Azerbaijan might have been on the Formula 1 calendar for almost a decade, but this weekend is likely to throw up many unknowns.
One of those is caused by Pirelli’s decision to bring tyre compounds a step softer than last year, as it has already done for several races this season in an effort to steer teams away from defaulting to a one-stop strategy.
One of the compounds it is bringing to Baku is the C6, Pirelli’s softest F1 tyre of all, which generated mixed opinions on its debut at Imola, and again in Monaco and Montreal. The overall feeling with the C6 has been that it offers little in terms of laptime uplift from the C5, which used to be the softest in the range, but behaves very differently.
Drivers reported difficulties accessing its performance peak, or found that the peak passed too quickly and dropped off sharply before the end of their push laps. Several teams reported that the outer surface began to move around too much as its temperature spiked, giving drivers peculiar and confidence-sapping feedback.
The Baku City Circuit has a unique configuration that is likely to cause problems in terms of keeping tyres in the correct operating ‘window’. At 6km, it is longer than many tracks, and has a split character in which the majority of the 20 corners come in short order over the first 3.8km, followed by a 2.2km straight.
