F1: Ferrari’s (NYSE:RACE) Vettel Lesson Learned at Baku 2017

A week later in China, the 20-year-old caused himself and Sebastian Vettel to skid across the track after attempting another risky manoeuvre.

I expect Ferrari to be strong again but Mercedes will throw all their weight behind Hamilton to get his championship defence back on track.

Daniel Ricciardo, victor at China is on a high and Baku rewards the overtaking moves he is known for, but he will not be faster than Sebastian Vettel, and he can not depend on the safety auto.

Instead, the Dutch driver locked up while braking and skidded sideways into the tyre wall with 55 minutes remaining, sitting out the remainder of the session while his mechanics prepared to rebuild the auto. ‘I just want to be myself. “I understand that, to be fast, you have to be on the limit – but put yourself there and it can bite you”. “It means drive faster but maybe a little more in control”.

The Stevenage native is not a four-time world champion for nothing, and of course, like any job or sport, there is bound to be bad days along the journey. Now we have Red Bull at their best, or closest to their best, and Ferrari at their best. “This morning and at the start of the second session I didn’t find it and I wasn’t up to speed, but I was pretty happy with the long run at the end”.

‘At the end of the day I can speak to a lot of people but I have to look at myself, too, ‘ Verstappen added.

“I think you always learn something from every race and some races you learn different things to others and Baku past year was very different to other races”.

‘Everything was going really well in China.

“I think there’s a sense of optimism already that we can make solid progress, rapid progress, and we’ve already started down that road”.

“It’s good to see fire within the people that you’re competing with, it’s also good to see that they’re not flawless because I guess nobody’s ideal”, he told reporters.

After three races in far-flung lands, now’s a good time to take stock of the Formula One season so far.

“We know that we have a massive challenge on our hands”, said the German Team’s boss Toto Wolff.

This year, it is very unlikely the Canadian will be anywhere near the front because the Williams has the worst straight-line speed of any vehicle, while Force India have only claimed one point this season so far.

“The work we have done today gives me encouragement and I have a good feeling with the vehicle”, said Perez.

Vettel’s victory in that race was up there with his very best – a masterclass under deteriorating soft tyres for 39 laps to hold off Valtteri Bottas on the final frenetic laps to seal a 49th victory of his career.

Daniel Ricciardo, who won in Baku past year and is coming off a victory in China two weeks ago, said he wasn’t yet thinking of the title and that his team needed to show it could consistently challenge Mercedes and Ferrari. “So hopefully we can extract more out of ourselves and the auto this weekend and yeah, have a good weekend”.