This will be the second grand prix to be run on the streets of Baku, the capital city of Azerbaijan, as Round 8 of the 2017 Formula 1 World Championship.
The track layout remains the same as last year, with its long pit straight along the edge of the Caspian Sea, but the event has been re-named for 2017.
Last year it ran under the banner of the European Grand Prix – this year it is run as the Azerbaijan Grand Prix for the first time.
Track
- Length 6.003km (the second longest of the year)
- 2016 pole position Nico Rosberg, 1:42.758s
- 2016 fastest lap Nico Rosberg, 1:46.485s (lap 48)
- Lap record 1:46.485s (Nico Rosberg, 2016)
- Tyre choice Red Supersoft, yellow Soft, white Medium – the third time this combination has been used in 2017
- Distance to Turn One 202m (longest of the season: Barcelona 730m)
- Longest straight 2.1km miles, on the approach to Turn One (longest of the season)
- Top speed 370km/h, on the approach to Turn One (fastest of the season)
- Full throttle 56 per cent (highest of the season: Monza, 75 per cent)
- Brakewear Medium. There are six significant braking events around the lap, the hardest into Turn One
- Fuel consumption 2kg per lap, which is high
- ERS demands High, due to lots of full-deployment
- Gear changes 62 per lap/3,162 per race
Victories
- Champions Mercedes have won 55 of 66 races since the introduction of the 1.6 litre V6 turbo hybrid power units in 2014, and four of seven this season.
- Canada on June 11 saw Mercedes take their first one-two of the season.
- Triple world champion Hamilton has 56 career victories, putting him second in the all-time list behind Michael Schumacher (91). Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel has 45, McLaren’s Fernando Alonso is on 32 and Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen 20.
- Ferrari have won 227 races, McLaren 182, Williams 114, Mercedes 68 and Red Bull 52. Former champions McLaren and Williams have not won since 2012.
- Pole Position
- Mercedes have been on pole in 61 of the last 66 races.
- Hamilton has had 65 career poles, equalling the late Ayrton Senna’s total in Canada. Schumacher holds the record of 68, which means Hamilton can pull level with the German at his home British Grand Prix if he takes pole in Baku and Austria.
- Four drivers have started on pole this season — Hamilton (four times), Vettel, Bottas and Raikkonen.
Podium
- Hamilton has 109 podiums to date and is second on the all-time list behind Schumacher (155). Vettel has 92, Raikkonen 86.
- Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo has finished third in his last three races.
- Canada saw Vettel finish off the podium for the first time this season.
- Points
- Vettel leads the championship standings with 141 points.
- Hamilton is 12 points behind Vettel.
- McLaren are the only team yet to score in 2017. The only other drivers yet to score are Renault’s Jolyon Palmer and Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson.
- Vettel and Hamilton both have 12 scoring finishes in a row, with three wins each.
Azerbaijan Grand Prix
- This will be the first Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Formula One history. Last year’s inaugural race in Baku carried the official designation of European Grand Prix.
- No driver on the current grid has won before in Baku, or been on pole there. Rosberg, last year’s winner from pole, retired at the end of last season.
- Azerbaijan is the only track on the current calendar where Hamilton has yet to win.
- The track is the second longest on the calendar after Spa-Francorchamps, and also one of the hottest and fastest thanks to the 2.1km straight, which is the longest of the season.
- Williams, with Bottas, hit a top speed of 373 kph last year on the approach to Turn One. It is also the first anti-clockwise layout of the year.
Milestone
- Williams rookie Lance Stroll scored his first Formula One points in his home race in Montreal. He is now the only Canadian driver without the surname Villeneuve to score. The points also made the 18-year-old the second youngest scorer of all time.