The new Baku Street Circuit hosted the return of the European Grand Prix to the Formula One calendar. The event was scrapped from the calendar after the 2012 event which was hosted at the Valencia Street Circuit. Using classic Formula One logic, this year’s European Grand Prix was of course held in Asia.
Drivers hit the circuit for the first time on Friday, learning the circuit which they had not driven anywhere except the team simulator. Esteban Gutiérrez was the first Formula One driver to do a lap of the circuit in the opening session on Friday. The Mercedes duo were at the top for both of the free practice sessions, with Lewis Hamilton topping the charts twice. However, it wasn’t smooth sailing for Nico Rosberg, prematurely ending the day near the conclusion of the second free practice session. The pace of the Force India proved to be a surprise, as both cars were in the top ten for each session. Daniel Ricciardo showed just how unforgiving the walls of the circuit were, crashing near the end of free practice one.
Saturday started strong for Hamilton, as he led the first session of the day. However, his teammate found some pace in the afternoon to outqualify Hamilton. The Brit ended his qualifying after clipping the inside wall and damaging the car’s suspension in the final qualifying session. Sergio Pérez was fast enough to earn a spot alongside the World Drivers’ Championship leader on the front row of the grid, but not before crashing in the morning session. He didn’t keep that grid position though, as he dropped down to P7 because of a gearbox change. Valtteri Bottas failed to set a time in the morning session, having heavily damaged the car’s sidepod early in the session. Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo set identical lap times in qualifying, while the Manors narrowly missed the second qualifying session.
The opening lap was relatively clean on Sunday. There was minor contact into the first corner between Esteban Gutiérrez and Nico Hülkenberg. Mercedes was able to show off the pace of their car, with Nico Rosberg increasing his advantage in the front and Lewis Hamilton making up some positions from his P10 starting position. Daniil Kvyat was the first to retire from the race after suffering a suspension failure, while his teammate suffered a similar failure. Pascal Wehrlein and Fernando Alonso also failed to complete the race distance. Kimi Räikkönen was handed a five-second penalty for crossing the pit line at the pit entry, although it didn’t impact his finishing position. Hamilton’s day was full of complaints, as the Brit first commented about brake issues and then energy recovery system issues in the middle of the race which compromised his pace. He was able to take home a fifth place finish despite his issues, while his teammate took an easy victory. Sebastian Vettel and Sergio Pérez completed the podium.
The teams get a week to recuperate from their busy back-to-back weekends. They will be back in action for the weekend of July 3, for the Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring.
