Azerbaijan Grand Prix – “We expect to be in the fight”

Kimi, Seb gearing up for “specific layout” track
Baku, June 22nd – A different track and a different challenge await the Scuderia Ferrari drivers in Baku, the capital city of Azerbaijan, on the shores of the Caspian Sea. That’s how Kimi Raikkonen describes the newest circuit in the F1 calendar: “The Baku track is a unique place.  It’s a street circuit, but nothing like Monaco and more similar to Singapore, with long straights and very narrow sections. Last year it was the first time we were racing here and it was difficult. It was very hot and quite tricky on the tire side, not very easy to manage. This year being the second time here, it should be easier for everybody, even though the cars are different and we have slightly different tires. Today it’s a bit cooler, but it is supposed to heat up over the weekend; let’s see how the weather will turn out.  Last year there were many teams that proved to be fast and you would not expect that; maybe it will be the same thing this year, maybe not.  As for us, we have been quite good everywhere this season; obviously there are  stronger and weaker places, but our base level is quite strong and we expect to be in the fight. Then it’s a question of putting all the things together and try to be the fastest team”.
Sebastian Vettel is also looking forward to the weekend: “In Canada we didn’t have an ideal race. But I think we had a good recovery from there. Now, we’ll see what happens during this weekend. This is a different track with a specific layout. Last year we did a god job here in Baku. We finished second, struggled a little bit on Friday, but managed to recover well on Saturday. Now we are working real well in the team and I think things are coming together”.