After a thrilling race day in Monaco, the F1 field heads to Baku for the 2022 Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Red Bull are starting to pull away from Ferrari on the Constructors' standings and the Prancing Stag will hope to rain Max Verstappen and co. this weekend.
Azerbaijan Grand Prix
Sunday 12 June
Baku City Street Circuit
23:00
To Win Race (Outright)
Max Verstappen 11/10
Charles LeClerc 7/4
Sergio Perez 11/2
Carlos Sainz 10/1
George Russell 25/1
Lewis Hamilton 28/1
Lando Norris 100/1
Previous Race
Well, we got a Red Bull win in Monaco but it wasn’t the my tip, Max Verstappen who took race honours in the principality but his teammate Sergio Perez. The Mexican proved the pick of the drivers in a rain-affected race.
Carlos Sainz, who had put massive pressure on Perez during the latter parts of the Grand Prix, was forced to settle for second place, while Max Verstappen rounded out the podium.
Next across the line was the Ferrari of Charles LeClerc. The Frenchman had a rather poor day at the office, having started the race on pole but only managing to finish fourth after a bungled pitstop. He was followed across the line by George Russell, who salvaged some pride for Mercedes. The next man in was Lando Norris.
The remainder of the Top 10 featured a bunch of current and former heavyweight Ferrari and Mercedes veterans with Fernando Alonso claiming seventh, Lewis Hamilton taking eighth, Hamilton’s former teammate, Valtteri Bottas claiming ninth, and Sebastian Vettel rounding out the points scoring positions.
Track - Baku City Curcuit
This will be the fifth race held at the Baku Street Circuit. It’s a track that tends to produce quite a few crashes so we could well be in for a few retirees as was the case out in Monaco.
This track presents numerous overtaking opportunities, but the drivers will know from last year’s race that trying to overtake at every opportunity will only end in a crash. The standout feature of the Baku Street Circuit and where we could well see some more wheel-to-wheel action is the long straight that runs from Turn 1 to Turn 20.
The weather gods seem to be playing ball with the current forecast (*article was written on Wednesday 8 June) indicating clear skies and temperatures in the mid-to-high 20s.
Last year’s race saw a rather interesting podium with Sergio Perez claiming race honours, Sebastian Vettel taking second and Pierre Gasly rounding out the top 3.
Value Bet
Daniel Ricciardo – Podium – Yes @ 33/1
Massive speculator but the Aussie tends to do well here having won the inaugural race in Baku and having produced a solid shift here last season where he managed to claim ninth place having started the race in 14th. He hasn’t had much luck this term finishing most races in the middle of the pack but his teammate Lando Norris has shown that the McLaren car has a bit of pace to it if conditions are just right.
To Win Race Outright – Sergio Perez @ 11/2
This is a bit of an interesting one as it’s a track Max Verstappen has struggled on in the past. We have also never seen a repeat winner in Baku. With this in mind, I’m going to go slightly left field here and back Sergio Perez to come good. He won at this venue last year and he also comes into this one after a win in Monaco so confidence will be high.
