Preview: The 2018 Azerbaijan Grand Prix

Sunday will mark the fourth Grand Prix of the 2018 season. And it's the start of the European stint so everything becomes a lot easier on the sleeping schedule! The race starts at 1:10pm (UK time). Enjoy the race weekend!

Last year was the maiden run for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Once again, in typical 2017 style, Lewis Hamilton started from pole position. But things weren’t so easy for the Brit. His head rest came loose and after trying multiple times to push it back down, he had to take an extra pit stop. This damaged his race and eventually, he finished in 5th, 1 place below Championship leader Sebastian Vettel.

Daniel Ricciardo started the race in 10th place. He had to pit on lap 6 to clean debris from his breaks. This dropped him back to 17th place. With some sublime overtakes and help from a red flag and safety car he managed to move up to 5th. Vettel had to take a 10 second stop/go penalty because he drove into Lewis Hamilton which ruined Vettel’s race. The Williams drivers then experienced issues allowing the Red Bull driver to take the win. If 2017 was this eventful, who knows what 2018 can bring up. 

1. Daniel Ricciardo 2:03:55.573

2. Valtteri Bottas        +3.904

3. Lance Stroll           +4.009

Expectations

After 1 and a half fantastic races so far this season, alongside the eventful race in Baku last year, the 2018 version in Azerbaijan has plenty to live up to. It’s almost a ‘must-win’ race for Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton in a push to close in on the Championship leader. Although it’s a street circuit, the straight is one of the fastest on the F1 calendar meaning Mercedes can’t rely too much on the Ferrari not being able to prance in the tight turns. 

Drivers have said in the week that the track is tighter than Monaco. With this, you can generally expect more retirements as there is less room for error. There were 7 retirements last season.

Ferrari has dominated the season so far and would probably have had a second podium at least if it wasn't for Verstappen. But this track is a lot different to what they’ve raced on so far in 2018. 

Williams performed really well at this track last year with Lance Stroll achieving his first podium and Massa wasn’t far off towards the end of the race baring a suspension problem ending his running. However, we don’t expect this performance to be repeated in 2018 as the team have really been struggling. The drivers are inexperienced and the car seems to be lacking any sort of pace. They are now the only team not score points.

McLaren also had a positive race in Baku last time out and with improvements since then, the expectation has mounted. It was only last week when Alonso was ironically complaining about the added pressure. But we expect both drivers to score points and perhaps a double Q3 for McLaren as they look to resolve the lack of pace in qualifying.

It’s forecast to be completely dry throughout the weekend. But with temperatures expected to be as much as 5 degrees cooler on Sunday, tyres could be hard to work out.

We predict that Sebastian Vettel will return to winning ways as the 1km straight will allow the Ferrari power to come through in full voice. But the Mercedes garage will be well prepared and whilst they will be closer to Vettel than they were in China, we still think a second place could be all they can muster.

Daniel Riccardo will still be buzzing from his race victory in China. And whilst he knows how to win here, it’ll be hard for him if there aren’t any safety cars. A 4th place finish will probably be seen as a bad weekend for the Red Bull team. It is just that competitive this season.

1. Sebastian Vettel

2. Lewis Hamilton

3.Valtteri Bottas

4. Daniel Ricciardo

5. Kimi Raikkonen

That's what we think that will happen, but what do you think? Let us know in the comment section below!