IT STARTED WELL

Deafening roar, outrageous speeds, vehicles literally flying in front of your eyes and the smell of burnt rubber - all these epithets can be applied to any class of racing. Baku has hosted several Grand Prix tournaments - Blancpain GT Series, FIA GT Series, etc. But there is only one championship in the world, viewer interest in which overshadows all the world's races together - Formula 1. Phenomenally high speeds, impressive overtaking and crashes with thousands of flying parts - all this attracts millions of viewers to these races.

Although residents of Baku earlier had the opportunity to watch Formula 1 bolides live, it was part of demonstration races that did not convey even one per cent of all the intensity of the struggle and the competitive spirit of "royal races". Therefore, the holding of the Formula-1Grand Prix of Europe in Baku was a real godsend for the fans of elite motor racing.

Excellent organization

Baku approached the organization of the competition exclusively from maximalist positions, as it was done at Eurovision in 2012 and at the first European Games a year ago, also pursuing another purpose - to show the beauty of the capital of Azerbaijan and its tourist attractiveness.

That is why the track was laid along the central streets of the city next to the seaside boulevard and the Old Town. The picture that appeared before 500 million viewers - this is the audience of "royal races" (only Summer Olympics and the World Cup bring more people to TV screens) was really impressive. The bolides flew around the ramparts of Icari Sahar, as well as historical buildings of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, which looked particularly impressive in the footage broadcast from cameras on helicopters.

And based on the results of the race, the president of the Formula 1 Management, Bernie Ecclestone, cited Baku as an example to all organizers of the Formula 1 Grand Prix, "If all organizers make the efforts we saw here, it would be just great. They worked incredibly. The track was very good. I wanted to be sure that the cars drive past the old fortress so that this footage gets into the TV broadcast, and that's how it all turned out."

On the whole, the whole entourage around the competition together with the arrival of world stars - Chris Brown, Enrique Iglesias and Pharrell Williams gave concerts in Baku - added to the attractiveness of the race.

Some lucky ones managed to get into the paddock and closely communicate with pilots and legendary racers of yesteryear such as the multiple Formula 1 world champion in the 1970-80s, Niki Lauda.

And this season of the Formula 1 World Championship involves five champions of past years - Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel, Kimi Raikkonen, Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso.

Without the safety car

The race itself was not without surprises, and the main surprise was the complete absence of accidents. On an urban track, in which some sections had a width of 7.6 metres and any mistake leads to a crash into concrete safety barriers, it came as a surprise not only to the audience and the organizers, but also to the racers themselves. Before the start of the Grand Prix of Europe, many racers complained of some dangerous areas and the lack of safety lanes.

The complaints further increased after free laps, and as result, FIA changed some elements on the track. The pilots received a tough response from Bernie Ecclestone: "If they don't want to be in Formula 1, they are not obliged to do so. They decide. If they don't like the track, let them go home. I think the Baku track requires certain courage from racers."

The fears of F1 pilots increased even more after the races of the GP-2 youth series, the two days of which saw several accidents involving several bolides. Test races and Formula 1 qualifying was full of individual crashes in several safety zones established in particularly dangerous places. But Mercedes and Ferrari pilots Nico Rosberg and Sebastian Vettel admitted later that all participants carefully watched the GP-2 race and identified their mistakes on the track, which helped to completely eliminate accidents.

Given that the track in Baku was initially announced as the fastest urban track with a total length of 6 km, thanks to a long 2-km stretch near the seaside boulevard, the teams with the most high-speed race cars such as Mercedes, Williams and Red Bull Racing had an advantage. Already in free practice races, Mercedes pilots Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton were at least one second faster than all the others. Such a situation did not change at the qualifying races on Saturday, which Rosberg won. His team mate Hamilton could not compete with him only because of his mistake a couple of minutes before the end of the qualifying race and had to start tenth.

It may be noted that in comparison with the free practice races, Ferrari drivers Sebastian Vettel and Kimi R?ikk?nen, who started in Baku from the third and fourth positions, significantly improved their results in qualifying. But nobody was able to compete with Mercedes - Nico Rosberg led the race from the first to the last 51st round, not giving up first place even at the pit stop to change tires. Setting the best time (he passed a round in 1 minute 46.485 seconds), Rosberg won the "Grand Slam" along the way - the pole position in qualifying, the lead throughout the race and the best time of the track.

The main achievement of Rosberg and Mercedes is that they inscribed their name in history by becoming the first winners of the Grand Prix of Europe in Baku. Whoever wins in Baku in the future, the name of the first winner will remain forever. The other pilot of the German team did not do well in the race - Lewis Hamilton was able to demonstrate only some of his skills and the potential of the bolide. Starting from the 10th position, he had to make his way to the top position, but achieved the 5th result maximum, losing almost a minute to Rosberg. Some technical problems also had an impact here - at some point both Mercedes cars lost power due to incorrect motor settings. Given the FIA ban on radio communications between technicians and pilots, Rosberg and Hamilton had to deal with the problem on their own. And if Rosberg found the optimal settings in two laps, his team mate lost 14 laps in this process and managed to find the optimal mode only 8 laps before the finish. But then it was too late to join the fight for the podium.

