Life is so controversial. Two years ago on this day I was at Sochi paddock meeting and interviewing Sebastian Vettel. Today I'm in a situation, in which even Formula 1 feels meaningless. My heart has been ripped into a million pieces, and there's nothing but endless grief at the moment. My 16-year-old son passed away last Sunday after spending three weeks in the intensive care unit. The doctors did everything they could, but not even the best treatment in the world was able to cure my son. With overwhelming grief I try to stick to my routines, such as watching Formula 1.
Azerbaijan, "The Land of Fire" hosts the Grand Prix weekend for the fourth time. Ferrari had set the pace in the free practice sessions, as Mercedes had been struggling especially with the tyres. Getting the tyres warmed up to the right temperature had proved more difficult for the Silver Arrows than for Ferrari. Sebastian went fastest on his first run in Q1, edging arch rival Hamilton only by 0.082s. The dusty Baku Street Circuit showed also its tricky side. Renault's Hulkenberg and Mercedes' Hamilton went wide on their first runs, and Racing Point's Stroll touched the wall. In terms of the second attempts, flying Leclerc set the fastest lap time and snatched the top spot in the standings. Red Bull had a modest start to the qualifying, as Verstappen was only able to make it 11th on his first flyer. On the other hand, teammate Gasly's second run was absolutely outstanding, setting the benchmark for everyone else, as there were only four minutes left in the clock. It was an impressive effort, even though the Frenchman benefited from tow. Verstappen, too raised the bar and jumped fourth. When there were only a few seconds remaining in the clock, Kubica crashed his Williams into the wall in Turn 8, which is the narrowest part of the circuit. The session was red-flagged. Racing Point's Stroll, Haas' Grosjean, Renault's Hulkenberg and the Williams duo were out of the second session.
The second segment was delayed by half an hour, as the marshals were cleaning up debris and fixing the barrier in Turn 8. Mercedes and Ferrari had a different tyre strategy for Q2. The Silver Arrows came out on the red-marked soft tyres, whilst the red-suited drivers opted for the yellow-marked medium compound. Verstappen went fastest on soft Pirellis, and the flying Dutchman was followed by the Mercedes duo of Bottas and Hamilton. Due to the medium rubber, Leclerc set the 5th fastest lap time. Teammate Sebastian's attempt left a lot to hope for, as the German was able to make it only 11th on his first run. Alfa Romeo Racing's performance seemed extremely promising, as Kimi made it 6th after getting slipstream from his teammate Giovinazzi. However, Turn 8 required another casualty in Q2. Leclerc was pushing his SF90 to the limit, and trying too hard came with a high price. Leclerc crashed into the same tyre wall, which Kubica had ended up into only a moment earlier. Once again, the session was red-flagged. There was another half-an-hour delay, as the marshals had to fix everything again. As the session was finally resumed, the sun had already started to set, and the cooling temperatures had affected the track conditions. Red Bull sat out the second half of the session. Verstappen had no need to go out again, and Gasly was going to start to the race from the pit lane, due to a weighbridge infringement on Friday. Sebastian had to opt for a fresh set of soft tyres at the end of the session, as another try on the medium rubber would have been too risky. He managed to do two flyers, making it 5th in the standings in the end. It was a positive surprise to see both Alfa Romeos make it into the final segment. Leclerc's lap time was competitive enough to get the Monegasque into Q3, although his qualifying was over after the crash. In addition to Gasly, McLaren's Sainz, Renault's Ricciardo, Toro Rosso's Albon and Haas' Magnussen were knocked out of the third session.
As Leclerc had crashed out in Q2, I expected it to be even easy for Sebastian to conquer pole. But once again the Mercs were there, when it mattered. Once again I've gotten a bitter lesson, that you can never write off the Mercs! Hamilton took provisional pole, with a four-tenth gap to Sebastian. After the first runs Bottas was third and Verstappen fourth. On the contrary to his rivals, Max drove another flyer on the same set of tyres, jumping second. But there was more to come from the reborn Valtteri Bottas. The Finn put together a phenomenal lap at the end of the session, making it on pole by 0.059s to his teammate! Although Ferrari were the favorites for pole today, somehow it ended up a front-row lock-out for Mercedes, again! Sebastian was left third, three tenths off the pace. Verstappen qualified fourth for Red Bull and Perez fifth for Racing Point. This time it was Kvyat, who managed to deliver at the wheel of Toro Rosso, as the Russian qualified impressive sixth. McLaren's Norris, Alfa Romeo Racing's Giovinazzi and Räikkönen and Ferrari's Leclerc rounded out the top ten. It was the first time for the Italian to have out-qualified Kimi this season. Although Giovinazzi has been handed a 10-place grid penalty for a power unit element change.
Although I will be watching the race through my black glasses of sorrow, I'm sure the race will offer plenty of events and action-packed moments. Tiny mistakes come with a high price. The Mercedes driver, who dives first into Turn 1, will probably win the race. Unless there are some unexpected turns... Some red-colored unexpected turns would be extremely nice.
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