Are Red Bull the fourth-fastest team? The six talking points of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix · RaceFans

The first of a double-header of notorious street circuits, Formula 1 heads to Baku for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Held later in the season than any race at Baku before, the race could be the most competitive and unpredictable ever held at the street circuit.

Will Ferrari be able to fight for victory for a second consecutive weekend? Will Red Bull perform any better than they did at Monza?

Here are the talking points for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix

Are Red Bull F1’s fourth-best team?

The two rounds after the summer break have made one thing abundantly clear: Red Bull are no longer the fastest team in Formula 1.

Although Max Verstappen managed to take a podium at his home grand prix around the high-downforce Zandvoort circuit, the following weekend at Monza set alarm bells ringing for the world champions. Verstappen and team mate Sergio Perez could only qualify seventh and eighth, respectively, while only early trouble for George Russell arguably prevented them from finishing in those same positions.

That means that Red Bull were beaten on performance by Ferrari, McLaren and Mercedes – all three of their closest rivals. After the race, Verstappen warned that the team needed turn their form around quickly, otherwise the team were facing an uncomfortable end to the season where they faced the prospect of losing both world championships.

Although Baku has been a good circuit for Red Bull in recent years, the team having won the last three rounds in Azerbaijan, it is an unusually high-speed street circuit which requires lower downforce than teams would typically run to take advantage of the longest full throttle section on the calendar. That could present problems for Red Bull, who struggled with the balance of their car last weekend with low downforce.

Will they be back towards the front again this weekend, or will they end up behind their three rivals once again?

A Ferrari follow-up?

Although Charles Leclerc’s victory in Monza was ultimately achieved through Ferrari’s successful gamble on a one-stop strategy, the team were not far off from the McLarens on pure pace in Italy either.

Leclerc and team mate Carlos Sainz Jnr were just a tenth each away from Lando Norris’s pole time on Saturday and Leclerc was never six seconds or more behind long time leader Oscar Piastri at any point in the race. If the pace of the Ferraris had not been so strong, then Piastri would have certainly caught and passed Leclerc…