Baku Preview: Taking it to the streets

Round 12 of this fascinating 2024 FIA Formula 2 season sees the drivers and their teams descend upon the streets of Baku with both Championships still being hotly contested.
Last time out in Monza, Gabriel Bortoleto took a stunning Feature Race victory for Invicta Racing while several of his title rivals hit trouble across the weekend.
So, what does Baku have in store for us? Before we find out, here is all you need to know.
FORM BOOK
Campos Racing’s Isack Hadjar leads the way at the top of the Drivers’ Standings despite not scoring in Monza. He stays on 165 points, but his lead has been cut to 10.5 points after second-placed Gabriel Bortoleto’s Feature Race victory at the Temple of Speed.
Rodin Motorsport’s Zane Maloney’s strong weekend on Italian soil, where he took Pole Position and finished second to Bortoleto, puts him back into the top three on 135 points.
THE CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
Hitech Pulse-Eight’s Paul Aron also did not score in Monza so drops to fourth on 124, while DAMS Lucas Oil’s Jak Crawford rounds out the top five on 105 points.
PREMA Racing’s Andrea Kimi Antonelli is sixth on 99 points, while Franco Colapinto is seventh after stepping up to Formula 1 with Williams Racing – with Oliver Goethe continuing to deputise for him at MP Motorsport.
His teammate Dennis Hauger is eighth with 83.5 points ahead of ART Grand Prix driver Victor Martins and Invicta’s Kush Maini who are tied on 74.
There are a few drivers making their debuts this weekend, with Luke Browning joining ART for the rest of the season, as is Christian Mansell at Trident with Gabriele Minì deputising for Oliver Bearman at PREMA Racing.
In the Teams’ Standings, Invicta Racing lead the way on 228.5 points, with Campos Racing second on 208. MP Motorsport are third on 179.5, while Rodin Motorsport are fourth on 164, as Hitech Pulse-Eight continue to round out the top five on 153 points.
FROM THE GRID – Andrea Kimi Antonelli, PREMA Racing
“I mean Baku is a high-speed track, it’s a city track as well, so I will do a lot of sim preparation. I will also have a look at the previous races, just to understand a bit about the tyre degradation, and the strategy but mainly it’s a lot of sim and a lot of analysing data with the team to just have an idea when I go on track.
“It’s really hard to get the perfect qualifying lap, even when you do a really good lap there is always something to improve.
“It’s a street circuit so it will be a bit harder to find the limit because you have no margin for error. So, I’ll just try every lap to take it step by step, push more and more and by the end of the session I should find the limit. There is no margin for mistakes so I will just try and learn as much as I can every lap.
“The straight is quite long so with the DRS there will be a lot of overtaking opportunities. That will be the main spot because once you get into all the tight sections, it is going to be really hard to overtake. It’s going to be crucial to stay as close as possible in the tight sections in order to get a run on the straights.
“Hopefully I can get a win, get the best result possible but I will just try to do my best and then see what the outcome is.”
TECHNICAL PREVIEW
Baku will provide one of the more intriguing tests for the drivers and their teams with all three sectors needing different requirements, meaning that they will have to make a trade off in terms of setup.
For one, the long straights to start and end the lap mean that the drivers will want to take as much downforce off as they possibly can off their cars, so that they are not slow down the straights.
However, there are a few heavy braking zones at the end of these straights, meaning the brake demands and fuel consumption is quite high. The teams will also want to keep as much downforce on the car as possible to make sure they are efficient through corners.
The second sector also possesses a few tight and twisty sections, some are fast while others are done at slower speeds, so making sure you have a car that can be efficient in all phases of the lap will be key for Qualifying and the races.
RACE STRATEGY
This year, there’s a change of compound for the Azerbaijan weekend. In order to provide a higher level of grip and to facilitate getting the tyres up to the right operating temperature, the P Zero Yellow medium used in 2023 has been replaced with the P Zero Red soft. This means there is no longer a jump in the compound choice as the other tyre will once again be the P Zero purple supersoft. Drivers will probably have to deal with thermal degradation across the rear axle and those who manage this best will reap the reward in the closing stages of both races. Track evolution will be very significant from one session to the next and, when it comes to strategy for the Feature Race, it will be important to keep a close eye on the performance of the Supersoft, possibly for its eventual use in a stint of around a dozen laps.
STAT PACK