THE BAKU FORMULA

The sixth Formula One race hosted in Baku this year was the first in the last three years held full-fledged—with spectators and everything else. In 2020, the Azerbaijani Grand Prix did not take place at all due to the pandemic, and in 2021 it was held without spectators.

The 2022 race in Baku was the eighth round of the championship and effectively opened the second third of the season, with a total of 22 races in the 2022 championship. In the first third, the battle was between Red Bull and Ferrari. In total, Red Bull pilots could win 5 rounds this year, while the Ferrari team won two rounds thanks to Charles Leclerc from Monaco. Remarkably, the Italians beat the Austrians in the qualification stage, when after the first seven stages Ferrari had 5 pole positions, while Red Bull had only 2. But in the Sunday race Red Bull was more reliable, with its pilots winning more races. Italians often suffered from unreliable cars, which led to frequent withdrawals of their pilots. Therefore, it was expected that the main battle in Baku would be between the two teams. And so it happened.

Friday's free tests ended in a draw with Red Bull winning the first practice round and Ferrari winning the second. On Saturday, the trend continued as Red Bull won the third free practice round, while Ferrari's Leclerc took pole (his sixth this season and fourth in a row). Thus, this year's qualification battle between Ferrari and Red Bull ended with score 6-2, with the Maranello Stallions winning the battle. Leclerc later said that the qualification win was somewhat of a surprise for him as the Bulls were still faster than the Stallions.

But it seemed that the results did not discourage their Austrian rivals. Unlike other city circuits, the Baku circuit is suitable for overtakes. After all, the Red Bull team had no speed problems neither on Friday nor on Saturday. Plus, the Baku circuit is usually full of accidents, with the likelihood of a safety car or a red flag being very high. So the Red Bull drivers were able to easily recoup their losses in the qualification stage on Sunday.

Compared to previous years, the race in Baku was quiet, with only five cars coming off the circuit. And these were not due to accidents, but rather problems with the reliability of the equipment. Main losers of the Sunday race were the Ferrari pilots: Carlos Sainz had to stop on the 9th circuit due to hydraulic problems, and on the 20th circuit the engine on Leclerc’s car, which was in the lead at the time, got fire. So Sunday was a nightmare and a total failure for Ferrari, especially considering the performance of their main rivals. In general, the factory engines of Ferrari were not ready for the race in Baku: 4 of 5 race cars that didn't make it to the finish line were equipped with Italian engines.

The Red Bull drivers have so far had different experience on the Baku circuit. For the Mexican Sergio Perez the Baku stage can be considered one of the favourites. In the five previous starts in Baku he has three times hit the podium, and last year he even won the Grand Prix of Azerbaijan, and twice he finished the race the sixth. Perez admitted that the Baku circuit was one of his favorites and he expected to repeat the triumphal victory of the last year. And he could indeed do that. He won one free practice session on Friday and Saturday and was second in the qualification on Saturday with a good opportunity to attack Leclerc.

The incumbent world champion Verstappen was not as lucky as Perez in Baku. He has never made it to the podium in Baku, with his best place being fourth in 2019. On Friday and Saturday, Verstappen was in the shadow of his Mexican teammate. But as it turned out, Max was in no hurry and was saving his strength for the race.

As expected, Perez took the bull by the horns on Sunday. He made an excellent start and took the lead after the first corner. Moreover, the Mexican pilot immediately began to attack Leclerc, without letting the Monegasque even think of the battle for the first place. Otherwise the start was uneventful, which is quite surprising for Baku. Pilots managed to avoid the starting blockage.

Verstappen pressed Leclerc, but it was not a tough confrontation – just probing each other. It was Sainz who disturbed the tranquility due to a technical problem on his car. The Spaniard parked his car off the track and the race management team switched on the Virtual Safety Car (VSC) mode. Hence most of the pelaton decided to take advantage of the virtual mode. The Red Bull drivers stayed on the track, while Leclerc went to the pits to change his tires.

While other teams were changing tires, the Red Bull team was struggling for the lead. However, it can hardly be called a struggle. Verstappen sharply reduced the gap from Perez and easily overtook the Mexican at the end of the long starting straight. Perez was told by the team not to compete to regain the lead, so Perez later began to fall behind the reigning world champion. After the race, the Mexican said he felt it was the right decision to let his teammate get the lead. "Unfortunately, we had a miscommunication during the VSC. We had a bit of bad luck and at the start I had too much wear and tear on the tires. Max was much stronger today because of that. I think the decision to skip Verstappen was the right one, because in the end we got the maximum result for the team," Perez said.

In Formula One, team managers often declare that they will not stop teammates from competing with each other. But Red Bull has been suffered from this decision more than once, including in Baku (a violent clash between Ricciardo and Verstappen in 2018). So the Austrian team decided not to take chances and instructed the nominal co-driver not to interfere with the team leader.

However, Leclerc made life difficult for Red Bull. The Bulls changed tires and took to the track behind him. The battle for the win between Leclerc and Verstappen was expected to crown the stage.  In fact, we witnessed a wheel-to-wheel battle between the two pilots more than once this year. Therefore, we could rightly expect a repetition of the battle in Baku too. But Leclerc’s engine decided otherwise and did not give a chance to audiences on the stands and those watching the race on TV to see a colourful battle between the two pilots. As a result Verstappen reached the finish line, hence putting an end to the unpleasant trend that had followed him in Baku. After eight rounds in the championship the overall winning scoreline was 6-2 in favour of Red Bull against Ferrari. If at the beginning of the championship the Austrian team had reliability problems, now it was Ferrari’s turn, with the frequency of problems increasing. If the trend continues over the next few rounds, the Red Bull championship is guaranteed.

After the race, Verstappen said the reason for his victory in Baku was the speed of his car. "Our car had incredible speed today. We could take care of the tires and take the lead. But obviously maybe we had a little bit of luck with the (Ferrari's) withdrawal. Nevertheless, I think our car was very fast today, so I was able to close the gap. This means we could win the race. In general, I am very satisfied with the balance of my car today", Verstappen said.

For Max, the victory in Baku was the 25th in his career and his fifth in 2022. With this victory, he left Leclerc even further behind in the overall standings (150 against 116). In general, for the Red Bull team, the Baku stage was a triumph: double in the race plus the best lap and bonus point from Perez, both Ferrari pilots scored no points, in the overall classification Perez bypassed Leclerc and became the second in the championship. Also, Perez hit the podium in Baku again. Now he has 4 podiums in 6 races in Baku, being the most successful driver of races in Azerbaijan. So the Red Bulls left Baku in the fine mood.

As for the other teams, Mercedes showed itself as the third strongest team in Azerbaijan. George Russell qualified fifth, while Lewis Hamilton was the seventh. Both improved their positions on Sunday thanks to a Ferrari driver's setback. As a result Russell was the third and Hamilton the fourth, having been voted the best driver of the stage. But for the eight-times world champion the weekend in Baku was hard. He complained throughout the event about dolphin problems, when the car was reaching high speeds at the end of the straight and clinging to the track with its bottom (thanks to the new characteristics of cars). Lewis eventually got out of the cockpit after the race, holding his back.

The Azerbaijan Grand Prix was not as fiery as in previous years, but nevertheless confirmed its uniqueness. It was the 6th race held in Baku and won by six different drivers. Also, the Red Bull drivers have caught up with the Mercedes drivers on the number of wins in Baku—three for each of the teams.