2021 Formula One Azerbaijan Grand Prix: Race preview

Round six gets underway this weekend at the Baku City Circuit in Azerbaijan – the first F1 race at the street circuit since 2019.

It's the 23-year-old, Max Verstappen, who goes into this round with a four-point lead in the championship over Lewis Hamilton. The Dutchman took the lead after his victory in Monaco, when Hamilton finished a disappointing seventh.

On F1's last visit to Baku it was a Mercedes one-two, with Valtteri taking the win, and Lewis finishing second ahead of Sebastian Vettel.

Danny Ric was in a Renault back then and unfortunately didn't finish – though he has previously notched up a win at the circuit, back in 2017 when he was piloting a Red Bull. He's been in the news lately relaying the struggles with his McLaren F1 car and is hoping for a breakthrough this week after spending ample time on the simulator.

In other news, Mercedes announced the signing of 13-year-old Chinese karting star, Yuanpu Cui, to its junior programme, while rumours continue around George Russell and a possible move to Mercedes in 2022.

The first Grand Prix in Baku was held in 2016, as the European Grand Prix. That was followed by the inaugural Azerbaijan Grand Prix in 2017. The track is 6.003km long and encompasses a long straight spanning along the Baku shoreline. The race on Sunday comprise a total of 51 laps covering 306.049km.

Lap record: 1:43.009, Charles Leclerc (2019)

The inaugural race in 2016 was officially called the “Grand Prix of Europe” before being renamed in 2017 as the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

No driver has won the Azerbaijan Grand Prix twice – race winners so far comprise Nico Rosberg (2016), Daniel Ricciardo (2017), Lewis Hamilton (2018) and Valtteri Bottas (2019).

Nico Rosberg in 2016 and Valtteri Bottas in 2019 are the only pole-sitters who have gone on to win the Grand Prix.

Lance Stroll holds the record for the the second youngest driver ever to score a podium in Formula One, when he finished third in the 2017 race.

It's a tough one to pick this time around as we all know it could go either way – either Hamilton has a resurgence after a tough Monaco, or Verstappen remains on form. The big question is: who will come out leading the championship standings?

Valtteri Bottas is due for some podium action seeing as he had a shocker last time out and was forced to retire after an unfortunate pit stop. He has had a win here before and is in need of points after moving down to fourth in the championship.

Look out for Sergio Perez in the Red Bull who is no stranger to the podium at this track and just missed out on a trophy in Monaco.

A dark horse for this one – Pierre Gasly. He's in fine form and looking at his score card so far this season he's only ever finished outside the top ten once. I think he's underrated and overdue for a podium (or at least a top five result).

Of course we'll be rooting for our Aussie, Daniel Ricciardo. He's won here before, so could this be his time for redemption?

Who will come out on top? Let us know your predictions for the weekend.

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