The Baku circuit is, on paper, a place where Red Bull would be a clear favorite after seeing the power that the Honda engine camouflaged under the name Red Bull Powertrains is capable of unleashing, and they would recover the dominance that they lacked in Barcelona and Monaco, even though they won both races.
For this reason, Ferrari must get the best out of Maranello to show that the F1-75 is fast enough to beat the Milton Keynes car on any type of track after the introduction of the first major upgrade package in Spain.
The Italians want to turn the page on what happened in Monte Carlo with the errors in the strategy, and they face the Azerbaijan Grand Prix with some confidence, because the simulations indicate to the technicians that this urban track could be good for them, even with the handicap of the 2.2 kilometers of main straight where the engine is squeezed to the maximum for 26 seconds.
This figure is only exceeded by Spa-Francorchamps, so the power unit plays a key role, something that is on a par with aerodynamics and low downforce. With the wings conditioned by the characteristics of the circuit, they will also have to pay attention to the castle area, where a good corner exit is necessary.
The team in red will once again use the second power unit in Charles Leclerc’s single-seater, that is, the freshest and with fewer kilometers, the one that premiered in Miami, and in which the updated turbo and MGU-H will be included , two elements that failed in the Barcelona race causing the abandonment of the Monegasque. The efficient hybrid system will be very important in Baku, as this location has the highest electrical load on the entire calendar.
Performance and reliability are necessary in Azerbaijan, even more so if they do not want to get into trouble with Red Bull, since Ferrari, on a track that is very sensitive to the engine and conditioned by consumption, will have to be able to counteract the difference in top speed, which was only 3 km/h in Spain.
The tires will also be important, and Pirelli has selected the softer compounds (C3, C4 and C5), the same as in Monaco, and it seems that the Italian car showed in the simulator that it had a good adaptation with a tarmac with little grip. Thus, Leclerc will try to repeat the pole position achieved last season with the SF21, at the key moment of starting to close the gap on Max Verstappen, who has two consecutive appointments ahead of the one who started leading the world championship.
