Autobayng News Team
McLaren head to Azerbaijan with a chance to clinch the constructors’ championship. But they are also under scrutiny after their contentious decision to deploy team orders at Monza.
They could face tougher competition again this weekend. Max Verstappen was unstoppable at the last round and Charles Leclerc has an unparalleled ability to conjure up a pole position lap at this circuit.
Here are the talking points for this weekend’s race.
Five in a row for Leclerc?
Charles Leclerc can justifiably claim to be a bit of a Baku specialist, having taken pole position at this track for the last four races in a row. He was in particularly strong form last year, seeing off Piastri by over three tenths of a second.
The Ferrari driver has had one pole position already this year: his shock triumph in Hungary. But what he really wants and needs is a win.
The signs aren’t great, however. Ferrari are yet to win a race this year and the team were outgunned on home ground at Monza. Nor has Leclerc converted any of his previous Baku pole positions into victory. He came closest last year, but fell victim to a surprise attack by Piastri soon after their pit stops which left Leclerc second at the flag.
Will McLaren clinch the crown?
There is a strong chance McLaren will put a lock on their 10th constructors’ championship title this weekend. But while that looks like a foregone conclusion the drivers’ title fight is anything but.
The Italian Grand Prix highlighted the difficulties McLaren increasingly face in giving their two drivers what they consider is a fair and equal chance to fight for the championship. Their decision to instruct Oscar Piastri to let Norris overtake him was hotly contested, and although the driver obeyed the instruction he also questioned it.
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella subsequently said the team would reconsider whether the decision was in line with their philosophy of not unduly favouring either driver. They can expect to face questions over whether they will continue to handle similar situations in the same way.
Norris’s slow pit stop served as the trigger for McLaren’s contentious decision. The pit crew will feel added pressure to spare the team a repeat under similar circumstances again and any delay will be scrutinised for any hesitation on McLaren’s part to perform another Monza-style swap.
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Williams win over the stewards
Almost two weeks after Carlos Sainz Jnr and Liam Lawson made contact at Zandvoort the stewards admitted they had called the incident wrong. Prompted by a request for a review from Williams, the stewards have cancelled the driver’s two penalty points and rescinded their decision.
Sainz will no doubt feel vindicated, but will Lawson accept the decision or continue to insist his rival should bear all the blame? And are the other drivers happy the stewards now regard this type of collision as a ‘racing incident’?
Bearman’s ban danger
One driver who must be wishing his team had found grounds to challenge his latest penalty is Oliver Bearman. He was judged responsible for another incident, also involving Sainz, which the stewards seemed too eager to assign blame for instead of deeming a racing incident.
Haas let it go, however, and the upshot is Bearman collected another two penalty points on his licence, putting him on a total of 10. Two more would trigger an automatic race ban.
At this track last year he was called up to substitute for Kevin Magnussen when his predecessor was suspended for a race. But 12 months on Bearman is in danger of suffering the same fate.
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Are Red Bull back?
Max Verstappen’s victory at Monza two weeks ago felt like an unexpected flashback to 2023. The Red Bull driver was in total control, brushing Lando Norris aside to win as he pleased.
Was this the start of a late season resurgence from Red Bull and their star driver? Monza is a very particular type of circuit with extremely high-speed straights and mostly quick corners, so it isn’t necessarily a strong guide for the track to follow. That said there are two remaining tracks on the calendar which favour low-downforce set-ups and the Baku City Circuit is one of them.
It is quite different to Monza in other respects, however: its corners are mostly very low-speed and low in grip. But Red Bull’s strong top speed should stand Verstappen in good stead as the team seeks to discover whether the new set-up approach which worked so well two weeks ago will prove as effective again.
Baku was previously a particularly strong venue for Verstappen’s team mate Sergio Perez. This weekend will mark a full year since the last time Verstappen was out-qualified. Yuki Tsunoda needs to start producing results if he’s to stand a chance of holding on to his seat this weekend so his progress will be another key point of interest.
Slipstreams, slip-roads and slip-ups
With its huge straights, cramped run-off areas and looming barriers, Baku is the kind of track which can produce surprises. Norris discovered this the hard way last year when the briefest of yellow flags in qualifying cost him the chance to advance beyond Q1 and consigned him to a race from the back of the grid.
The field is even closer now than it was 12 months ago, so the value of a good ‘tow’ in qualifying will be higher still. The chance of a surprise early elimination in qualifying is high.
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Are you going to the Azerbaijan Grand Prix?
If you’re heading to Azerbaijan for this weekend’s race, we want to hear from you:
Who do you think will be the team to beat in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix? Have your say below.
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