Adrian Newey to Aston Martin, but who will win in Baku? 2024 Azerbaijan GP Preview

[00:00:18] Guys, as this episode goes out, it's been hijacked by Aston Martin who have made sure that this

[00:00:25] Azerbaijan GP Preview is not exactly an Azerbaijan GP Preview. It becomes a preview of 2025,

[00:00:32] 6 and beyond because in that time period we will see Lance Stroll drive an Adrian Newey

[00:00:40] design car. It's not official yet at the time of recording but surely Kunal. I mean

[00:00:45] where else is he going to go? More than where else is he going to go? I'm also wondering

[00:00:49] what else could Aston Martin be announcing just a couple of hours before we record this

[00:00:59] episode but I know from my sources, in fact it's now all over the internet. It is an announcement

[00:01:04] they're not denying Adrian Newey joining the team which means they will confirm Adrian

[00:01:09] Newey joining the team unless they confirm that Yuki Sonoda will also join the team at

[00:01:15] some point in the future given that there is a strong Honda link as well. But exciting

[00:01:21] times and you know, it was always known that Adrian Newey is going to do something, he's

[00:01:27] going to pick up another challenge. He kept saying that there was this Leora Williams

[00:01:32] which is where his story actually started and went sour because of their management

[00:01:38] commitments to him not staying up. There was a story of could Mercedes take him or could Ferrari

[00:01:44] take him and Ferrari of course has already announced a change in their technical structure

[00:01:51] which was one of those hints saying, oh actually we're not taking him. And I guess it's now

[00:01:57] just down to Aston Martin. The one thing I am most curious about is will Adrian Newey

[00:02:03] get any shares? Will he get management? Will he get any ownership in the team? Because that's

[00:02:09] the best way for his legacy to continue in Formula One without relying on teams to jump

[00:02:17] jobs for if you get what I'm saying. Yeah, money is not the problem with Adrian Newey

[00:02:21] anymore is it? He's earned all there is to earn. He's also designed a road car as well

[00:02:26] which is his dream for ages but I'm not going to mention at least to him directly that

[00:02:31] his road car actually broke down with a very famous driver behind the wheel in Monaco. A

[00:02:37] driver who we feel is also going to be driving some more Adrian Newey cars down the line.

[00:02:42] Fernando Alonso, imagine that happening Alonso for the first time in his career

[00:02:48] who knows maybe he'll be there by then but he could be driving an Adrian Newey race car.

[00:02:55] I find this to be perfect. It's like Sachin Tendulkar and I don't know,

[00:03:01] Christiane Ronaldo playing together in a dream team of all you know. That is perfect. We've been

[00:03:06] waiting for this for ages but it's strange to see that it's never happened before

[00:03:09] until now and it's not a Lewis who gets Adrian. It's Fernando who does. Can you imagine the

[00:03:15] twist of fate? The one time Fernando Alonso chooses to stay with the team. The team

[00:03:22] actually turns for the better or at least hires people for the turn for better because

[00:03:27] Aston Martin now has a star, okay I'll put it this way. Aston Martin has a starier engineering

[00:03:36] lineup than a driver lineup in 2025. I don't want to get into the details of the driver lineup

[00:03:42] but my point is Mission 33 which is what we've been hyping all of last year

[00:03:50] could actually be closer than we ever imagined. Fernando Alonso himself, he must not be sleeping

[00:03:56] these nights dreaming about Adrian Newey and his designed cars already. I swear that is just

[00:04:05] mind-blowing, mind-blowing but wait, we need to get back to the whole question we posed at the start.

[00:04:11] Who is the worst driver to drive an Adrian Newey car? We figured out by when we say worst

[00:04:19] we don't necessarily mean the worst in terms of talent, just worse in terms of their tenure.

[00:04:23] I found three names Robert Dunbos who I forgot actually raced in Formula 1. He did a couple of

[00:04:31] races for Red Bull in 2006 which wasn't technically an Adrian Newey car remember because he only

[00:04:38] came in the February of 2006 so I'm going to give Robert the benefit of the doubt. There was

[00:04:43] obviously Mauricio Gugelmin, Brazilian driver, raced in Formula 1 for three seasons, won a race

[00:04:48] in Chamcar as well. His stint in Formula 1 wasn't quite started but when he was with Adrian Newey at

[00:04:54] March he wasn't quite breaking the world apart with his talents but then there's also Danieque Fiat

[00:04:59] who let's not forget has got many podiums but has a nasty reputation of being a bit of a

[00:05:04] crashy driver if that's the way to put it but his talents were evident. I am conflicted Kunal.

