Long Live Azerbaijan! - F1 Round 12

Welcome to Race 12 of the Season where we welcomed back the infamous Baku City Street Circuit to the SLR calendar for the first time in over 2 years. And of course, it didn't disappoint, where we were reminded of the dramas that we see each time we take to Azerbaijan. Long Live Baku!

There was plenty on offer this week, BalmyTick395524 could win the McKeon Driver's title if results go his way, and so could RIPbrannin21 in Division 3, however he did not race. Here's how it all went down around the streets!

McKeon Division

Qualifying

Pole Time: 1:37.310

1. EVR remote

2. SimbarocksONE

3. DustyBassoon244

4. SLR Ham19

5. SLR Jam40

6. SemmF1

7. BlueGoggy14

8. svabst

9. Drastik Blaze

10. LTKtarrierYT

11. SLR Medal2533

12. AJNOLAN754

13. MattCoper97

14. GoldenEggFryer

15. THATGUY691244

16. BalmyTick395524

Race

Fastest Lap: 1:39.783 - DustyBasson244

1. BalmyTick395524

2. SLR Ham19

3. SLR Jam40

4. DustyBassoon244

5. Drastik Blaze

6. SemmF1

7. BlueGoggy14

8. SimbarocksONE

9. SLR Medal2533

10. GoldenEggFryer

11. EVR remote

12. LTKtarrierYT (DNF)

13. MattCoper97 (DNF)

14. AJNOLAN754 (DNF)

15. svabst (DNF)

16. THATGUY691244 (DNF)

No incidents submitted.

Division 2

Qualifying

Pole Time: 1:38.048

1. LTKtarrierYT

2. RSF1 Invade

3. UKBeastAssassin

4. OwenHowell36

5. LSJ Rundle

6. GoldenEggFryer

7. F1ABQW3RTYYY

8. BRT Haze

9. Arb0n EPA

10. SL1X4

11. SSR Halo

12. ZachIsBeast25

13. SK1 F33

14. CODZILLA5699

15. Tyler Jenkins

16. SLR Petronas

Race

Fastest Lap: 1:40.018 - LSJ Rundle

1. RSF1 Invade

2. BRT Haze

3. UKBeastAssassin

4. SK1 F33

5. SSR Halo

6. ZachIsBeast25

7. OwenHowell36 (+5s)

8. GoldenEggFryer (+5s)

9. CODZILLA5699 (+3s)

10. F1ABQW3RTYYY

11. LSJ Rundle (+5s)

12. LTKtarrierYT

13. SLR Petronas (DNF)

14. SL1X4 (DNF)

15. Arb0n EPA (DNF)

16. Tyler Jenkins (DNF)

Ticket # 39 - Lap 19 incident involving SLR Petronas & CODZILLA5699

Verdict: 3s + 1LP to CODZILLA5699

Detail: Codzilla half spins Petronas, losing him a position.

Ticket # 40 - Lap 20 incident involving SLR Petronas & LSJ Rundle

Verdict: 5s + 1LP to LSJ Rundle

Detail: Rundle misjudges Petronas' speed, spinning him. As the car behind, the onus is on Rundle to adjust his speed to avoid the collision.

Ticket # 41 - Lap 1 incident involving UKBeastAssassin, OwenHowell36 & GoldenEggFryer

Verdict: 5s + 1LP to GoldenEggFryer

Detail: Fryer puts his car in a position that is never going to lead to a clean overtake at turn 2, making contact with Owen and causing a chain reaction that leads to both Beast and Owen losing multiple positions.

Ticket # 42 - Lap 18 incident involving GoldenEggFryer & OwenHowell36

Verdict: 5s + 1LP to OwenHowell36

Detail: Owen outbrakes himself, spinning Fryer and causing him to lose multiple positions.

