Bottas wins in Baku as Mercedes overpowers Ferrari

Bottas wins in Baku as Mercedes overpowers Ferrari

Valtteri Bottas put in a textbook performance to clinch his second race victory of the season in the 2019 Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

The Finn looked composed and comfortable throughout a surprisingly incident-free race on Baku City Circuit, his Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton having to settle for second after an initial furious wheel-to-wheel battle between the pair at the start.

Despite being considered to have the much faster car this weekend, Ferrari seemed unable to match the Silver Arrows for race pace. Sebastian Vettel ultimately finished in third ahead of Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc, who pulled off a nice bit of damage limitation after his crash in qualifying the previous day.

Valtteri Bottas (FIN) Mercedes AMG F1 W10 and Lewis Hamilton (GBR) Mercedes AMG F1 W10 lead at the start of the race.

With three cars required to start the race from pit lane – Robert Kubica, Kimi Raikkonen and Pierre Gasly all sent to the naughty step for various rules infractions over the course of the weekend – it was a somewhat depleted grid of just 17 cars that lined up in the afternoon sunshine of Baku, headed by the two Mercedes cars of Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton.

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Hamilton: I had to change my natural driving style

Hamilton: I had to change my natural driving style

For most Formula 1 fans, Lewis Hamilton’s 75th Formula 1 victory at the sport’s 1000th race looked like a breeze, but not so according to the five-time World Champion who even had to change his driving style to tame his all-conquering Mercedes.

And while the Silver Arrows have scored a one-two in the first three races, Hamilton does not believe they are the dominant team at the moment.

Speaking after winning the Chinese Grand Prix on Sunday, Hamilton said, “Through the weekend, the car’s really not liked how I drive at this track. I was always really quick here and my aggressive driving style worked really well, and then I used that in the last two years and the tyres would not allow it and the car would not allow it and I seemed to have lost a lot of performance.”

“I really had to be quite dynamic to change my natural driving style, shift it to a different way. I only really got there at the end of qualifying, and then in the race….

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Mercedes: Great front row for the 1000th Grand Prix

Mercedes: Great front row for the 1000th Grand Prix
todt bottasMercedes report from qualifying for the Chinese Grand Prix, Round 3 of the 2019 Formula 1 World Championship, at Shanghai International Circuit.

Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport lock out the front row for the 1000th Grand Prix

  • Valtteri claimed his seventh Formula One pole position – his first of the 2019 season and first in China
  • Lewis will start the 1000th Formula One race from P2 on the grid, completing the front-row lockout for Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport
  • Both drivers will start tomorrow’s Grand Prix on the Medium tyres

Valtteri Bottas: “It feels good to be on pole. I think it’s going to be a very close race tomorrow, so it’s a good thing to start from the front. It’s been a strong weekend for us so far and it was nice to continue that way in the first session that counted.”

“Because in the end when you go into Qualifying it doesn’t matter if you’ve had a good weekend up to that point; the only thing that counts is if you can deliver a good lap. I’m happy I was able to do that today. I think we were still a little bit behind on the straights compared to Ferrari, but we were stronger in the corners and ultimately gained more than we lost to them on the straights.”

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Mercedes new front wing for China not legal

Mercedes new front wing for China not legal

Mercedes have a new front wing for the W10 made for the Chinese Grand Prix weekend, but reports suggest that the FIA took a look at it and deemed it illegal as they had done with the creations presented to scrutineers by Red Bull and Williams.

Auto Motor und Sport’ Michael Schmid reports that Mercedes will have to change their latest front wing because the new version for Shanghai does not comply with F1 regulations, as the end-plate is cut out too far when the rules state

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Toto Wolff: At the moment realistically the Ferrari is at least 0.5s ahead

Toto Wolff: At the moment realistically the Ferrari is at least 0.5s ahead

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff agreed with Toro Rosso’s Franz Tost who predicts that Ferrari has a better car at the moment.

According to AMuS, Vettel‘s performance yesterday made other teams be a bit worried, especially Because Alfa Romeo Racing (who has a similar front wing concept like Ferrari) have performed well too.

The Toro Rosso Boss Franz Tost thinks, that copying Ferrari’s concept would be a waste of time.

That would take 3 to 4 months because the entire car would have to be rebuilt drastically. Mercedes drives a completely different concept. Who wants to convert from the Mercedes wing to a Ferrari wing, must change the rest of the car aswell. And that would take weeks to match everything. That could be championship decisive.

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff agreed with Toro Rosso’s Franz Tost that Ferrari did a better job over winter:

“I see it like Franz. At the moment realistically the Ferrari is at least 0.5s ahead. Let’s see what happens next week. That will be important when more parts come on the car.”

If we have to change our philosophy, that means a fight back that will take weeks and months. But whatever happens, we will do our best”

“We didn’t put all out but Ferrari didn’t either. I think we need to look at the other concept (Ferrari) and decide whether to stay true to our philosophy, do we believe it will work out through the season or do we have to change.”

“We had a big regulation change and you see two different kind of concepts. And it looks like Ferrari have found the exact sweet spot there. First impression after 3 days, Ferrari is fast, faster than us.”

Franz Tost: Copying the Ferrari front wing would be no solution for Mercedes – It would take 3 to 4 months

Franz Tost: Copying the Ferrari front wing would be no solution for Mercedes – It would take 3 to 4 months

The Ferrari F1 team may have found a loophole from regulation changes heading to the 2019 Formula 1 season, which may be a cause for concern for its F1 rivals

The attention of the competition was aroused primarily by the innovative design of the Ferrari front wing since the concept differs significantly from the solutions used by Mercedes and Red Bull.

According to AMuS, Vettel‘s performance yesterday made other teams be a bit worried, especially Because Alfa Romeo Racing (who has a similar front wing concept like Ferrari) have performed well too.

The Toro Rosso Boss Franz Tost thinks, that copying Ferrari’s concept would be a waste of time.

That would take 3 to 4 months because the entire car would have to be rebuilt drastically. Mercedes drives a completely different concept. Who wants to convert from the Mercedes wing to a Ferrari wing, must change the rest of the car aswell. And that would take weeks to match everything. That could be championship decisive.