[00:05:11] Statistically, Lance Stroll would have more points, podiums raced starts than Robert and

[00:05:16] Mauricio. Would it be fair to put Lance as potentially soon to be the worst driver to drive

[00:05:22] in an Adrian Newey car? I mean too harsh on a Tuesday. Come on. You are and to all those

[00:05:27] Canadian fans who love Lance Stroll at least the ones who tell me on Twitter that they're

[00:05:33] big fans of Lance Stroll which is all of five people but no I'll tell you what there's one

[00:05:38] more worst driver who has driven an Adrian Newey car and mind you you said driven an

[00:05:45] Adrian Newey car not raced one Christian Horner drove in place of Sebastian Fettel at the Goodwood

[00:05:52] this year so that Lance is one step ahead he at least made it to Formula One in Martin

[00:05:58] Bronnbls words right two steps because Adrian Newey himself drove an Adrian Newey car the

[00:06:03] Williams FW 14 B and he spun it around and couldn't get it to go fast that's number two

[00:06:07] so he's he's in decent company being faster than Christian Horner and Adrian Newey

[00:06:12] he's on paper is a good thing yes it is not bad but great announcement great coup by

[00:06:19] Lawrence Stroll and you know some of his always turned around and said I am in Formula One with

[00:06:28] my heart with my brains and with my wallet and is he on his way to buying a world championship

[00:06:38] for his son is he making a mockery of that whole more the money the faster you go phrase which is

[00:06:45] you know always been a part of motorsport and I'll put it this way imagine that there is actually

[00:06:50] genuinely a super quick race car which is always something that Adrian Newey has done especially

[00:06:56] just before the start of a new era he's always had the he's always had the upper hand going

[00:07:01] into a new era of Formula One right which is what's happening in 26 they've got the Honda Power

[00:07:06] unit of course Fernando Alonso also has a contract till end of 26 okay but what if they just decide

[00:07:13] at some point damn this is a fast car it's like the RB 19 from last year it's winning over everyone

[00:07:20] by 30 40 seconds we just need to get rid of Fernando and the higher say Nikita Mazepin next

[00:07:27] to Lance Stroll or higher I don't know any other driver who Lance doesn't feel or so just

[00:07:33] so guess he's not can you know at who who partnered with Lance at Williams several years ago

[00:07:39] and they just try and win the championship with Lance anything can happen if if they're able to

[00:07:44] buy Adrian Newey okay to that driver lineup and Adrian Newey mind you said there are two

[00:07:52] drivers I want to work with and I'm not want to but I wish I had worked with was Lewis Hamilton

[00:07:57] Fernando Alonso he's getting Fernando Alonso but if you'd have asked him who are the drivers

[00:08:01] you don't want to work with maybe you would have found the other Aston Martin driver's name on that

[00:08:07] not publicly of course I'm being harsh we all are we all are but I want to loop this around to

[00:08:15] your experiences and by the way folks this is a good time for an introduction this is the

[00:08:20] inside line F1 podcast and the reason why I saw Malarora bring up Kunal Shah's experiences

[00:08:26] is because Kunal was previously the former marketing head of the team that is today known as the Aston

[00:08:32] Martin Formula 1 Racing Team Force India today Kunal is working as a TV expert at the biplane

[00:08:37] network in Norway while I am being the official commentator presenter for the motor GP Indian

[00:08:43] Grand Prix for the Indian Racing League Indian Supercross League and so on and so forth and we're

[00:08:48] also missing Sundaram F1 stats guru for this episode as well who's done wonders in the world

[00:08:53] of stats and in social media content creation part of the WTF1 talent roster too but looping it

[00:08:58] back to Kunal looping it back to his experiences Kunal this is your team the team that you used

[00:09:04] to work for I know it's not the same factory it's been rebuilt at the same location adjacent I

