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2019 Azerbaijan Thoughts

THE BIG PICTURE: And now it's Bottas on top, once again thanks to that fastest lap point in Australia. So, is this really going to be a two-driver battle? We're skeptical, but hopeful. Because it certainly doesn't look like it's going to be a two team battle.

EVENT: What a colossal joke Friday was. A manhole cover comes loose destroying George Russell's car. (Did you see the track worker trying to put the manhole cover back in place? And then jumping on it to keep it in place? Yeah, that's going to work just fine...) The flatbed smashing into the advertising bridge dumping hydraulic fluid over Russell's car. In F2, two marshals pushing the car in front of the rear tires, so when the car starts up, they inevitably get run over. The Keystone Cops Grand Prix.

TRACK: The official information states the track's capacity is 18,500. That's it. There are high school events which get more than that.

QUALIFYING: The session which seemingly would never end thanks to Kubica then Leclerc; once again, somehow, Ferrari can't get it done when it counts after being fastest all weekend; once again Bottas pips Hamilton; Giovinazzi and Kvyat do great; Hulkenberg and Grosjean do not.

RACE: We should have known. Every single driver during every single pre-race interview said the key to Baku was to stay out of trouble and take advantage of other driver's problems. Well, if they all know to stay out of trouble, guess what? There's nobody left to cause problems. Ergo, nothing happened. Hopefully next year, they will all forget...

START: An amazingly clean start and first lap, a riveting Mercedes battle for first place, a great start by Ricciardo, Perez, and Norris, not so much for Leclerc.

BOTTAS: The perfect Baku redemption.

HAMILTON: How much longer before Lewis stops his niceties towards Bottas and starts playing head games?

OCON: Esteban, perhaps it's time to start looking for a different team...

MERCEDES: Sandbaggers extraordinaire.

VETTEL: Yeah, he was in the race.

LECLERC: Despite all the hype -- deservedly so -- over Charles, he is still young and will make the -- in his words -- "stupid" mistake. Which is why Ferrari tends not to take young, upcoming drivers. But Leclerc's upside was too good to pass up. He will deliver ... in time.

FERRARI: Their strategy, especially with Leclerc, was really all they could do. No criticism this time. They just weren't fast enough.

VERSTAPPEN: Grabbing the positions the top two teams are willing to give him.

GASLY: Speed wise, he was better. But, too many other issues preventing Pierre from doing anything.

HONDA: The engine is simply just not up to par just yet.

PEREZ: No surprise Sergio is the best of the rest at Baku, a track he always does well on.

STROLL: Still no Q2, but a lot better in the race.

SAINZ: Did his part for the team.

NORRIS: Another strong weekend.

MCLAREN: Suddenly, McLaren is fourth in the standings. Barely, but still...

RAIKKONEN: A fine drive from pit lane.

GIOVINAZZI: A not so fine drive from the back.

HAAS: Picture Mario Andretti saying, "No, speed! No, speed!"

KVYAT: This time Daniil was torpedoed.

RICCIARDO: Daniel, the first thing they teach you in Driver's Ed -- always look in your mirrors before backing up.

WILLIAMS: Well, look at it this way. It can't possibly get worse. Can it...?

F2: All the wild and crazy (and stupid) driving was in F2.

WORD OF THE WEEKEND: Incompetence.

STAT OF THE WEEKEND: 0 -- The number of safety cars at Baku, of all places. Though, there was one totally unnecessary virtual safety car. Just like a NASCAR yellow.

HISTORICAL STAT OF THE WEEKEND: Lots of talk about this being the best start for a team in F1 history. Depending on how you measure that, it's either true or false. You be the judge. In 1988, McLaren-Honda won 15 of 16 races, including the first 11. They did not, however, take 1-2 in the first race, never mind the first four. Alain Prost won at Brazil while Gerhard Berger in a Ferrari took second. In the second race, San Marino, McLaren took 1-2, won by Ayrton Senna with Prost in second. They also took 1-2, in the opposite order, in the fourth race, Mexico. So, just a 50% 1-2 rate in the first four races.

QUOTE OF THE WEEKEND: Daniel Ricciardo, dripping with sarcasm, when he posted the original slogan from the Azerbaijan organizers after the debacle of FP1, "Well done Baku."

QUOTE OF THE WEEKEND RUNNERUP: Lewis Hamilton also weighed in on the FP1 debacle, "How could they have not checked and sealed the drains? Oh well, just gives me extra time to catch up on Game of Thrones."

SCHEDULE: Back to the site of all the winter testing which Ferrari dominated -- Barcelona. This time, Ferrari really will be the car to beat. No, really. It's Ferrari's race to dominate. Guaranteed. You can take it to the bank. Why are you laughing?!

Copyright © 2019 by Deep Throttle. All Rights Reserved.



