Azerbaijan Grand Prix 2018, Formula 1 Preview: Daniel Ricciardo tops Practice 2

On Saturday’s qualifying session and Sunday’s race event, Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel leads the 2018 Drivers Championship with 54 points. Mercedes Lewis Hamilton was close behind on 45 points and his teammate Valtteri Bottas is close too on 40 points. In the Constructors’ Championship, Mercedes is leading with 85 points followed by Ferrari on 84 points and Red Bull on 55 points. Last year’s winner of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix was Ricciardo. 2018 Formula 1 World Championship Round four is the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, which will take place on this weekend in the Azerbaijani capital Baku. The race will be held on the Baku City Circuit, a Hermann Tilke-designed street circuit that stretches 3.73 miles and features the important characteristics of a long 1.3-mile straight and a long pit-lining the edge of the Caspian Sea.

After some practice on Friday, Red Bull Racing’s driver Daniel Ricciardo booked fastest and followed by Ferrari’s Kimi Räikkönen. Red Bull driver Max Verstappen, who recovered from a crackup earlier in the day. Just tenths of a second separated their speed and ended with third place. Things should be interesting this weekend as we have three teams fiercely fighting at the top–Ferrari, Mercedes-AMG and Red Bull—as opposed to the past few seasons where Mercedes was the dominant team.

After the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, Downforce levels are the second-lowest of the year, but Baku has no high-speed corners to put energy through the tires. The challenge for teams is to shave off as much downforce as possible while ensuring the tires are worked hard enough to remain at optimal temperatures. The championship leader span three times and failed to hook up a qualifying-style lap on ultrasoft, finishing 11th and more than a second off the pace.

RESULTS – Practice 2, Azerbaijan Grand Prix (90 min)