Six technical questions to shape F1’s Baku weekend

Baku’s long straights make aerodynamic efficiency and energy management central, so teams are prioritising targeted changes over the kind of wholesale upgrades that might suit other races. Williams is bringing a lighter, unusually manufactured chassis, while Aston Martin is expected to add lighter components. Cadillac will introduce Ferrari’s ADUO 2 power unit for Sergio Perez, and McLaren plans to bring back its low-drag H-wing while evaluating another upgrade. The circuit will also test how 2026 cars manage battery charge over the long run to Turn 1—and whether cool brakes and tyres make the opening corner harder to negotiate. Williams’s team principal says its chassis approach is innovative, but neither he nor Alex Albon expects an instant performance transformation.

Race2026 Azerbaijan Grand Prix

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KEY POINTS

Williams’s new chassis is intended to cut weight and uses manufacturing processes James Vowles says are unlike those of other cars on the grid; the team is not promising a game-changing leap.
Aston Martin is expected to introduce lighter components as it moves closer to the 768kg minimum weight, while winding down its development rate after its Hungarian GP overhaul.
Cadillac will run Ferrari’s ADUO 2 engine in Sergio Perez’s car in Baku; Valtteri Bottas is due to wait longer.
McLaren plans to bring back its low-drag H-wing, first raced at Monza, and evaluate another upgrade package.
Energy deployment on the long run from Turn 16 to Turn 1 may depend on how much drivers can take the fast Turn 18/19 sequence flat and use it to harvest energy or maintain speed elsewhere on the lap.

WHAT CHANGED

The main fresh developments are hardware choices for Baku: Williams is set to race a new lighter chassis, Aston Martin is expected to bring lighter parts, Cadillac has approved the ADUO 2 engine for Sergio Perez, and McLaren will reinstate its low-drag H-wing while assessing another package. These arrive against a circuit-specific backdrop: Baku rewards efficiency, and its long straight and slow corners will put energy deployment, brake temperatures and tyre temperatures under scrutiny.

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WHY IT MATTERS

Baku is a demanding proving ground for 2026 machinery: teams must balance straight-line efficiency with energy recovery, while the long main straight can cool brakes and tyres before the heavy braking zone at Turn 1. The weekend also offers early evidence of whether Williams’s weight reduction, Cadillac’s engine choice and McLaren’s low-drag configuration deliver useful gains on a circuit that particularly rewards those priorities.

WHAT TO WATCH NEXT

Watch Williams’s pace and weight-related progress without assuming the new chassis will transform its season; note how Perez’s Cadillac performs with ADUO 2 and whether Bottas remains on the previous specification; and compare McLaren’s straight-line performance with the H-wing back in use. In practice and qualifying, pay attention to energy deployment across the Turn 16-to-Turn 1 run, speed differences between cars on out-laps and push laps, and lock-ups at Turn 1 as drivers manage cool tyres and brakes.

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Six technical questions to shape F1’s Baku weekend

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