2023 Azerbaijan GP: Post Race Analysis

I think we can all agree that was one boring race. The most exciting moment was hearing Ted Kravitz lose his mind because photographers and whoever else were on pitlane when the race was still going and Alpine still needed to make a stop. Terrifying moment and there is zero excuse to let that happen. Lastly, how did Pirelli get it so wrong with the tires? Softs could barely last 7 laps, Mediums that started to fall off in 12 laps, and Hards that could go the whole race. Not a good balance.

Red Bull dominate the race. Sergio Perez perhaps had his best race ever. Sure he got a bit lucky with the SC, but he out-drove Max when it went green and that might be the first time he legitimately did that. Plus he scored max points with the Sprint race. I agree with Damon Hill that Verstappen has appeared a bit negative with the Sprint format, so maybe he wasn't as sharp as we normally see, but still a great result for the team.

Ferrari did make some improvements. Impressive since it was done without any upgrades, only some setup work. Red Bull may have had their engines turned down slightly, but they were likely pushing harder than some may think. For Leclerc to be 23 seconds off the lead vs 40, is a step in the right direction, but still a long way off. Sainz didn't look good this weekend. Lots of mistakes, and miles off his teammate.

Aston Martin played the team game as best they could. Both drivers committed to getting the best result for everyone. Of course Alonso is just much better than Stroll, so he was able to have another brilliant performance, just missing the podium. Stroll had a solid race, but a mistake let Hamilton by for 6th.

Mercedes remains a hit and miss type car. The low downforce tracks not being their strong point. Hamilton looked stronger than Sainz, so it was a bit surprising he wasn't able to stick a nose in for an attempt, but then again nobody really tried for passes in the second half of the race. Russell was gifted a huge gain with the SC and immediately threw it all away when the race went Green.

McLaren brought some upgrades and they appear to have made a big difference. Going from one of the worst cars to a car that qualifies both drivers in the top 10 and is able to get points. A successful race for McLaren for sure.

AlphaTauri managed to hold on for the final point. Tsunoda didn't really challenge Norris, but didn't let Piastri attack him either. Nyck de Vries making a strong case for being the worst driver on the grid.

Williams had to have expected better pace this weekend. The low downforce tracks suit their car. Good power, low drag, etc. Yet they just didn't have the pace, even at the hands of Albon who can often get a great result when the car is working.

Haas also didn't look very strong. Kevin Magnussen ended up finishing ahead of Hulkenberg. The team waiting as long as possible to pit him in hopes of a SC or red flag. Strategy didn't work out, but it may not have mattered.

Alpine performed even worse. They brought a very small, low downforce rear wing and the car was just flat out too slow. Ocon lead the DRS train for more than half the race, again hoping for a SC to salvage a shot for a point. Gasly had a weekend to forget. Many mistakes, too slow, and some bad luck.

Alfa Romeo had no shot at points. Again we have to recognize that Zhou was performing better than Bottas. No idea why he made so many pit stops.

Driver of the Day: Sergio Perez. Usually he is a good 4 tenths off Max's pace, so to outperform Verstappen and win the race, that deserves the DotD.

 

Good analysis, as usual.

With regards to the tire situation(emphasis on hards) maybe this might help out.

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fully agreed on all as per usual. Perez really drove superbly today.

 

I would add...It's time for bottas to retire. His head is not in the game.

 

Hard to believe that Ferrari got better, and not just lucky. We'll see if they actually have something at the next race.

 

I think Bottas is there as Alfa's test and development driver.
Zhou may not have the experience to say, "The car needs ...".

 

Interesting that Ferrari was so much slower in top speed. In my world speed is HP vs Drag. either really draggy car, or maybe the PW is turned down again. HAAS was fast, so IDK.

 

I wonder what Red Bull's stance is on driver standing within the team???
Perez is only 6 points behind now...

 

Sometimes I think he is one of the most underrated drivers. He performs well under pressure, is good on tires, and does well on street-type circuits. He is really advancing at Red Bull (the year-over-year progression is awesome) and may give Max a tougher challenge than he expects!

 

Stroll should also. Not sure how many years you can stand to be humiliated by your teammate.

 

how many years?…until dad’s money runs out…

 

he is the best #2 on the grid right now. Horner barely acknowledges him. Perez knows his days are numbered. All the glory that Perez will get are these occasional wins. It is very unlikely that he can do a rossberg, become WDC and retire. I don’t think the team will allow it.

 

I tend to think he's one of the most overrated drivers. Maybe not so much from the media, but so many fans think he's as good as anyone, and there is nothing to suggest that is even close to true.

The whole good on street circuits thing I feel is a bit of a myth. He only won those races because Max had issues. Or in Monaco, he purposely binned his car in quali which F'd over Verstappen, who was on a better lap. This weekend though he was on it, and his win was deserved IMO.

I do think he's a deserving teammate, has been a great #2. Despite the theories that RBR won't let Perez race Max, I don't think that's the case. Max has enough speed and consistency to eventually pull away on his own merit.

I hope for F1's sake, that Perez is able to continue his very strong season and put the pressure on Max.

 

I just can't get past the fact that the FIA apparently spends all their bandwidth developing new, complex entertainment enhancements ... like "sprint" nonsense ... while ignoring basic grade-school safety precautions ... like preventing people from flooding an active part of the racetrack long before the race is finished.

What a complete embarrassment this weekend has been ... again.

Good write-up Chris, as always.