[00:09:10] heard but it's it's in essence the same people I know a lot of the people at the top might

[00:09:16] have changed but lots of the people working on the engineering side and the technical side

[00:09:21] on the race strategy side people carry on and people stay the same how about your sentiments

[00:09:26] are finally getting a renewing to the silveston team especially considering that when you were there

[00:09:31] your former bosses actually wanted him in that team but exactly I think I think it you know

[00:09:39] Lauren Stroll has actually delivered on two big dreams that Vijay Malia and Subrata Roy had

[00:09:44] when the team was called for Cindya and racing point so what were those dreams okay first was to

[00:09:51] buy that plot of land and then put up a new factory because when for Cindya was running we

[00:09:56] were actually running in the in the same factory where Jordan Grand Prix was running and its

[00:10:01] subsequent outers that followed which was Spiker and Midland okay we were using the same tools

[00:10:07] that Jordan had put in place at the same Eddie Jordan who's also by the way the manager

[00:10:12] for Adrian Newey so while Adrian Newey makes money Eddie Jordan makes a part of that money in this

[00:10:17] Aston Martin deal that will soon be announced so the first dream was buying that pot of plot of land

[00:10:24] we always had it in our sights to expand to get a bigger facility of course this meant a

[00:10:30] capital investment which we couldn't or at least the owners couldn't put or commit at that

[00:10:34] point of time in their cycles of being team owners so that was one and the second

[00:10:40] is what we've actually covered in my force India stories podcast series episode some of

[00:10:46] which you've nicely brought up where Subrata Roy who was the chairman of the force India formula one

[00:10:51] team actually said what's it going to take for us to hire Adrian Newey and one thing of course

[00:10:59] was the money but the second thing was giving him the tools giving him the right set of people

[00:11:03] to work with giving him the right set of drivers to work with and I believe that at Aston Martin

[00:11:11] that is definitely that is something that the team and Lauren stroll have specifically put together

[00:11:19] and this is why I believe Adrian Newey is only going to make that team and car go faster let's

[00:11:24] see let's wait and see how things eventually play out but it's such a big hire and I also feel

[00:11:29] that there's more potential when you consider the fact that there's a manufacturer involved it's

[00:11:34] a new factory the right people has an air of optimism but if they are a serious racing team

[00:11:39] they'll go for two serious racing drivers I think we should carry on the discussion on further

[00:11:44] to the next point which is what's it going to be like for the team that loses Adrian Newey

[00:11:50] Kanal because this weekend at Baku we're coming into what could be one of the last few circuits

[00:11:56] where Red Bull have conventionally been very good because all the conventional racetracks your

[00:12:00] circuit of the Americas your Qatar your Abu Dhabi these are places where McLaren will theoretically

[00:12:07] be faster because all similar circuits in the year previously they have been dominant you take

[00:12:12] Hungary as an example you take Spa where McLaren were faster but then eventually Mercedes ended

[00:12:17] up getting the win because of the race-based management and McLaren goofing up qualifying

[00:12:21] these sort of areas are places where Red Bull used to be dominant until last year

[00:12:26] but aren't quite this year Baku is a place that fits into their zone but when we spoke to helmet

[00:12:33] Marco earlier on the podcast a couple of weeks ago he gave us a very big piece of insight about

[00:12:38] how Red Bull are just not able to make their car work and I am now confused Kanal because

[00:12:44] long straights low downforce high top speeds full commitment that sounds like a Red Bull

[00:12:50] racing and Max Verstappen circuit but we were discussing before this episode if there's one

[00:12:54] thing we know for sure it's that Max could well not be the winner here in fact and I challenge

[00:13:00] every single Formula 1 fan who's listening to this or even not listening to this episode

[00:13:06] we are actually going into a racing weekend literally not knowing which team and driver

[00:13:13] could be on pole and which team and driver could score a win and let's let's actually dissect

[00:13:17] this you very nicely explained Red Bull's challenges Helmut Marcos explained how ever since

[00:13:23] China they've found that there are tools that are probably not correlating and that performance is

[00:13:29] just not there in their car and we've seen the drop-off Max Verstappen for the first time

[00:13:34] hasn't won six races on the trot and I believe this last happened like maybe in 2020 or something

