Before the 2019 Azerbaijan Grand Prix weekend began, I posted five prediction polls on the Lights Out twitter account. How many of the questions did you get right? Find out below!
1. HOW MANY OF 2018’s TOP 3 WILL BE IN THE 2019 TOP 3?
1. How many of 2018’s #AzerbaijanGP podium finishers will finish in the top three this weekend? #LightsOutF1Predictions #F1
— Lights Out ●●●●● (@LightsOutF1Blog) April 25, 2019
YOUR PREDICTION: 1
CORRECT ANSWER: 1
Lewis Hamilton was the only driver who finished on the podium at the 2018 Azerbaijan Grand Prix to finish on the podium in the 2019 race. While Sebastian Vettel and Valtteri Bottas each took their second podium finish at the track, their previous podium finishes came in 2016 and 2017 respectively. Last year’s other podium finishers Kimi Raikkonen and Sergio Perez finished in tenth and sixth.
2. HOW MANY SAFETY CAR PERIODS WILL THERE BE?
2. How many full Safety Car periods will there be in the 2019 #AzerbaijanGP? #LightsOutF1Predictions #F1
— Lights Out ●●●●● (@LightsOutF1Blog) April 25, 2019
YOUR PREDICTION: 2
CORRECT ANSWER: 0
There were no full Safety Car periods in this year’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix. There was, however, a Virtual Safety Car. It was caused by Pierre Gasly coming to a halt on Lap 39.
3. WILL THE TRACK RECORD BE BEATEN?
3. Will the Baku track record (a 1:40.593 from 2017) be beaten this weekend? #AzerbaijanGP #LightsOutF1Predictions #F1
— Lights Out ●●●●● (@LightsOutF1Blog) April 25, 2019
YOUR PREDICTION: YES
CORRECT ANSWER: YES
The track record at the Baku City Circuit was beaten by Valtteri Bottas on Saturday with his pole lap time of 1:40.495. The lap record was also beaten in the Grand Prix by Charles Leclerc.
4. WHERE WILL THE BEST-PLACED MCLAREN FINISH?
4. Where will the best-placed McLaren finish the 2019 #AzerbaijanGP? #LightsOutF1Predictions #F1
— Lights Out ●●●●● (@LightsOutF1Blog) April 25, 2019
YOUR PREDICTION: 7th or 8th
CORRECT ANSWER: 7th or 8th
Carlos Sainz was the highest finishing McLaren driver in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, as he took home seventh place. Team-mate Lando Norris finished just behind in eighth, with a result which elevated McLaren to fourth place in the Constructors’ Championship.
5. HOW MANY DRIVERS WILL FINISH THE RACE?
5. How many drivers will reach the end of the #AzerbaijanGP? #LightsOutF1Predictions #F1
— Lights Out ●●●●● (@LightsOutF1Blog) April 25, 2019
YOUR PREDICTION: 15 OR LESS
CORRECT ANSWER: 16
There were four retirements from the 2019 Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat retired as a result of colliding with each other – an incident for which Ricciardo picked up a three-place grid penalty at the Spanish Grand Prix. Romain Grosjean and Pierre Gasly were the other retirements, both stopping after completing 38 of the 51 laps.
Let us know how you got on with this race’s predictions! There’ll be more at the next race, follow us on twitter to take part: @LightsOutF1Blog!
After graduating from the University of Hull in 2015 with a First Class honours degree in English Language and Literature, Nicky Haldenby, a lifelong fan of Formula 1, founded the Lights Out F1 Blog in 2016. Now in its fifth season, the blog has become a firm fan-favourite, delving deep into the sport’s history books and lifting the cover on unusual F1 statistics. Nicky also writes at F1Destinations and GPDestinations. In 2017 and 2018, he wrote for Badger GP. Nicky is also the host of the F1 Rewind Podcast and can be heard as the resident stats man on the 2 Soft Compounds Podcast.