Red Bull have been the dominant force during the early salvos of the season with Max Verstappen fifteen points clear at the top of the Drivers' Championship standings while Sergio Perez sits in second and is nine points clear of third-placed Fernando Alonso.
The Red Bulls have a very handy record on the Baku track and they could well extend their advantage at the upper echelons of the Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championships this coming weekend.
Azerbaijan Grand Prix
Sunday 30 April
Baku Street Circuit
13:00
To Win Race Outright
Max Verstappen 4/10
Sergio Perez 4/1
Charles Leclerc 25/1
Fernando Alonso 11/1
Lewis Hamilton 12/1
George Russell 33/1
Carlos Sainz 40/1
Previous Race
Melbourne certainly produced the goods with Max Verstappen claiming his first race win in Australia after an action-packed Grand Prix.
There was drama galore at the Melbourne Street Circuit with three red flags seven retirements – including big names Charles Leclerc and George Russel – as well as a plethora of wheel-to-wheel racing.
Like Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton manage to avoid the malaise of carnage and navigate the safety cars to to claim his highest placed finish for the season; second. The Mercedes man was followed across the line by Sergio Perez, who secured the final podium berth for the third time running.
Lance Stroll would be the man to claim fourth with the Canadian he survived contact with Charles Leclerc to score valuable points. Sergio Perez managed to keep his second-placed berth on the Drivers’ Championship standings as he clawed his way back after a minor collusion to claim fifth place. The top six was rounded out by McLaren’s Lando Norris.
The rest of the points scoring positions went to Nico Hulkenberg (seventh) and newcomers and relative newcomers in the form of Oscar Piastri (eighth), Zao Guanyu (ninth) and Yuki Tsunoda (tenth).
Track
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 forecast for the weekend looks decent at the time of writing (*article was written on the 26th of April) with only a bit of rain being forecast for the tail end of race day.
Last year’s race was dominated by Red Bull with Max Verstappen claiming top spots and Sergio Perez taking second. George Russel, who is struggling this term, gave a good account of himself at the venue in 2022 as he brought his Mercedes across the line in third.
Value Bet
Fernando Alonso – Podium Finish – Yes
Alonso’s hot streak of third-placed finishes continued in Melbourne as the former Ferrari ace made it three podium finishes from three starts with an impressive display.
His Aston Martin is holding up well during the early parts of the season and its race speed is impressive. I’m backing the veteran to grab another podium finish here.
To Win Race Outright
Max Verstappen
You would be a fool to bet against the Dutch ace here. He’s won two of the three opening Grand Prix and finished second in another. His car is in fine fettle and he took race honors in Baku last term. All signs pint to a Verstappen win in Azerbaijan.
