The Finn was on course for an almost certain win in last year's race, run through the streets of the capital Baku, when a blown tyre three laps from the end handed the victory to Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton instead
Valtteri Bottas
Valtteri Bottas will be determined to banish his bitter Baku memories and vault back into the overall championship lead in this weekend's Azerbaijan Grand Prix. The Finn was on course for an almost certain win in last year's race, run through the streets of the capital Baku, when a blown tyre three laps from the end handed the victory to Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton instead.
The first win of what had until then been a lacklustre season for the Briton, it propelled him to ten more triumphs and a fifth world championship, even as Bottas ended the year without a single win. "That's life, that's how it goes sometimes, but it's early in the season and I'm only a few points behind in the championship," Bottas told reporters after the last race in China where conceded the championship lead to Hamilton and is now six points behind the 34-year-old with 18 races to run.
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"For sure I would prefer to still be leading but that's the situation now and if I keep performing well I can turn it around. So that's going to be the goal for Baku."
Bottas, who won the season-opening race in Australia and has started from pole twice this season, can draw encouragement from the fact that Mercedes head into Sunday's race as favourites.
The Brackley-based reigning champions have opened the year with three straight one-two finishes, the strongest start to a season any team has enjoyed since 1992.
But the 6-kilometer long Baku layout a street track with no margin for error has tended to throw up some of the most unpredictable and exciting racing, meaning nothing can be taken for granted.
The track has never seen a repeat winner in the three races it has hosted.
If he does the job on Sunday Hamilton, whose win last year was his first appearance on the podium in Baku and who has won two of this season's three races so far, could be the first.
It is also the only round on the calendar to have featured a driver from outside the top three teams on the podium in each of the races it has hosted so far.
For Ferrari Sunday's race will be crucial. The pre-season favourites have managed no more than a pair of third place finishes this season. Already 57-points behind Mercedes, they have plenty of ground to make up on their rivals.
Charles Leclerc, who was denied a maiden F1 win in Bahrain by engine trouble and was ordered to move over for team-mate Sebastian Vettel in China, will be especially fired up.
The Monegasque scored his first Formula One points in Baku for Sauber (now Alfa Romeo) last year. He also won a Formula 2 race from pole in 2017 just days after the death of his father.
"I don't think it comes from this," said Leclerc when asked if as a result he felt a special emotional significance that allowed him to pull more out of himself in Baku, where he also scored his first F1 points last year.
"I feel somehow particularly confident in street tracks, no exception to here because I really love this track and driving as close as possible to the walls without touching them.
"This is a challenge I like as a driver."
Other teams will also look to take advantage of any unpredictability Sunday's race throws up to either score a surprise podium or even a win, with Red Bull ideally placed as dark horse contenders.
Also Read: F1: Valtteri Bottas pips teammate Lewis Hamilton for Chinese GP pole
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