2016 European GP

The 8th race of the season takes us to Azerbaijan, a small country in Europe. This is F1's debut in Baku. The tire choices will be Supersoft, Soft, and Medium. Here are the headlines entering Baku.

Does Lewis Want Nico to Leave Mercedes?

You may have picked this up at the beginning of the race. After Vettel drove right on by both Mercedes, you may have noticed that Lewis did not take the corner even though he had no attack from the left. As he took the turn wide, he ran in to his teammate Nico Rosberg. Nico was forced to take the shortcut at turn 2 and he couldn't catch up the rest of the day. This might turn into something but I highly doubt it.

Brains at Ferrari?

Oh boy, Ferrari, what are you guys doing? This is the 2nd race this season where you did a terrible strategy that cost Sebastian Vettel the win. In Australia, they did not use the red flag period to their advantage. In Canada, there 2 stop strategy failed to help Vettel in the long run. Well, with this wildcard race, who knows what strategy will work.

How Close is the top 3 Teams?

Canada was, in my eyes, the turning of the tables on Mercedes. Ferrari and Red Bull both showed that they have the capability to fight the Mercedes team. Arguably, Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel should have won the race. Also, Max Verstappen was able to keep Nico Rosberg behind him without pulling any dirty moves.

What in the Hell Will Happen?

Baku will by far be the biggest question mark of the season. This is the first race for F1 in Baku. No one is certain what the tires will do. No one is sure about how the track will be driving wise. No one is sure about anything. Unless a massive rain race happens later on this season, this will be the biggest opportunity for a midfield team like McLaren, Force India, Haas, or Williams could steal the first win in Baku.

Here are numbers for the European GP.

1983: The first Euro GP, held in Brands Hatch

6: Baku will become the 6th different venue for the Euro GP

2012: Fernando Alonso won the last Euro GP

83.199: Ayrton Senna won the sole race at Donnington Park by 83.199 seconds

9: 9 drivers have only 1 win in the European GP

7.6 Meters: The width of the track from turns 8 to 11 in Baku

28 Meters: Baku is the lowest capital city below sea level

6.003 km: The 1 lap distance for a lap around Baku

Rosberg Snatches Pole, Perez Shocks Everyone

Nico Rosberg grabs the first ever pole in Baku with a Q3 time of 1:42.758. Hamilton crashed in Q3. However, the biggest story in qualifying was not a front runner. Sergio Perez shocked everyone by taking his Force India and putting it outside front row before a 5 spot grid penalty for a gearbox change.

Here is the starting lineup for the European GP:

Row 1: Rosberg - Perez (5-Spot grid penalty, will start 7th)
Row 2: Riccardo - Vettel
Row 3: Raikkonen - Massa
Row 4: Kvyat - Bottas
Row 5: Verstappen - Hamilton
Row 6: Grosjean - Hulkenburg
Row 7: Sainz - Alonso
Row 8: Gutierrez - Nasr (wait, a Sauber made Q2?)
Row 9: Haryanto - Wehrlein (wait, Manor was not the slowest?)
Row 10: Button - Ericsson
Row 11: Magnusson - Palmer

Good chance of Marussia points this weekend. Both cars missed out of Q2 by only 0.2 seconds, and were within 1 second of both Red Bulls. Hopefully this can push Marussia from minnow to mid-pack on a regular basis.

Spannerhead29 (Nelson) wrote:Good chance of Marussia points this weekend. Both cars missed out of Q2 by only 0.2 seconds, and were within 1 second of both Red Bulls. Hopefully this can push Marussia from minnow to mid-pack on a regular basis.

There a lot of teams that could score points this weekend. Hell, Sergio Perez could win this race.

The_Wall_91 wrote:

Spannerhead29 (Nelson) wrote:Good chance of Marussia points this weekend. Both cars missed out of Q2 by only 0.2 seconds, and were within 1 second of both Red Bulls. Hopefully this can push Marussia from minnow to mid-pack on a regular basis.

There a lot of teams that could score points this weekend. Hell, Sergio Perez could win this race.

He could if he didn't have a 5 place grid penalty. Even then, Mercedes' advantage has been larger here than at most tracks.

pennst24 wrote:

The_Wall_91 wrote:

Spannerhead29 (Nelson) wrote:Good chance of Marussia points this weekend. Both cars missed out of Q2 by only 0.2 seconds, and were within 1 second of both Red Bulls. Hopefully this can push Marussia from minnow to mid-pack on a regular basis.

There a lot of teams that could score points this weekend. Hell, Sergio Perez could win this race.

He could if he didn't have a 5 place grid penalty. Even then, Mercedes' advantage has been larger here than at most tracks.

It will lessen his chance but tire wear is going to be a major issue from what I have seen. Also, Vettel will be right behind Rosberg on the start. If he has another great start like he had in Canada, this will be a very interesting first turn.

Sainz and Magnussen both received 5-spot grid penalties for gearbox changes.

The_Wall_91 wrote:Red Bull: A rather head scratching strategy you tried

They had problems with tyre degradation - the super softs fell off almost immediately, and the softs only lasted about half the race. Their pace on the mediums was quite good - if only they went straight to them on the first stop...

The only thing more tragic then that race was Toyota losing Le Mans in the last 5 minutes this morning.

I actually thought it was alright. Good amount of on-track action, drivers punching above their weight, and things going wrong for Hamilton. Can't really ask for much more.

No points scored for HAAS that's shocking