Prime Tire Newsletter
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Welcome back to Prime Tire, where we’re wondering if you’ve heard about the new F1 measurement system.
Did you know the narrowest part of the Baku City Circuit is three and 3/4 @frederik_vesti‘s wide 📏
And now you know 😜 pic.twitter.com/yneo1uJLYz
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) September 13, 2024
It’s going to take off.
It’s Azerbaijan GP weekend! I’m Patrick, and Luke Smith will be along shortly. Let’s get to it.
I think I understand Valtteri Bottas now
The Athletic’s Madeline Coleman profiled Sauber driver Valtteri Bottas this morning. It’s apt timing, considering his seat is one of the last still up for grabs in 2025.
Her story made something click for me about Bottas. I once wondered if he’d become complacent — that driving for Sauber, one of the worst teams on the grid this season, meant the 35-year-old had lost his competitive edge. But Madeline’s profile made me realize the opposite is true: the fact he’s at Sauber proves he’s as competitive as ever.
His diverse interests outside the sport reflect this, too, as he constantly pushes his boundaries. Bottas is in his element when surrounded by new challenges, whether gravel cycling, running a coffee business, or biking (yes) across the Mediterranean Sea.
So, perhaps it’s no surprise that Bottas says he’s happy despite driving in a difficult environment at Sauber. Challenge is his happy place.
Anyway, I recommend checking out the profile this weekend between sessions.
GO DEEPER
Valtteri Bottas’ unexpected F1 contentment: Coffee, cycling, and contract optimism
McLaren gets behind Norris
McLaren officially decided to prioritize Lando Norris over teammate Oscar Piastri in the F1 title fight for the rest of the season. (Norris is 62 points behind Max Verstappen for the drivers’ championship lead.)
On Thursday, McLaren confirmed it devised a plan to give Norris priority going forward and that Piastri was on board.
Here’s how McLaren got to this point:
As Luke wrote yesterday, the Monza tussle was a “wake-up call” for McLaren.
GO DEEPER
Lando Norris’s F1 title approach won’t change even with McLaren’s full backing
Speaking of Luke, let’s throw it over to him in the paddock.
Media (including The Athletic’s Luke Smith) awaits the Adrian Newey news at Aston Martin Headquarters this week. (Andrew Ferraro/Getty Images for Aston Martin)
Inside the Paddock with Luke Smith
Every time I visit Aston Martin’s F1 factory, it feels like more puzzle pieces to become a championship-fighting team are falling into place.
Tuesday’s unveiling of Adrian Newey was probably the biggest statement of Lawrence Stroll’s aspirations to date, and the team would not downplay the moment.
Aston Martin went all out for it, putting together an announcement plan codenamed Project Pencil, as Newey is one of the few designers still using a physical drawing board. It included some slick teasers for social media reminiscent of a soccer manager being announced and a press conference broadcast to the world announcing Newey.
Newey’s confirmation, while no surprise, dominated the F1 headlines. But until March, Newey remains under contract at Red Bull Racing. Given how understated Newey is, Red Bull team boss Christian Horner admitted the nature of the announcement caught him by surprise.
“Adrian has always tended to do his own thing,” Horner said on Friday in Baku. “They chose to celebrate it, perhaps slightly prematurely, before he has finished his contract with Red Bull Racing. But obviously, it was a big moment for that team.”
Even if Project Pencil was premature to Horner, it proved effective in making a splash and becoming the talk of the F1 paddock this week.
GO DEEPER
How Aston Martin F1 won the race for Adrian Newey, the sport’s most coveted mind
Three stats to know for the Azerbaijan GP
Tidbits on my mind as the Azerbaijan race weekend gets underway:
Stat No. 1: McLaren trails Red Bull by eight points in the constructors’ championship. The last time Red Bull didn’t lead the standings was in May 2022. Over 800 days ago.
Stat No. 2: Only one driver has won multiple times at the Baku City Circuit: Sergio Pérez. The Azerbaijan GP is one of just five races on the grid with one or fewer repeat winners. Read our track breakdown to find out why: the circuit’s narrow turns can punish even the best drivers.
Stat No. 3: It’s been seven races since the last safety car deployed. As far as I can tell, it’s the only time in the last ten years that we’ve had a run of more than four races without a safety car. It speaks to the quality of competition this season that so many races have remained compelling. Here’s RB driver Daniel Ricciardo on this:
💬 I didn’t know that, to be honest… Sometimes, it’s also just the way it goes. Sometimes, contact can be brushed off, and other times, it isn’t. I know from a viewing point of view, sometimes obviously a Safety Car mid-race spices it up…
But yeah, I didn’t even know. If you said there was a Safety Car two races ago, I would have said, “Oh yeah, I believe you.”
Max Verstappen and Red Bull are hoping for a Baku bounce-back. (Clive Mason/Getty Images)
Practice report and schedule
FP1 and FP2 were classic Baku sessions: A few red flags (Charles Leclerc and Franco Colapinto found the wall) in the messy first session and a cleaner second run that saw the pecking order come into clearer focus. I think we’re in for a fun qualifying session tomorrow, with Leclerc and Pérez the favorites.
The key stats from day one on the track in Baku 🔢 📊 #F1 #AzerbaijanGP pic.twitter.com/I0tPhS5qRu
— Formula 1 (@F1) September 13, 2024
Here’s the weekend schedule. (You can watch on ESPN+ in the U.S. and Sky Sports in the UK.)
Saturday
- FP3 — 4:30 a.m. ET (😴) / 9:30 a.m. UK
- Qualifying — 8 a.m. ET / 1 p.m. UK
Sunday
- Azerbaijan GP — 7 a.m. ET / 12 p.m. UK
Brick by Brick
If you’ve ever seen a sports car and thought, “That’s just a very expensive toy,” well, have I got some news for you. Lego made a full-sized, fully functional McLaren P1 sports car out of 342,817 Lego Technic pieces, and Lando Norris ran a lap in it around Silverstone Circuit.
You can check out the video here. My only problem with this is the location. You’re telling me they couldn’t do this in São Paulo? Change the name to Interlegos Circuit for a day? How about the Brickyard in Indianapolis? So disappointing.
Have a good race weekend, y’all. See you on the other side. 🫡
(Top photo: Sipa USA)
