REVIEW BY BEN STEVENS
Saturday
Another Saturday, another dominant performance from Lewis
Hamilton.
Picking up right where he left off in Montreal qualifying, Hamilton
was once again a step above the pack in Baku. Finishing 0.434s ahead of
Valtteri Bottas, and over a second up on the Ferraris, he made it look as easy
as he ever has, and given his struggles during practice, this lap might be
even better than his one in Canada.
Prior to qualy, all signs pointed to this being a challenging session for
Hamilton. He trailed Bottas by 0.416s in FP3, and seemed to be struggling
to switch on his tyres around the low-grip surface – as he had been on Friday
and indeed under similar circumstances in Sochi. To not only find the pace,
but do it having to overcome that exact problem in the close to Q3 is the mark
of a driver who is at his absolute apex. Regardless of which teams and drivers
you like (or dislike), it’s impossible not to appreciate such brilliance.
Moving to race day, Hamilton comes in a particularly commanding
favourite, given the difficulty in passing around Baku. For Ferrari that
means damage mitigation, with the only real hope coming from a well
timed safety car.
Ricciardo’s Downswing Continues
Out-qualified for the fourth-straight time by Max Verstappen, 2017 is
increasingly uncharted territory for Daniel Ricciardo.
Sure, the points table may have him 22-points clear of Verstappen, but
few would suggest he’s currently the superior driver at Red Bull, especially
after crashing out of qualifying.
Clipping the barrier at turn 6 to take himself out of Q3, Ricciardo’s
crash had all the hallmarks of a driver simply pushing too much in his
attempt to close the deficit to a teammate who had been faster all weekend,
with the Australian admitting as much afterwards. For a driver who has
consistently outperformed his teammates for one-lap pace throughout his
career, that’s not a good sign. Cue all Australians having Webber/Vettel
flashbacks.