Division 3

Qualifying

Pole Time: 1:39.279

1. Echo3x3

2. BGR_SXPERI-74

3. aligator86

4. Gregers UK

5. Bahamut zero233

6. WillyBum7

7. BlackSpartan133

8. COLDEN3335

9. SLR Laney

10. GazzaBridger

11. SLR Moley

12. l 21 l Maxwell

13. DNB SuperSkiilz

14. Rico AV

15. CSRwolf

16. TeH Punisher946

17. Mantas Lietuva

18. IAC Lambo

19. Nealix

20. Starsorphan6

Race

Fastest Lap: 1:40.927 - BGR_SXPERI-74

1. WillyBum7 (+5s)

2. TeH Punisher946

3. aligator86

4. Echo3x3

5. l 21 l Maxwell

6. Starsorphan6

7. GazzaBridger

8. BGR_SXPERI-74

9. IAC Lambo

10. CSRwolf (DSC)

11. Rico AV (DNF)

12. Bahamut zero233 (DNF)

13. COLDEN3335 (DNF)

14. Mantas Lietuva (DNF)

15. Gregers UK (DNF)

16. Nealix (DNF)

17. BlackSpartan133 (DNF)

18. SLR Laney (DNF)

19. DNB SuperSkiilz (DNF)

20. SLR Moley (DSQ)

Ticket # 43 - Qualifying incident involving Bahamut zero233 & BGR_SXPERI-74

Verdict: 1LP to BGR_SXPERI-74

Detail: Bahamut is starting his lap and Sxperi has massive overspeed, passing Bahamut into T1. It looks like Sxperi is starting a lap himself but has used a different ERS strategy to Bahamut when starting the lap, so has massive overspeed when accounting for the slipstream as well. This seems to be a bit of a misunderstanding so is not being penalised as much as a standard qualifying bloc, however a license point has been given to Sxperi as the stewards feel that the onus is on him to make sure to leave a big enough gap to the car ahead to avoid a situation like this.

Ticket # 44 - Lap 1 incident involving DNBSuperSkiilz & SLR Moley

Verdict: Qualifying Ban + 3LP to SLR Moley

Detail: A moment of madness from Moley, who massively misjudged the speed of the cars ahead of him, causing a big crash.

Tickets # 45 & # 46 - Lap 24 incident involving Rico AV, BGR_SXPERI-74 & COLDEN3335

Verdict: 3-Race Ban to COLDEN3335

Detail: Colden makes contact with Rico at turn 3 and retaliates by attempting to intentionally crash him out. He then rage quits, causing his car to retire on track. The retaliation causes Sxperi to get damage and Rico to be spun. As the stewards have no doubt that this incident was fully intentional, a penalty of a 3-race ban has been issued to Colden. Therefore, Colden will be unable to race the final two races of this season, and the opening round of Season 15.

Ticket # 47 - Lap 16/17 incident involving WillyBum7

Verdict: 5s + 1LP to WillyBum7

Detail: The stewards deemed this as excessive use of AI under the safety car. The AI itself doesn't cause issues to any other cars, so a smaller penalty is applied here for this infringement.

Note: AI usage no longer warms up tyres under safety cars, so WillyBum gains no sporting advantage from doing this.

Ticket # 48 - Lap 23 incident involving TeH Punisher946 & COLDEN3335

Verdict: 2LP to COLDEN3335

Detail: Recovering from a prior incident, Colden loses concentration and fails to leave Punisher a car's width on his left, giving the Ferrari driver damage.

That's all for our return to Baku, and plenty to talk about after a 2 year absence. Will we see the track return? I guess we'll have to wait and see what the future looks like...

The immediate future however sees us return to Melbourne next weekend for the Australian Grand Prix. Here's what could happen when we head down under...

... Echo3x3 (211th) could reach 100 SLR points if they score 3 points.

... BalmyTick395524 could become McKeon Driver's Champion if they score 1 point, or SLR Ham19 does not score 26 points.

... Ferrari will become McKeon Constructor's Champions if they outscore Mercedes by 6 or more points.

... RSF1 Invade will become Division 2 Driver's Champion if they score 6 points, or if LTKtarrierYT fails to win.

... RB will become Division 2 Constructor's Champions if they are not outscored by Williams.

... RIPbrannin21 will become Division 3 Champion if they outscore WillyBum7 by 10 points or more.

... Sauber will become Joint Constructor's Champions if they are not outscored by Ferrari by more than 16 points, or Williams by 22 points or more.

See you in Melbourne!