[00:13:40] okay the reason why it's crucial to explain why we don't know which team is actually going

[00:13:46] to win is you know Ferrari themselves they've scored four pole positions here or three poles and one

[00:13:52] sprint pole yeah but scored no win and you know Charlotte Claire actually joked that after winning

[00:13:58] in Monaco you know they had the first four worst four races that followed after so they want to

[00:14:06] make sure that after winning in Monza last time they don't have their worst results following

[00:14:11] them as well when it comes to Mercedes if they find the sweet spot like you've explained

[00:14:15] in Spa or the other places where they did and if it's a little cooler okay they could suddenly

[00:14:22] be in the reckoning as well and McLaren who's got that all-round you know performing car both on

[00:14:29] Saturday and on Sunday I yet to figure how to score 100% of all the wins they possibly can even

[00:14:37] though Zach Brown has said he's really hopeful that the team is able to challenge for wins at

[00:14:43] every round this season every pending round this season which literally means that yes there we go

[00:14:50] we have no clue who could win this weekend yeah and Ferrari but let's just put it this way

[00:14:59] Ferrari have a great track record of not being the best follow-up team after getting a race

[00:15:04] win let me tell you a few interesting numbers and stories after they were in Monaco earlier this

[00:15:10] year in Montreal where were Ferrari P11 and P12 in qualifying both of their cars retired from the

[00:15:18] race just one race after they got a famous win in Monaco the year before that when Ferrari won

[00:15:25] with actually not the year before that a few races ago that before that Carlos signs in

[00:15:30] Australia after he won in Japan Ferrari went there P3 and P4 they were 20 seconds away

[00:15:37] from Max Verstappen that was their follow-up answer to their win in Australia then Japan 2023 after

[00:15:43] Carlos signs won in Singapore what was their follow-up act they were P4 and P6 6.5 tenths of a

[00:15:50] second away from Max Verstappen in pole position the race gap that's a different story altogether

[00:15:56] they are a tough team for follow-up acts and the interesting part is

[00:16:00] Baku is precisely one of those races that Ferrari have tweaked or tinkered their car to be better at

[00:16:07] hear me out why their technical director start of the year said we need to be better at our tire

[00:16:13] management we need to be better in all-round scenarios where our car is able to be as fast

[00:16:17] as it is but be better at managing the tires without chewing them up in Monza they did that

[00:16:22] to perfection why did they win against McLaren it was not the raw pace McLaren's were clearly

[00:16:26] faster but they were able to make their tires go on for longer and then they've also gotten a much

[00:16:31] more optimized rear wing from what we hear which is helping them reach more top speeds but this

[00:16:37] whole discussion all comes down to Baku which Kunal is not known to be a very high abrasion or

[00:16:42] a high degradation track where tire management does not matter as much as it does in a Monza

[00:16:48] where we have high top speeds high commitment low drag which is what worked for Ferrari

[00:16:53] but then on the opposite there is also a team like Red Bull who has aced this circuit they have

[00:16:59] the most successful driver in the history of Baku in Sergio Perez who has 2.5 wins including that

[00:17:05] sprint one last year and also a brilliant podium courtesy of his four Cindy and A's and I just

[00:17:11] can't I just can't figure out who's where and given the track conditions as you mentioned if

[00:17:16] it's cooler which it's not forecast to be on Sunday it's about 28 degrees ambient Mercedes

[00:17:20] could also be in the mix and their new floor will finally be tested this weekend it's all so many

[00:17:27] so many permutations like realistically this is the place where we have eight different

[00:17:31] drivers contending for the win not seven eight absolutely Checo Perez is the king of the streets

[00:17:38] of Baku the only driver with two wins two only driver to have multiple wins

[00:17:45] in in Baku most podiums so he's got two wins of course he's got five podiums he could score his

[00:17:52] 40th podium in Formula 1 this weekend and of course hence his 30th podium with Red Bull racing

[00:18:00] and here's of course to balance out all the good you know because after Logan Sargent

[00:18:06] has been replaced by Franco Colapinto in Monza Checo Perez is the only driver amongst

[00:18:12] all the driver pairings to have never out qualified his teammate in 2024 so he will be looking to use