RACE RESULTS
  Driver Laps
1. Bottas 51
2. Hamilton 51
3. Vettel 51
4. Verstappen 51
5. Leclerc 51
6. Perez 51
7. Sainz 51
8. Norris(R) 51
9. Stroll 51
10. Raikkonen 50
11. Albon(R) 50
12. Giovinazzi(R) 50
13. Magnussen 50
14. Hulkenberg 50
15. Russell(R) 49
16. Kubica 49
NC Gasly 38
NC Grosjean 38
NC Kvyat 33
NC Ricciardo 31

Time of Race
1:31:52.942

Margin of Victory
1.524 sec.

Virtual Safety Car
1 for 2 laps

Lead Changes
3 among 3 drivers

Lap Leaders
Valtteri Bottas, Charles Leclerc, Lewis Hamilton

Fastest Race Lap
Charles Leclerc

Pole Position
Valtteri Bottas

CURRENT STANDINGS
  Driver Pts.
1. Bottas 87
2. Hamilton 86
3. Vettel 52
4. Verstappen 51
5. Leclerc 47
6. Perez 13
  Gasly 13
  Raikkonen 13
9. Norris(R) 12
10. Magnussen 8
11. Hulkenberg 6
  Sainz 6
  Ricciardo 6
14. Stroll 4
15. Albon(R) 3
16. Kvyat 1

  Team Pts.
1. Mercedes 173
2. Ferrari 99
3. Red Bull 64
4. McLaren 18
5. Racing Point 17
6. Alfa Romeo 13
7. Renault 12
8. Haas 8
9. Toro Rosso 4
 
 

2024 Thoughts
Bahrain Saudi Arabia Australia Japan
China Miami Emilia Romagna Monaco
Canada Spain Austria Great Britain
Hungary Belgium Holland Italy
Azerbaijan Singapore United States Mexico City
Sao Paulo Las Vegas Qatar Abu Dhabi

2023 Thoughts
Bahrain Saudi Arabia Australia Azerbaijan
Miami Emilia Romagna Monaco Spain
Canada Austria Great Britain Hungary
Belgium Holland Italy Singapore
Japan Qatar United States Mexico City
Sao Paulo Las Vegas Abu Dhabi

2022 Thoughts
Bahrain Saudi Arabia Australia Emilia Romagna
Miami Spain Monaco Azerbaijan
Canada Great Britain Austria France
Hungary Belgium Holland Italy
Singapore Japan United States
Mexico City Sao Paulo Abu Dhabi

2021 Thoughts
Bahrain Emilia Romagna Portugal Spain Monaco
Azerbaijan France Steiermark Austria Great Britain
Hungary Belgium Holland Italy
Russia Turkey United States Mexico City
Sao Paulo Qatar Saudi Arabia Abu Dhabi

2020 Thoughts
Austria Steiermark Hungary Great Britain Anniversary
Spain Belgium Italy Tuscany
Russia Eifel Portugal Emilia Romagna
Turkey Bahrain Sakhir Abu Dhabi

2019 Thoughts
Australia Bahrain China Azerbaijan Spain
Monaco Canada France Austria
Great Britain Germany Hungary Belgium
Italy Singapore Russia Japan
Mexico United States Brazil Abu Dhabi

2018 Thoughts
Australia Bahrain China Azerbaijan Spain
Monaco Canada France Austria
Great Britain Germany Hungary Belgium
Italy Singapore Russia Japan
United States Mexico Brazil Abu Dhabi

2017 Thoughts
Australia China Bahrain Russia
Spain Monaco Canada Azerbaijan
Austria Great Britain Hungary Belgium
Italy Singapore Malaysia Japan
United States Mexico Brazil Abu Dhabi

2016 Thoughts
Australia Bahrain China Russia Spain
Monaco Canada Europe Austria
Great Britain Hungary Germany Belgium
Italy Singapore Malaysia Japan
United States Mexico Brazil Abu Dhabi

2015 Thoughts
Australia Malaysia China Bahrain
Spain Monaco Canada Austria
Great Britain Hungary Belgium Italy
Singapore Japan Russia United States
Mexico Brazil Abu Dhabi

2014 Thoughts
Australia Malaysia Bahrain China
Spain Monaco Canada Austria
Great Britain Germany Hungary Belgium
Italy Singapore Japan Russia
United States Brazil Abu Dhabi

2013 Thoughts
Australia Malaysia China Bahrain
Spain Monaco Canada Great Britain
Germany Hungary Belgium Italy
Singapore South Korea Japan India
Abu Dhabi United States Brazil

2012 Thoughts
Australia Malaysia China Bahrain
Spain Monaco Canada Europe
Great Britain Germany Hungary Belgium
Italy Singapore Japan South Korea
India Abu Dhabi United States Brazil

2011 Thoughts
Australia Malaysia China Turkey
Spain Monaco Canada Europe
Great Britain Germany Hungary Belgium
Italy Singapore Japan South Korea
India Abu Dhabi Brazil

2010 Thoughts
Bahrain Australia Malaysia China
Spain Monaco Turkey Canada
Europe Great Britain Germany Hungary
Belgium Italy Singapore Japan
South Korea Brazil Abu Dhabi

2009 Thoughts
Australia Malaysia China Bahrain
Spain Monaco Turkey Great Britain
Germany Hungary Europe
Belgium Italy Singapore
Japan Brazil Abu Dhabi


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