Talking points from Baku

With the dust settled at the end of another enthralling FIA Formula 2 race weekend, at the Baku City Circuit in Azerbaijan, we take a look at five talking points from the track.

Latifi loving life at the top

Nicholas Latifi showed composure and consistency on a track in which it is notoriously difficult to do so and secured his position at the top of the drivers’ standings, with a 19 point lead over Jack Aitken. The 23-year-old explained in the post Sprint Race press conference that he was missing pace in Race 1, but despite this the Canadian still secured a solid 4th placed finish and managed to avoid any trouble in a race with plenty of turbulence behind him.

He also spoke of the necessity to feel at one with the car in Baku and this was certainly the case in Race 2. He laid the foundations at the beginning, taking advantage of a poor start from polesitter Nikita Mazepin to slip past the freefalling Russian for P3. Moves on Sean Gelael and Juan Manuel Correa followed shortly after as he claimed first place and he soon built up a comfortable 4s lead. A safety car period threatened this dominance and crushed the gap between himself and P2, but he withstood an attack from Correa when the race resumed and he didn’t look back – securing first place at the chequered flag.

The season starts here for Jack Aitken and Campos Racing

For Aitken and Campos Racing, Baku proved the season starter they needed after a reserved opening weekend in Bahrain. The British driver made a real statement of intent in Round 2 Race 1, taking the necessary risks in a contest full of gritty battles to leap seven places from eighth and claim his first ever Feature Race win.

He subsequently played down his chances in the Sprint Race, where he would need to do it all again on the reverse grid. Aitken managed to find his way to third place early in the race, having fought off attacks from Nyck De Vries and Luca Ghiotto on his way to doing so. He briefly lost the positon to De Vries, but reclaimed it at the death when he roared around the Dutchman on the main straight.

The result proved the perfect building block for a title challenge and he now sits second in the drivers’ championship, while Campos Racing themselves sit in the same place in the constructors’ standings due to rookie Dorian Boccolacci’s strong 7th and 6th placed finishes in the races.

Carlin – What could have been?

Nobuharu Matsushita in particular would have cut a frustrated figure following events at the Baku City Circuit. The Japanese driver showed great pace in Free Practice before a rampant drive in Qualifying secured him pole position for the Feature Race. Dutchman De Vries stole P1 from the Carlin driver at the start, before mechanical issues saw Matsushita plummet down the grid and forced him into the pits. He eventually returned, but was already a lap behind the rest of the field and subsequently finished in last place - made more frustrating by the fact he set the quickest race lap of the weekend. The 25-year-old was unable to make up any real ground on his rivals in the Sprint Race, starting from 13th on the grid and rising a place to 12th.

His stablemate Louis Delétraz would fare just as badly. He only survived the start of Race 1 by the skin of his teeth when he was forced to weave through a collision on the opening corner. It was after that when his luck ran out - a safety car period had only just ended when the Swiss driver was forced to retire from the race, making contact with the back of Boccolacci‘s car. There was further agony in the Sprint Race and he was forced to step out of his car early once again when Tatiana Calderon shunted into the side of him on Turn 2 at the start.

Tatiana Calderon’s great accomplishment

Calderon wouldn’t be blamed for flying home from Baku feeling rather wretched about how her weekend played out, after she failed to finish either race. The optimist in the BWT Arden driver can take plenty of positives from Round 2 though after she claimed an incredible feat: the Colombian became the first ever woman to lead a race at this level.

She was the only driver to adopt the alternative strategy in the Feature Race and it appeared as though it would pay off when she led the pack on lap 10. Despite being passed by rivals on fresher tyres a lap later, the 26-year-old remained in the points until her BWT Arden car slowed to a stop on the main straight, with her team ready for her to pit. Her Sprint Race was then ended before it had even really begun, as she collided with the side of Ralph Boschung’s Trident at Turn 2 on the first lap. She was handed a 3 grid drop penalty for the next Feature Race at Barcelona.

Baku lives up to its billing

The Baku City Circuit always promises plenty of thrills and spills and it certainly delivered on that front with the safety car increasing its mileage significantly. The castle section of the circuit is one of the tightest in the calendar, while a 2.2km long straight allows the racers to push the cars to their potential. The drivers tested the boundaries of the track on more than one occasion with some intense and enthralling racing that will most certainly have had racing fans glued to the action.

The castle corner at the Baku City Circuit isn’t the only thing that’s tight - seven different podium finishers and three different winners from four races this season exhibits the ability and closeness in this group, proving once more that anyone can compete in this championship.