[00:18:19] all his might all his love for Baku to correct some of these stats if he possibly can do so

[00:18:26] but you mentioned you mentioned about the circuit it's a very very beautiful circuit

[00:18:31] some of the key terms we are going to you know sort of hear all weekend is land of fire and

[00:18:39] how there's this fire burning in one part of the world in in Azerbaijan for over 65 years because of

[00:18:45] the gases coming from the ground Baku will be known as a city or wins I know Somil is waiting to make

[00:18:51] fun of those advertising boards well done Baku if they do come up but something something that we

[00:18:59] should keep in mind from a circuit point of view and this is the data that Pirelli has shared

[00:19:03] so asphalt abrasion on a scale of one to five where one is the lowest and five is the maximum

[00:19:10] is just one so a street circuit with not a lot of degradation it's the the the requirements are

[00:19:18] mainly for the right rear tire because lots of right-handed corners most of them turning left

[00:19:25] especially in the first third of the circuit so traction requirements are five on five literally

[00:19:32] downforce requirements are just two on five and that's a that's an interesting part which we will

[00:19:37] get into and the tire stresses are also you know three on five or two and a half on five so

[00:19:43] the the point is we are going to go to a circuit which is hot with less

[00:19:46] adabration but not needing too much tire management which is crucial and and also one more thing

[00:19:53] Somil track evolution it's a street circuit it's got support races okay which means that the

[00:20:00] track evolution especially between sessions that the track is even open to public okay for driving so

[00:20:07] track evolution is going to be very high come qualifying as well but you know the one thing we

[00:20:14] should sort of keep our eyes out on and I'm just going through my notes as we do that is

[00:20:19] this is one of those races where statistically poll doesn't guarantee you a win yeah and I sort

[00:20:25] of love that okay so in the last seven races only two have been one from pole position and three have

[00:20:33] been one from the front row and in 2017 Daniel Ricardo won from 10th place yes and I'm sure

[00:20:42] you remember that one overtake where it overtook like three cars entering into turn one exactly

[00:20:49] and in this I mean given this whole thing given how Baku is such an easy place to overtake where

[00:20:56] racing is going to be so good it just makes me wonder just who will be the winner here I can't

[00:21:04] tell there's just so many variables I want to say max because the Red Bull works best in a straight

[00:21:09] line with low downforce but then last weekend he had engine issues and according to him they

[00:21:14] have to rebuild the whole car how good is that car going to be in that case Mercedes is their

[00:21:20] floor working are they going to be good in the hot conditions Ferrari is their floor working

[00:21:25] because they got there I know I'm stressing on the floor quite a fair bit but it's a fun point

[00:21:30] Ferrari introduced a new floor back for the Spanish GP that didn't work so they reverted

[00:21:37] back to the Imola configuration and they came with a stop cap in Hungary that was just meant

[00:21:42] to fix the poppers and issues that it caused and then now in Monza they came with a new upgraded

[00:21:46] floor that finally seemingly did the trick but according to Fred Viser they can't tell because

[00:21:51] Monza has an outlier so then you go to Baku that's true and I think Baku is also sort of an

[00:21:57] outlier because when we look at the its high speed and like you explained from turn 16 the

[00:22:09] 2.2 kilometers long straight right which I think is beautiful and to keep it in perspective all of

[00:22:17] Monaco is 3.3 kilometers long okay so this is one straight which is which is so long and that also

[00:22:23] causes a lot of engineering headaches do you set up to be optimal on the high speed straights

[00:22:29] okay and sacrifice the corners or do you know set up for better cornering performance

[00:22:34] and then be like a sitting duck on the high speed straight so that's interesting

[00:22:39] another thing safety car always in the mix something happens in but something always

[00:22:45] happens in Baku and it always does if I can just sort of rephrase the great Murray Walker

[00:22:52] because you know there are race topages and we've got to remember when there's a safety car

[00:22:58] restart that long straight actually causes headache for a lot of people and I think Somal this is one

[00:23:05] of the best you know best Herman Tilkay designed circuits it's got a mix of it's got a mix of

[00:23:14] Monza with super high speed long straights okay and you can literally take three cars in two

[00:23:21] one we've seen that several times and then you've got a mix of Monaco in the old street

