2021 Race 6 - Baku

[Bagwan]

And , magically , Max remains ahead .
I wondered how they'd make it happen .

Gosh , those bulls look strong .

[airshifter]

Well, most of the action waited until late in the race, but it eventually came to light.


Leclerc couldn't hold on long, but really I think that was somewhat expected. From there the RB didn't have much chance in the DRS zone against Merc. But Max put in a monster lap as soon as Lewis pitted, and even with the slow stop for Merc, chances are he would have still made the jump in the pits. Checo does the same, staying out for one more lap, and emerging in front of Hamilton after the stop. If not for the slow stop for Perez, me might have been really close to Max on the exit.

Scary for both Stroll and Max. With the speeds on that straight, things could have been much worse. That wall to the right of the pit entry could get really ugly. Glad to see they are both ok.

So after all that, Lewis gets a blazer of a start, then straight lines it into the runoff. I'm not sure how he managed to hit that switch, but he did. What would have been an easy jump on Max for the WDC goes up in tire smoke.

Some spirited dicing after the restart, Gasly and Leclerc gave a good show, and just behind them Norris, Alonso, and Yuki were having it out as well. Seb got a well deserved podium for a change, and didn't put a tire wrong all race. Great to see a new mix in the points, even Kimi made it to 10th this race.

RB pull some points ahead of Merc, and Checo makes good for RB this time. Bottas was just.... not even present it seemed. The fight at the front will surely continue, but the second drivers are probably going to decide the constructors.

[Tazio]

Fred's mega restart!:

https://mobile.twitter.com/startonpo...49372408614913

[airshifter]

Fred's mega restart!:

https://mobile.twitter.com/startonpo...49372408614913

Good stuff.

[Fortitude]

Perez triumph after Verstappen blowout and Hamilton "destroyed"
Will Gray
Sunday 6 June 2021 23:30

Sergio Perez secured his first victory for Red Bull after team-mate Max Verstappen suffered a 200mph blowout five laps from the finish of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

https://www.gpfans.com/en/f1-news/65...fans-f1-recap/


Race winner Sergio Pérez declares 'we all love Baku, right?'

Race winner Sergio Pérez reflects on an action-packed 2021 Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix where the Mexican driver admits he "gave his all" in pursuit of the victory and made a "very good step" in his progression with Red Bull.

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/v...127669793.html


Motor racing-Perez proves he is up to speed at Red Bull
Alan Baldwin
6 June 2021, 8:57 pm

(Reuters) - Sergio Perez said before the Formula One season started that he needed five races to get up to speed with Red Bull and the Mexican duly delivered by winning the sixth in Azerbaijan on Sunday.

If victory fell into his lap after team mate Max Verstappen crashed out with a tyre blowout five laps from the end while leading, it was still richly deserved.

Perez had qualified only seventh, moving up to sixth after McLaren's Lando Norris was demoted, but he showed his pace throughout.

The Mexican made up two places on the opening lap, was third by lap eight and had slotted into second behind Verstappen by lap 12.

Perez joined Red Bull at the end of last season, after being replaced by four times world champion Sebastian Vettel -- second on Sunday -- at what is now Aston Martin.

It had looked at one point last year like he might have to leave the sport, at least until he took a first grand prix win in Bahrain in December, and Perez said victory with his new team felt "very, very sweet.

"They have given me a massive opportunity," he added.

Read MORE here;

https://uk.sports.yahoo.com/news/mot...taeijqIwlFhskm


Perez beats Vettel to Baku victory after Verstappen crashes out from lead late on

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/a...Z4Z8OhuRw.html


Gasly says he had to take ‘big risks’ to seal podium after being slowed by engine issues

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/a...wfUpFiuHt.html


FIA post-race press conference - Azerbaijan

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/a...rvh8ze0OG.html

[Nitrodaze]

a tough day in the office for Verstappen and Hamilton.
Happy for Perez, Vettel and Gasly. Each drove an outstanding race.

It was a weird race with hamilton only giving up the lead because he was held in the pits by Gasly.
And verstappen only keeping his lead because Perez had a slow pit stop. So Max didn't do much of anything to earn his leads.

Mercedes need to consider doing the bottas russell switch soon methinks.
This race, more than any other proves the quality of Hamilton who kept that car in p1 for a while despite being the 3rd fastest car on the grid.
And Bottas showing, yet again, to everyone why he is a decent but not great driver. I honestly feel that the team is better served with Russell in the 2nd seat going forward this season.

Bottas seem to lack motivation at the moment. He doesn't seem to have moved on from the Monaco debacle that cost him 2nd and the haul of points that comes with it. He just seem to be unable to get into the championship fight which is demoralizing to say the least.

He is not in the fight for the top three positions in the driver's championship and he is not contributing enough to the constructors points at the moment. So it is fair to say he is at risk of losing his seat. Especially, if you consider that his points contribution could make the difference between Mercedes winning or losing the constructors championship.

But l think he would bounce back as he usually does. In a tough seasson as this one is, l wonder if there is the patience and time to allow him to bounce back.

[denkimi]

So after all that, Lewis gets a blazer of a start, then straight lines it into the runoff. I'm not sure how he managed to hit that switch, but he did. What would have been an easy jump on Max for the WDC goes up in tire smoke.

i don't even understand what the point of switch that basically disables the brakes is. why would you need that, and why would you make it so readily accessible that you can accidentally engage it?

[Zico]

i don't even understand what the point of switch that basically disables the brakes is. why would you need that, and why would you make it so readily accessible that you can accidentally engage it?

Their 'Magic' is probably more of an extreme bias change that's outwith the scope of the normal bias range.. or maybe even completely disengages the rear brake systems.

Why? You'd expect it to likely be for bringing the front brakes up to temps faster but with Merc now looking to have issues switching their tyres on since losing their DAS for this season, I guess it's possible they could be using it to try and generate more heat into the fronts (and rears using unbraked power) than a normal mild bias change, a poor mans DAS?... but that is just a wild theory of my own at this stage.

Either way, it's apparent ease of activation has cost them massively and I'm sure they will be rectifying that immediately.

Edit- Looks like I am mostly correct, although it does seems to be used by everyone. Judging from Lewis's totally smoking brakes before that last restart, Merc seem to be most reliant on it by far. See - https://au.motorsport.com/f1/news/ex...-baku/6544421/

[Nitrodaze]

i don't even understand what the point of switch that basically disables the brakes is. why would you need that, and why would you make it so readily accessible that you can accidentally engage it?

The funny thing is that, the front brakes did engage but the car seemed to be speeding up. Could this be an exposure of some hidden gimmick on the Mercedes?

[Mia 01]

I´m glad that Kimi scored a point, the team needed that. Well how time changes!