The fourth race of the 2019 Formula 1 World Championship is set for this weekend, as teams find themselves in Baku, where the Baku City Circuit is the course for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. The course runs 3.73 miles, including a 1.3-mile straightaway and a lengthy pit that runs along the edge of the nearby Caspian Sea. Some of the turns are extremely tight as the course goes through the older parts of the city. There are also some extreme gradients and tough braking areas. The course has brought out some interesting responses from drivers in years past, such as in 2017, when Sebastian Vettel rammed Lewis Hamilton from the side and drew a penalty — and Hamilton’s headrest came loose, and he had to use time in the pit to replace this safety device.
Last year, Kimi Raikkonen and Esteban Ocon tangled with one another, as did Sergio Perez, Sergey Sirotkin and Fernando Alonso, which meant the safety car had to come out to pick up some debris. Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo, teammates for Red Bull, got caught up in their own rivalry in Lap 40 and both ended up having to retire as the result of a collision. What can we expect this year? We have your Formula 1 betting odds and thoughts about this year’s race.
Formula 1: Azerbaijan Grand Prix Betting Odds & Preview
Strong start to the weekend for @scuderiaferrari with a 1-2 finish in FP2. Hamilton is the next fastest car on our track this afternoon. pic.twitter.com/xyaErDjxbk
— Baku City Circuit (@BakuCityCircuit) April 26, 2019
Driver Odds
- Lewis Hamilton 2/1
- Sebastian Vettel 11/4
- Charles Leclerc 10/3
- Valtteri Bottas 5/1
- Max Verstappen 22/1
- Pierre Gasly 125/1
- Nico Hulkenberg, Daniel Ricciardo 750/1
- Lance Stroll, Sergio Perez 1000/1
- Kevin Magnussen, Carlos Sainz, Kimi Raikkonen, Romain Grosjean 1500/1
- Lando Norris, Daniil Kvyat, Alexander Albon 2000/1
- Robert Kubica, Antonio Giovinazzi, George Russell 5000/1
This will be a race that features some high speeds along the straightaway — last year’s top speed was 344.4 km/h, which Daniel Ricciardo hit as he crossed the finish line. In other areas of the course, the streets get as narrow as 7.6 meters across, as some of the course goes through areas of Baku that have been around since the Middle Ages.
The circuit makes a low-downforce setup necessary, because cars need to be able to hit high speeds on the straights — but they need to be able to negotiate tight corners at low speed as well.
The standings of the Drivers’ Championship show Lewis Hamilton at the top of the standings, coming after his win in China two weeks ago. He leads Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas by six points, with Max Verstappen of Red Bull sitting in third with 39 points, two points ahead of Sebastian Vettel, racing with ferrari.
In the Constructors’ Championship, Mercedes has three consecutive one-two finishes this season, which gives them a 57-point advantage over Ferrari, and Red Bull sits in third place. Given the drama that has unfolded in Azerbaijan in years past, this could be a week in which chaos unfolds again and the podium features some unusual characters. It’s worth noting that no driver has won here more than once in the three years of this Grand Prix. Nico Rosberg won for Mercedes in 2016, Daniel Ricciardo won here in 2017, and Lewis Hamilton won here in 2018.
Sergio Perez, with Racing Point, is the only driver with more than one podium finish, with third-place results in 2016 and 2018, when he raced with Force India. Lance Stroll finished on the podium here in 2017 to set the record for youngest rookie driver to grab a podium finish (18 years, 239 days). Keep an eye on Charles Leclerc, who is pushing Vettel hard in Ferrari and had his best result in his rookie campaign in 2018 here, coming in sixth place while racing for Sauber. Could he push further up the table now that he is racing for Ferrari?