[00:23:29] old city where literally I think it's just 7. something meters long so hardly a car and a

[00:23:35] half can go through the old street so maybe that's that's a hint or maybe that's that's you know

[00:23:41] which was a team that won in Monaco and which was a team that won in Monza and could they win at

[00:23:45] circuit which is the mix of Monaco and Monza I agree with you if I had to put my money on a team

[00:23:51] winning this weekend it would be Ferrari and that is the exact reason why they won in Monza

[00:23:57] which is the closest circuit to sector one and sector three long straights lots of medium speed

[00:24:02] corners and they weren't Monaco which is also the closest circuit to sector two in Baku which

[00:24:08] is low speed slow turn-ins lots of left right corners where you've got to be nimble which

[00:24:13] is where Ferrari have been good which is where Leclerc has been good the guy has had pole position here

[00:24:19] in every qualifying session since 2021 21 qualifying 22 qualifying 23 qualifying at 23 sprint as well

[00:24:27] that's four in a row I'm going to be putting my money on Leclerc and the reason why I'm not going

[00:24:32] McLaren is because McLaren traditionally have proven to be faster around conventional circuits

[00:24:37] with lots of medium to high downforce and particularly long corners that's where they

[00:24:43] really find themselves doing very well look at Hungary as an example they were absolutely

[00:24:48] untouchable over there and this makes it a very interesting point Baku has the grand total of

[00:24:54] how many long corners I can't remember one McLaren could be in a soup here this weekend

[00:25:00] especially when they're notoriously known to be one of the not so good teams in terms of

[00:25:05] straight line performance just because the way the cars optimize for their downforce packages

[00:25:09] we've seen that on the speed trap so many times the McLaren's will often be in the in the second

[00:25:14] half but they'll be faster in the quicker corners so I in my head am so confused about who really

[00:25:19] is going to be the top team here is it Ferrari, Red Bull, Mercedes, McLaren what's the order

[00:25:24] like okay make a choice I'm gonna go Leclerc for the win again I'm gonna go with Ferrari

[00:25:30] for being competitive I am not choosing which driver for the win I get a feeling McLaren will

[00:25:37] still be the ones battling two things now we're gonna keep an eye on with regards to McLaren is

[00:25:44] Lando Norris's start again whether he's on Paul or not will he still lose positions on the opening

[00:25:51] lap okay Baku is one of those tough circuits where it is very easy to lose position very

[00:25:58] easy to lose a front wing sometimes rear tire all of it on the opening lap you've got to be careful

[00:26:04] and then the second is this whole hype between Monza and now there's been this you know section

[00:26:11] of fans on Twitter and social media saying McLaren are silly and this has been led by Will

[00:26:15] Buxton of course and I don't sort of disagree with him but you know it's about McLaren

[00:26:21] using team orders blatant give that opportunity to Lando Norris and let him score the win and let

[00:26:28] him score maximum points and he would have been closer to max yes all of that is true but Piazzari

[00:26:34] hasn't been so far away that they would demoralize you know him by just asking him to move over

[00:26:41] let's remember that and I actually asked some of these fans why do you want

[00:26:45] McLaren to use team orders and the silliest answer was we want a new we want a different

[00:26:51] world champion and that's not a reason why you should you should want team orders for but anyway

[00:26:57] so let's see how many points is Lando Norris able to you know get or break into Max Wish

[00:27:06] Tappan's lead at some 62 odd points and and you know if Max is qualifying in the midfield

[00:27:13] which is possible unless you know they tell check or to give him a tow which is also possible

[00:27:18] that opening lap in the midfield is a million dollar you know in expenses because you have a lot of

[00:27:27] these I think there's there's a left turn and there's a left turn and the three left right

[00:27:33] handed corners all of them capable of damaging your car on the opening lap and remember Russell

[00:27:40] and Verstappan were fighting here I think just a year ago and they made contact and they had a few

[00:27:45] words it was around those same corners it's called the street fight circuit at least by me for a reason

[00:27:52] because you often tend to see street fights like that and also drivers locking up going inside

[00:27:59] a certain runoff area and then being unable to reverse which can also be a thing because

