Baku Grand Prix Preview
Last year’s Baku race was a fiery battle both on and off the track. The question is how will this year’s cars cope with the dramas of this inner city circuit"
Tyres

Pirelli bring the Soft, Supersofts and Ultrasofts to the Baku Grand Prix this year which is one step softer then last year. With the 2018 compounds in general a step softer than 2017, this means that the tyres for the Baku Grand Prix are effectively two steps softer.
The Baku Grand Prix is two months earlier this year, so it will be interesting to see how these softer compounds deal with the cooler conditions, which will be emphasised by the 4pm local race start time where track temperatures will continue to cool throughout the duration of the race. Track temperature will be a continuous talking point throughout the weekend as the nature of this city circuit results in a variety of changing shadows cast over the track from the surrounding tall buildings. You may not think this has much effect on tyre temperatures, however with such soft compounds this may well be a problem, particularly for teams who struggle to get temperature into their tyres.
The 2Km long main straight will contribute to the cooling of the tyres, so expect lock ups during the braking area into Turn 1.
It’s not only about getting temperature into the tyres in the first place, but also at the same time. Last year, teams struggled to warm both the front and rear tyres together and this imbalance ...