2019 Azerbaijan Grand Prix Baku, 26-28 April.

[Notebook]

Summary
First practice at 10:00 BST - on 5 live Sports Extra at top of page
Get involved #bbcf1

Andrew Benson
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer

Ferrari really need a win this weekend, to stop Mercedes running away with the championship before it has really got going, and on paper things look good for them.
Their straight-line performance in qualifying has been one of the stand-out features of the last two races - “massive,” as Red Bull’s Max Verstappen puts it - and Baku as a track is much more similar to Bahrain, where they were fast, than China, where they were not, particularly.
On top of that, they have a significant aerodynamic upgrade for this race, centred on tweaks around the barge board area and floor. “Just trying to bounce back from three difficult weekends and hopefully now we can be in front,” Charles Leclerc said.
“Trying to put the set-up right will be a key thing and then just the overall development of the car.” Lewis Hamilton certainly expects a tough fight: “You're going to see this weekend Ferrari are probably going to be extremely quick since they've got an upgrade and this is a track that has boded well for them in the previous years.”

at least 3 characters.

 

[fred18]

well, looks like the Baku organization this year has some serious flaws...

 

[Notebook]

?

N.

 

[Lucy]

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5f87xjg-m4"]George Russell's Drain Cover Incident Ends FP1 | 2019 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - YouTube[/ame]

Not only did the drain come loose, get a load of the recovery jib hitting a track bridge while recovering the car - breaking the jib and covering the Williams in hydraulic fluid for good measure.

Work to be done...

Edit: Looks like Liberty have blocked the embed, but you can still watch on YT itself.

 

[Notebook]

Well that explains it!

N.

 

[Notebook]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/48066818

Azerbaijan GP: Charles Leclerc fastest in practice

By Andrew Benson
Chief F1 writer


Charles Leclerc led a Ferrari one-two in an incident-packed second practice at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
The 21-year-old led the way for much of the session and ended it 0.324 seconds ahead of nominal team leader Sebastian Vettel with Lewis Hamilton third.
Hamilton was 0.669secs off Leclerc's pace as Ferrari made a flying start to the weekend with an upgraded car.
There were two red-flag periods after crashes for Lance Stroll and Daniil Kvyat.
Stroll lost control of his Racing Point at Turn Two early in the session, taking off his front-left corner after losing the rear on the way into the corner.
And Kvyat had a big impact at Turn Seven with about 25 minutes to go, again because of a rear-end snap, heavily damaging the left-hand side of his Toro Rosso.

 

[GLS]

Typical Ferrari weekend so far... :facepalm:

 

[BenSisko]

I feel for LeClerc. He made an error but he’s been brutally honest. Refreshing demeanor. On Ferrari’s decision making, I remain unimpressed. While I understand their designs, the mediums were the wrong tire for the cooling track conditions. Both Seb and Charles suffered. Yet again they manage to fail with the faster package. Gasly looked quite good with the upgraded Honda power unit. I’m saddened by Williams. They’ve compounded bad luck with bad decisions. Russell collects a flying manhole cover and Kubica’s Cinderella season is turning back into a pumpkin.

 

[Notebook]

From the secret aerodynamicist:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/47838557

 

[Lucy]

He was starting from the pit lane anyway, but Gasly has further woes now;

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/...LBww2euirBK0yRYNx-C0xjkKUEnbFVAUh8zqG0UYte0CA

Then, of course, Robert's car needs a bit of buffing;

... as does Charles';

...

 

[Notebook]

Watching the first few laps. Good start from Mercedes.
Bot, Ham, Vet, Per, Ver, at the mo.

G.

 

[GLS]

Typical Ferrari weekend so far... :facepalm:

.... and all the way to the end.

 

[Notebook]

2019 Azerbaijan Grand Prix Results

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/2019/azerbaijan-grand-prix/results