[00:28:03] sometimes it's just a hard place to do you might also see some really cool J turns this

[00:28:08] weekend and that's something that's really incredible some drivers just go in like wettled it

[00:28:12] spin the car around and then just able to go back it's a spectacle in every sense of the way

[00:28:17] but wait a minute which which reminds me Baku actually has given us a lot of memories

[00:28:23] in just seven races that it's hosted for us it just that you just mentioned a driver

[00:28:30] missing a breaking point going straight up magic button Lewis Hamilton that's what comes to my

[00:28:35] mind yes then in 2021 wasn't it max wish tappan who had a blowout yes yes the tire blew out no

[00:28:46] wasn't that botter so had the blowout botter's also probably had one but max wish tappan was leading

[00:28:52] the race you're right and he had a blowout yes but I said a puncture and just before that

[00:28:57] land stroll had a blowout as well okay remember that and then land strolls scored a podium here

[00:29:03] I think in the opening race no 17 17 where he was second but botter's slipstreamed his way through

[00:29:11] to p2 and then stroll finished third in the Williams Mercedes and then Daniel Riccardo winning 2017

[00:29:19] from 10th Daniel Riccardo and max wish tappan going into turn one

[00:29:25] underneath each other or whatever you call it which was I believe no the 2017 race was where

[00:29:32] they had Lewis and Sebastian clashing and then Lewis yeah headrest popping out and then Lewis having

[00:29:36] to fall forcefully boxed because of that and then Riccardo in 10th getting the win as a result

[00:29:41] and then Betel getting a penalty for his collision it's ah and we're not done yet because there was

[00:29:47] also Roman Grosjean hitting the wall and that famous radio message yes Ericsson hate us

[00:29:55] I was his engineer by the way people think it's Grosjean yeah yeah yeah it was his engineer

[00:30:01] they blame it on him for absolutely no reason but there was more Leclerc crashing I believe in 2019

[00:30:07] hitting the wall I'm stupid I'm stupid and he did it again in 2020 didn't he or something

[00:30:13] but then since then he's been a master of Baku yeah I mean his qualifying laps have been

[00:30:17] unbelievable around here and what else did we have in 21 we had that phenomenal race 22

[00:30:25] was a bit of a dull one 23 we had so many incredible fights with Sergio eventually getting the win

[00:30:31] hey 22 wasn't that Sergio's last win of the year uh oh yeah that was his last one of the year and

[00:30:37] then 23 was his last ever win in formula one yet correct yeah wow wow yes okay so you've picked

[00:30:48] the Ferrari drivers I'm now going to force you to pick anyone actually no way before we go to

[00:30:53] our final predictions there's another Ferrari driver we need to be talking about and it's Oliver

[00:30:58] Bearman he's going to be making his Haas debut this weekend and it's going to be a really

[00:31:04] interesting story because from what we hear actually what's bearman like in formula 2 kanal

[00:31:11] you follow on a formula 2 is he the elbows out nudgee racer driver that Haas tends to like

[00:31:17] because when we saw him in Saudi Arabia we couldn't tell a lot about that is he

[00:31:21] in spirit a Haas driver I would say he's either way he's by contract a Haas driver I would say

[00:31:28] I don't believe his formula 2 season has gone as well as anyone would have imagined let alone him

[00:31:35] his own self but I guess he was just pushed by Ferrari and packed by Ferrari to get that

[00:31:42] seed into Haas much as Antoneli was given that push by Mercedes to get that seat at

[00:31:48] Mercedes right and sometimes you just need these kind of moves in such kind of teams

[00:31:54] and people backing you to see you all the way through till formula one giving you a break

[00:31:59] and I would say I was impressed more by bearman in formula 2 last year than this year

[00:32:05] and then it's very easy for people to say from the outside oh Prema's not got formula 2 right

[00:32:10] but hey there are so there are so many discrepancies in formula 2 even between teammates

[00:32:16] and I'd rather not say more but it's just where where it lies so I'm glad he's there he did

[00:32:22] really well in Jeddah in that Ferrari which was a leading car I would say especially in the first

[00:32:28] half of the year first three four races of the year for yeah first four races before Miami Ferrari

[00:32:34] was challenging Red Bull and nobody else and because McLaren still hadn't brought their

