This weekend, Formula 1 would head down to Baku City, Azerbaijan for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. This is the fourth time the Grand Prix would be holding after it was started in 2017. It did not hold last year due to the pandemic. The race would be holding in June this year for the second time after the 2018 and 2019 editions were held in April. The first winner of the Grand Prix was Daniel Ricciardo when he was still with Red Bull. Mercedes won the next two races with Lewis Hamilton winning it in 2018 while Valterri Bottas won it in 2019.

Also this weekend, for the first time in a long while, we would be heading to a race where Mercedes is not leading the Drivers’ standing or the Constructor’s championship after Max Verstappen won the Monaco Grand Prix to put himself and his team at the top of the two leaderboards. He currently leads Hamilton with 4 points on the Drivers’ Standing. This does not change much as the Verstappen-Hamilton rivalry is still on, as even Verstappen himself said, “Let’s see how competitive we are, I do expect Mercedes to come back strong there though.” In 2018, the year Hamilton won, Verstappen crashed into his then-teammate Daniel Ricciardo and he has described the track as “but probably not a favourite of mine if I’m honest.”

Hamilton’s last loss could be attributed to getting the sixth pole in the last race which saw him start late and end late, in the same position. This holds true for most racers who start their race outside the first three. So, as long as Hamilton gets a good pole position this Saturday, he would be in the perfect place to compete with Verstappen. Verstappen also needs to have a good pole position as well.

The Azerbaijan Grand Prix would hold on Sunday, June 6 at the Baku City Circuit, Azerbaijan.

Written by: Leon Osamor