schumi's run, Spain for Alonso, etc).

[Jericoke]

I also wonder why it isn't The Grand Prix of Azerbaijan. The GP of Europe name was previously used when they wanted to stick a second race in a country with a very popular driver (Germany during Schumi's run, Spain for Alonso, etc).

That is an easy answer, a lot of people want more European races, and it's not clear that Azerbaijan in Europe.  Also sends the signal that the race is for sale to highest bidder.

I think it was a pretty good use of the name.

[J.Clark]

There are a few interesting tid-bits in this article I found on Crash.net.

http://www.crash.net/f1/feature/231270/1/baku-gp-6-things-you-need-to-know.html

[cosworth151]

it's not clear that Azerbaijan is in Europe.

You mean like having the U.S. Grand Prix in Texas?   

[Scott]

There are a few interesting tid-bits in this article I found on Crash.net.

http://www.crash.net/f1/feature/231270/1/baku-gp-6-things-you-need-to-know.html

What's also interesting is the Flame Towers, the three distinctive towers you see in almost every picture of Baku, are covered in some 10,000 (surely that is an underestimate or typo - probably more like a million or 10 million) LEDs which transform the facades into display screens. 

I don't think the race will highlight them as it is an afternoon early evening race, but maybe they will show some of the nightlife shots there and we'll get to see them in action.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flame_Towers

[Scott]

Baku is giving the teams some challenges in trying to predict setups.  I'm starting to get excited about this one...

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/124795/baku-track-set-to-create-setup-dilemmas


And Channel 4 will be broadcasting Live...see ya there Ian 

http://f1.channel4.com

[Scott]

Another interesting link with a ton of Baku info from the BBCF1 website.

http://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/36489275

And another article on short lived races...will Baku join the club?

http://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/36514213

[cosworth151]

The farce of Indianapolis????? 19 years as an F1 venue (1950-1960, 2000-2007) and most of those as the largest attendance race of the year. I was at the 2005 race. It clearly wasn't The Speedway's fault. The blame was squarely on the FIA (that's the French initials for The Root of All Evil.) The smallest attendance at the USGP @ Indianapolis was still one of the largest of that year, and bigger than that largest at The Cow Pasture.

[Scott]

Totally agree Cos, Indy's demise was nothing like the rest...for one thing it was the only new track in the last 20 years where the venue actually made a profit every year it ran the GP.  Bernie couldn't live with that, so he moved the goalposts.

[lkjohnson1950]

Virtual lap of Baku

[Scott]

FP1 - Sorry for the lousy formatting...I'll look to a better source than Autosport for the next timing post.

Unusually DR stuck his RBR in the wall bringing out a 10minute red flag.  Max had mechanical issues and spent most of FP1 in the garage. 

Lewis topped the timesheet as I expected.  We'll see what happens in the afternoon.

PRACTICE ONE TIMES

Pos   Driver   Car   Time   Gap   Laps
1   Lewis Hamilton   Mercedes   1m46.435s   -   23
2   Nico Rosberg   Mercedes   1m46.812s   0.377s   32
3   Valtteri Bottas   Williams/Mercedes   1m47.096s   0.661s   34
4   Fernando Alonso   McLaren/Honda   1m47.989s   1.554s   21
5   Sebastian Vettel   Ferrari   1m48.627s   2.192s   26
6   Sergio Perez   Force India/Mercedes   1m48.922s   2.487s   17
7   Jenson Button   McLaren/Honda   1m49.019s   2.584s   21
8   Felipe Massa   Williams/Mercedes   1m49.125s   2.690s   22
9   Carlos Sainz   Toro Rosso/Ferrari   1m49.267s   2.832s   16
10   Nico Hulkenberg   Force India/Mercedes   1m49.301s   2.866s   27
11   Romain Grosjean   Haas/Ferrari   1m49.611s   3.176s   20
12   Kimi Raikkonen   Ferrari   1m49.635s   3.200s   16
13   Daniel Ricciardo   Red Bull/Renault   1m49.778s   3.343s   17
14   Esteban Gutierrez   Haas/Ferrari   1m50.167s   3.732s   25
15   Marcus Ericsson   Sauber/Ferrari   1m50.473s   4.038s   18
16   Max Verstappen   Red Bull/Renault   1m50.485s   4.050s   7
17   Daniil Kvyat   Toro Rosso/Ferrari   1m50.551s   4.116s   19
18   Jolyon Palmer   Renault   1m50.910s   4.475s   25
19   Kevin Magnussen   Renault   1m50.939s   4.504s   27
20   Pascal Wehrlein   Manor/Mercedes   1m51.219s   4.784s   24
21   Felipe Nasr   Sauber/Ferrari   1m51.771s   5.336s   11
22   Rio Haryanto   Manor/Mercedes   1m51.925s   5.490s   28

[cosworth151]

They've found a problem I don't remember having heard of before. After FP1, Pirelli reported that 90% of the left rears showed cuts. The track was inspected and they found that the steel F1 curbs (kerbs for you Brits) were coming undone. The GP2 practice was cancelled while repairs were made. The individual panels were then welded together & all of the mounting screws tightened.

It doesn't seem like it worked. I'm watching FP2 right now. They just showed a slo-mo of some of the curbing literally flapping as Vettel drove over it.