Successful results in qualifying were repeated by the two Ferraris in the race. Sebastian Vettel finished second, while Kimi R?ikk?nen - fourth, although he had a chance for the podium, but due to an error in the pitlane, five seconds were added to his final time. That is why he let his team mate Vettel take second place without a fight during the race and Force India pilot Sergio Perez closer to the end of the race.

The Mexican pilot had a phenomenal weekend in Baku. In qualifying Perez showed the second time, but due to the replacement of the gearbox he lost five places on the grid and started the race in seventh place. Immediately at the start, the Force India pilot, also equipped with a Mercedes motor, took fifth place, and during the race, apart from R?ikk?nen, he also overtook Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo.

Although Ricciardo and his partner Max Verstappen hoped for good results in Baku, incorrectly selected tires failed the two Red Bull pilots. Unlike the leaders, who changed their tires only once, they had two pit stops and had to settle for 7th and 8th places.

The race in Baku turned out to be quite controversial for Williams. If Valtteri Bottas started from the 8th position and finished the race in sixth place, Felipe Massa dropped from 5th place to 10th due to different tire wear. As a result, Bottas had two pit stops and Massa - two.

The race turned out to be clearly disastrous for Toro Rosso - both pilots of the team Daniil Kvyat and Carlos Sainz were unable to reach the finish line due to technical problems. McLaren pilot Fernando Alonso, who was also an official ambassador of the European Grand Prix and had more opportunities to get acquainted with the track, was not able to see the chequered flag either. Because of problems with the gearbox, he dropped out of the race in the 42nd lap. Finally, Manor Pascal Wehrlein was another pilot who dropped out.

As a result, Rosberg increased his lead over from Hamilton in the overall World Cup standings. In turn, Vettel got a little closer to him. (Table 1)

At the same time, Mercedes slightly increased its lead over Ferrari in the Constructors' Cup, and the latter broke away from Red Bull. (Table 2)

Tourism blossoms

Many sports experts noted that modern Formula-1 lacked a spectacular and high-speed race like in Baku. The combination of an urban track and high speeds turned Baku into the best advertising cover of "royal races" capable of competing with the Monaco Grand Prix.

At the same time, Monaco attracts attention in terms of racing in one of the most prestigious cities in Europe, but the track in the kingdom is quite slow.

The track in Baku, due to long stretches, allows the teams to show the maximum speed, which attracts millions of fans.

And the race attracted a lot of tourists to Baku - tens of thousands of citizens of Russia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, the USA, Australia, Italy, Germany and other countries (from about 40 countries in total) came to the capital of Azerbaijan to watch the races. Almost all the hotels in the centre of Baku were full. In view of the fact that the race was held for the first time, as well as other factors we can say that there will be even more tourists in the coming years (and the Grand Prix in Baku will be held for at least another 4 years). This year's Grand Prix of Europe coincided with another prestigious race 24 Hours of Le Mans, which also attracts a huge audience. Finally, we should not dismiss the fact that the race coincided with the European Football Championship being held in France these days. But next year, the organizers will try to hold Formula-1 and 24 Hours of Le Mans at separate times, and no major football tournaments are expected, which will attract a lot more tourists to Baku. And this was the main purpose of Baku in conducting the "royal races". And the success of the first Grand Prix in Baku guarantees the achievement of this goal in subsequent years.

FIRSTHAND

"Incredible day, incredible weekend! I want to thank Baku for the warm welcome, you've built an excellent track here, and it's interesting to race here. The track is great, and today, as I heard, there was a lot of overtaking - well, that's great! Of course, for me, everything went as well as possible, I am very pleased with how the qualifying and the race took place - it's great!" 

Nico Rosberg, Mercedes pilot

FIRSTHAND

"We came to Azerbaijan for the first time and didn't know what to expect, but we were given a really warm welcome and we saw an incredible track. To be fast in these high-speed turns, you need a combination of many factors. Excellent track and high-speed narrow sections - it was fun! It's not difficult to make a mistake - I'm sure that today many lost money by betting on the appearance of the safety car, but the race was clean, which indicates the skills of the participants. I also thought that the safety car would appear a couple of times, but it didn't happen,"  

Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari pilot

FORMULA 1 RECORDS IN BAKU

Williams pilot Valtteri Bottas was able to develop a speed of 378 km/h in his race car in Baku! This is a record speed for all "royal races".

The remaining teams have another incentive to break the speed record of the race in the following years.

Williams established another Formula 1 record in Baku - the team took only 1.89 seconds (!) to replace the tires.

FIRSTHAND

"I liked it all very much. Yes, there are enough bumps on the straight line and the first turn is blind, so we approach it at a high speed, and the car shakes at this moment, but it's also part of the race. These guys (those who criticize) want everything to be smooth, no bumps and no vibration. They want to deprive the track of its character and individuality. They're always moaning about everything. I like the local bumps, and there will always be critics," 

Lewis Hamilton, Merсedes pilot

OUR REFERENCE

Formula 1 is a world championship in circuit racing in cars with open wheels. The Formula 1 World Championship is held every year and consists of separate Grand Prix stages. At the end of the year, the winner of the championship is identified. In Formula 1, both pilots and individual teams compete. The pilots compete for the title of champion and the teams - for the Constructors' Cup.

The 2016 World Championship involves 11 teams competing in 21 Grand Prix stages from March to November.