Despite the straights! Why Audi race director Allan McNish is optimistic about Baku

Ahead of this weekend’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Audi’s racing director Allan McNish is cautiously optimistic about the team’s first race under its new branding and with its own engine in Baku. The Scot said: “If you look at the average cornering speeds in Baku, in the first, second and third sectors alike, it should be pretty good.” So far, so good. However, the engine’s lack of power will also come into play on the full-throttle sections of the street circuit. McNish: “It’s no surprise that our weakness will be somewhat more evident on the straights, but I believe we should be in reasonably good shape there.”

Upgrades in the luggage

Audi is bringing new parts to the Caspian Sea. But the Germans aren’t alone in introducing these innovations. McNish explained: “We, and of course other teams too, have introduced upgrades in various areas at different times. For us, that was most recently the case in Austria. Since then, there have been a few minor tweaks, but essentially most of the work was done at Spielberg. We need to keep up, especially as we can see that Pierre Gasly’s race pace in Madrid, for example, was very, very strong, and his pole position at Monza was also incredibly impressive. But from this perspective, we need to start making improvements to the car in order to hold our position. I can’t say any more than that.” However, that will certainly become clear over the course of the weekend.

A tough, intense phase lies ahead

The Azerbaijan weekend marks the start of a gruelling World Championship finale: “This triple-header of Baku, Malaysia and then Singapore is going to be tough, so I think a pretty tough, intense phase lies ahead for all the teams.” After that, as planned, there are two more triple-headers to come.

McNish: “Baku is the first race in this series and I think it’s also one that most people actually enjoy – certainly the drivers. I think they can get into the swing of things and really go for it.” The circuit is popular with drivers and fans alike.

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