F1 2018: Mercedes ‘love’ the fight against Red Bull and Ferrari

In 2018, Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix will be held on April 27-29.

The Formula One world champion is yet to win in the season’s first three races and will hope to change that in Baku on Sunday.

Behind them Force India and Williams each have had a turn on the Baku podium, however, this year may find the going a great deal more hard given their fall from grace with McLaren, Renault and Haas leading the battle for best of the rest.

Notorious for taking Ferrari to task, the Italian media has delivered a scathing rebuke of the team’s treatment of Kimi Raikkonen.

Despite his start to the campaign, Hamilton remains confident that he and his Mercedes team can made the necessary improvements to allow his to retain his championship – but conceded that his championship rivals have made significant strides in the recent past. It’s a slippery slope Ferrari find themselves on.

It was Hamilton who ultimately had the last laugh as he claimed a fourth drivers’ championship, equalling Vettel’s tally, and on Thursday the Mercedes man spoke more positively of the duo’s relationship as they return to Baku. A win in Baku would be most welcome.

Wolff, however, may not wish to be reminded that if Vettel wins in Baku, to register his third win in four races, he will be a nailed-on favourite for the title.

The Perth-born driver’s contract with Red Bull expires at the end of the season and his future has been the subject of frenzied speculation. Nevertheless, the team seems confident that it can bounce back. “And we know that we have a massive challenge on our hands“.

But the Baku City Circuit has been no happy hunting ground for Hamilton.

Baku was the scene of last year’s most outrageous moment, when Sebastian Vettel lost his cool and drove into the side of Hamilton on objective. At just 20 years of age there’s no doubting Verstappen’s talent but he could learn an bad lot from teammate Daniel Ricciardo’s performance in China, which featured a number of precise overtakes en route to Red Bull’s first victory of the season.

“There will always be a bit of that for sure”, he said.

The track is also very narrow in places, making it likelier the race will be stopped if there is crash debris. But it’s only the couple of times I’ve had a puncture that I’ve ever really been reminded how important they are. I was catching up again to the first two, if I would’ve passed them that’s a different story.

Much of the talk since China has been around whether Verstappen should tone down his boisterous driving style or continue to be an unpredictable force on the grid. In sections surrounding the old town, it is as tight and technical as Monaco, but the long straights mean that drivers have to go without the high downforce levels that they lean on at the Principality, which only adds to the challenge. The question is will Ferrari have the speed and more importantly the composure to stop him in his tracks, no pun intended.