The Azerbaijan GP comes at a critical juncture for many of the teams in the paddock. The 2022 F1 season has already had quite a few surprises. We have Alfa Romeo rising to prominence out of nowhere, and Haas scoring points after spending two seasons getting lapped by every other car on the grid. Then we have a midfield cluster where it’s anybody’s guess when it comes to picking who will be the fastest car on any particular weekend.
Almost every team has had a few good days and a few bad ones as well this season! The beauty of a 22-race calendar, however, is that more often than not, every team goes through a rut. A run of bad form or bad luck complicates the results for the team. Right now, as the F1 circus sets up base at the Azerbaijan GP, some of the teams that are going through a bad run of form will be looking to turn things around this weekend.
3 teams hoping for a strong Azerbaijan GP
#3 Aston Martin
That massive overhaul of an upgrade brought by Aston Martin to the Spanish GP has proven to be a bit of a dud for now. The race in Barcelona did not yield any points for the team, although Sebastian Vettel dragged the car to P11 in the race. While Vettel did the same to finish P10 in Monaco, the lack of speed was quite evident.
Aston Martin feels that this concept, which looks visibly like a copy of Red Bull’s 2022 F1 challenger, has the potential to shoot the team up the pecking order as compared to the previous challenger. If that is the case and Aston Martin is hoping to salvage something this season, then the Azerbaijan GP has to be the first race where it starts to show competitive midfield pace.
If the package cannot unlock more performance 3 races in, then the major overhaul for the team might just have been a waste of time altogether. To make things worse, it’s a significant exhaustion of resources for something that did not yield the desired result. In an era of cost caps, that is the worst possible thing the team could have done.
#2 Mercedes
They look so good. 
George. Lewis. And a vision of the future.
George. Lewis. And a vision of the future. 
https://t.co/TyJYZ6RXBc
Mercedes is more than a hundred points behind Red Bull at this point in the season. The 2022 F1 challenger from the German giant was just not good enough at the start of the season and has led to Mercedes falling back significantly in the standings.
The Spanish GP, however, provided a glimmer of hope that Mercedes could salvage something meaningful from this season. The car was very strong in the race trim and if it wasn’t for Lewis Hamilton’s first lap crash, the race could have turned out to be very interesting.
At the Azerbaijan GP, Mercedes knows that, ideally in the best-case scenario, it is still a major upgrade away from challenging at the front. If the team can replicate its race pace from the Spanish GP, however, we could be looking at a very strong race from the Brackley-based outfit. Mercedes will be desperate to put everything together at the Azerbaijan GP this weekend.
The earlier Mercedes starts cutting into Red Bull’s championship lead, the better it will be for the team when it comes to potential championship contention.
#1 Ferrari
Ferrari finds itself in a familiar position this season. It found itself in the same position in 2017 and 2018 where its early-season advantage was overcome by Mercedes and the team had no answer for it.
After the first 3 races this season, everything looked great! Post Australian GP, everything has changed. Red Bull has upped the ante while Ferrari has been unable to keep up.
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To make things worse, Ferrari lost two races in Barcelona and Monaco that it should have ideally won. The first was compromised by a power unit failure while the second was ruined by Ferrari’s strategic disaster.
Riding on a 4-race losing streak against Red Bull, Ferrari is desperate for a win. Otherwise, the Red Bull momentum will get completely out of hand for the Italian squad. At the Azerbaijan GP, Ferrari needs a win and it needs it desperately!
