Alfa Romeo F1 Workforce Stake heads to the shores of the Caspian Sea for spherical 4 of the 2023 System One World Championship, the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. The staff will intention to increase its points-scoring streak as Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu tackle the problem of the Baku Metropolis Circuit.
Each monitor is particular in its personal means. Among the circuits System One visits through the course of a season supply a novel technical problem, requiring talent and pushing each drivers and machines to their restrict. Others conspire with the weather conditions to check these within the cockpit (and the storage) on a extra bodily stage; some, nonetheless, like Monaco, are such distinctive venues that defy all characterisation, requiring psychological power and super-human focus simply to make it to the chequered flag.
The Baku Metropolis Circuit is not any exception: it is a monitor that has shortly earnt a spot within the calendar as a really peculiar problem, helped doubtless by some epic, unpredictable races within the six occasions it hosted up to now.
The circuit on the shores of the Caspian Sea is deceptively simple on paper. The 90-degree corners, typical of so many road tracks, are apparently manageable obstacles thrown in the way in which of the drivers as they negotiate the confines of the racing floor. Lengthy straights, corners which might be simply kinks main into stop-start sections – at first sight, there’s little in addition to the impossibly tight fortress part to offer drivers with an actual problem. And but, appearances shouldn’t idiot – for Baku’s monitor isn’t one to be underestimated.
Very similar to a hippopotamus, placidly floating half-submerged in a river, this monitor hides its aggression below the tamest look. Simply as the massive mammal would do, this monitor can chew – onerous. Over time, its partitions claimed well-known scalps; uneventful races have been turned on their heads by incidents and security automobiles; stunning outcomes have emerged out of nowhere. Baku has an edge; it has a nasty facet that’s ready in ambush for the unsuspecting ones.
Baku’s tagline is “the house of the road fighters” and people phrases ring true. Races right here can flip into battles: each lap affords a threat, a possibility, the potential of a reward. Coming dwelling with a very good end result right here takes grit and resilience – that you must battle for each inch of tarmac; that you must battle towards each inch of tarmac, too.
For Valtteri and Zhou, this week is a chance to indicate their mettle. Valtteri is a Baku specialist: a winner right here in 2019, he is second amongst energetic drivers for laps led right here and holds the all-time greatest lap round this monitor. Zhou has made shut battles and daring strikes into his signature: he is good for this. Each will strategy this occasion prepared for the problem forward.
This weekend may even supply an added aspect of jeopardy. The brand new dash format, launched for this occasion, reduces the chance for follow to only one session: the onus is on the staff to arrange the automotive in such a fast time, with restricted knowledge; and on the drivers, to grasp the monitor from the primary handful of laps.
All these components make this weekend’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix a problem to not be sniffed at. Simply as with the hippo ready within the water, the monitor stretching by the Caspian Sea is a hazard one could be silly to underestimate.
Alessandro Alunni Bravi, Workforce Consultant: “Three weeks away from the monitor meant we had an opportunity to regroup and give attention to the work we have to do for the following few races. It has been an intense begin of the season, by which we scored in two out of three races, and it has been good for the staff to have a while to analyse our performances and see by which areas we will make enhancements. We have now made steps ahead in comparison with final yr – our reliability, simply to call one – however we all know we have to preserve working onerous to be aggressive in such a good discipline. We head into the primary dash of the season figuring out that something can occur on this monitor. We noticed how shortly a race can change in Melbourne, and as soon as once more we are going to should be at our greatest to maximise the potential of our automotive and of any alternatives which will come up.”
Valtteri Bottas: “I’m wanting ahead to getting again to racing this weekend. Baku is a spot I like – I’ve received this race and been on the rostrum right here earlier than – and I need to get a very good end result this time round as nicely. My focus, in addition to that of the staff, is on preserving enhancing: the season continues to be lengthy, and there are nonetheless many factors to be scored. I used the three weeks’ break to get ready to be at my greatest. It’ll be attention-grabbing to race within the dash right here, and I’m wanting ahead to this problem. We have now seemed into the previous few races, and we have now been working actually onerous to get again to the extent we confirmed in Bahrain. I’m assured we have now what it takes to enhance: if all of us do our homework, we might be within the combine for an additional factors end.”
Zhou Guanyu: “Scoring my first factors of the season in Australia was a very good motivation increase – simply what was wanted earlier than heading into the three-weeks break. Nonetheless, it wasn’t vacation time for us: we saved working onerous, within the sim and on the manufacturing facility, as all of us must do to make additional steps ahead forward of the upcoming races. I fairly get pleasure from Baku and its unpredictability – and we should take into account the dash race aspect being added to the combination. I’m eager to maintain up the work I did in Melbourne, the place I had a stable, clear race, and intention for an additional high ten end. It will be tight, because it all the time is that this yr, and a tenth or two may make an actual distinction by way of placements, however we have now an opportunity to do nicely right here.”