[00:32:39] Miami upgrade if you remember so it'll be good to see how he goes in a midfield and

[00:32:44] like I said you know the midfield opening lap in Baku is always one which is damaging

[00:32:51] from from a budget cap point of view as well yeah for bearman it's going to be some task this

[00:32:57] weekend to survive and take Kevin Magnuson's place who's finally gotten the ban it was a matter of

[00:33:03] when not if it's finally happened and we're going to see this bearman debut early on

[00:33:08] but a short word on the midfield as well I don't want to be a midfield driver this

[00:33:13] weekend Kunal it's going to be so much volatility and I just feel this is where

[00:33:20] it's going to be such a big test for Franco Colapinto because this is one of those circuits

[00:33:25] where Williams has to do really well where there's volatility around where there's not so much

[00:33:29] tire where lots of long straights which plays into their historic car characteristic which is

[00:33:34] good on the straights bad everywhere else it is going to be a fun weekend to see

[00:33:39] how much a team like Williams can get out of it especially because Williams is you know clearly

[00:33:47] trying to make sure that they recover they've not had the best of seasons they've had you

[00:33:53] know Logan Sargent needing to be replaced and teams like you know teams like Aston Martin teams

[00:33:59] like Haas just seem to have had a better run Aston Martin in fact has been top six in every

[00:34:06] race held in Baku so could it be that the weekend they announce is actually one of those weekends

[00:34:11] where they have a strong result with both their cars and you since spoke of the midfield Yuki

[00:34:17] Sonoda has been top eight in qualifying in his three previous visits in Baku and

[00:34:25] Logan not Logan sorry George Russell could actually clinch his qualifying head to head

[00:34:31] against Lewis Hamilton this weekend if he goes 12-4 that's it Lewis would have been outqualified

[00:34:37] or Lewis cannot win the qualifying head to head battle against George Russell so lots of things

[00:34:44] to look forward to this weekend for all the McLaren fans they've had 13 podiums in 24 12 race

[00:34:51] streak of being on the podium since China for the first time since 2012 and Lewis Hamilton

[00:34:57] left the team and crucially Norris has outqualified Oscar Piazzari in the last eight races okay

[00:35:08] and McLaren could if they do score a 1-2 in the race on Sunday could score their 50th overall

[00:35:15] 1-2 finish in formula one but they've never had a top four finish in Baku before but that

[00:35:24] comes with a caveat because in the last four or five years if there's one race that's literally

[00:35:29] moved around in the calendar the most it's Baku we are in September this year and next year but

[00:35:35] I think last year it was June the year before that was April yeah so they're just sort of

[00:35:42] like I would probably race twice in Baku first half of the year and second half of the year as

[00:35:47] well I agree I agree it is one of the best races to go racing and we're gonna find that

[00:35:54] out this weekend uh man okay final predictions I'm going to look like hated because my heart

[00:36:00] obviously belongs to Carlos but you cannot deny how good Charles is at this circuit in particular

[00:36:07] who are you going for please say signs come on let's just keep the equilibrium right

[00:36:12] that's what the mates do I would say Oscar Piazzari are you seriously backing McLaren

[00:36:18] for the win here yes I think I think McLaren is going to come good and I think it's going to be PS3

[00:36:25] I think you know in the last five races he's scored the same number of points as Landon Orris

[00:36:31] so the step he's the step up he's made mid season has been incredible and that's what is

[00:36:37] that's one of my key reasons to be like no there should be no team orders at McLaren

[00:36:44] I agree I agree there shouldn't let's say PS3 for me it's going to be Leclerc

[00:36:50] PS3 for Kunal Leclerc for me what are your thoughts and your predictions let us know down in

[00:36:56] not the comments the comments only if you're watching on YouTube if you are listening to us on

[00:37:00] any other podcasting platform the way you can reach out to us is through our social media

[00:37:04] platforms and then we'll just have a fun time talking about F1 over there as well but folks

[00:37:10] that's been all from us for the preview of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix

[00:37:14] we'll be back with the review episode on Monday so make sure you've got your ringer and your

[00:37:18] alerts on we can't wait to share what the race was like with you take care everyone bye bye thank

[00:37:24] you for listening