How Fast Can I Lap The Red Bull RB6 Around Baku In F1 2017?

The challenge is simple. I take the classic cars on F1 2017 and hot lap them around Baku City Circuit - and at the end of it all, it is determined once and all which one I can truly call one of the greatest of all time. Why Baku, you ask? Baku is one of those tracks on the F1 calendar that divides opinion - some people love it, while others despise it. It is a test of speed and precision, a mix of high-speed straights and difficult corners - whilst maintaining that feeling of being on the edge of your seat.

Last time around, I drove the McLaren MP4-13 (Mika Hakkinen's championship winning car from 1998) - and it posted a lap time of 1:51:827. Not the best, but an okay effort from a car which isn't really suited to a street circuit such as Baku. Its sub-par handling through the tight left and right handers of Baku was what let it down in the end.

CHALLENGER - THE RED BULL RB6 (2010)

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In 2010, the F1 landscape had changed drastically. Not only in terms of the new teams (may they all rest in peace) and the rule changes - including points scoring, the ban on KERS, etc - but the main talking point was the ban of refuelling during the race for the first time since 1993. As a result, teams were forced to make their cars bigger in length to accommodate the bigger fuel tanks.

Red Bull took advantage of these technical changes the most, and with chief designer (and all round genius) Adrian Newey producing the RB6 - which would be the machine that powered Sebastian Vettel to an unlikely first F1 drivers championship, and to give Red Bull their first of four Constructors championships. After finishing runners up to Brawn GP (now Mercedes) in 2009, Red Bull confirmed their newfound status as a top team in F1 - although I would've preferred to see Mark Webber win the championship...

THE LAP ITSELF

SECTOR 1

Coming up to the start/finish straight, it's true what many pundits have said about Red Bull's cars in a straight line. The RB6's top speed on the straight was 186mph - a good 15mph down on the McLaren MP4-13. It's down to the fact that the engine size of the RB6 is smaller and has less power, but despite the speed disadvantage on straights - the RB6 has a lot more speed through corners, and most importantly, better handling than the MP4-13 all-round. This allowed for less fighting the car all the way through the 90 degree corners, and by the end of Sector 1 - the RB6 was already 2.1 seconds up on the MP4-13.

SECTOR 2

Here's where the RB6 really excels compared to the MP4-13. The car almost glided through the Turn 8 and 9 chicane with ease, and managed to stick to the racing line through 10 and 11 - before hitting the throttle early for the thrilling but yet so easy to f**k up Turn 12 - 15 sequence. I almost lost control going to Turn 13, but I somehow managed to keep it together. Going into Turn 16, I had managed to pull four seconds ahead of MP4-13 - further demonstrating this car's superior handling and corner speed.

SECTOR 3

Going through the left-then-right handers from Turn 17 to 19, the car was surprisingly well-behaved, but going onto the start/finish straight again demonstrated its lack of outright straight line speed by losing over a second approaching the finish line. Despite this, the RB6 had already beaten the MP4-13 by a number of lengths - and posted a final lap of 1:48:190, over 3.5 seconds faster than the more powerful MP4-13.

FINAL VERDICT

It's clear to see that a more modern F1 car such as the RB6 is better suited to the Baku circuit. For what it lacked in straight line speed, it more than made up for in navigating the tight corners and precision in handling. That's what made the final lap time a lot faster than the MP4-13. Overall, it was a good attempt from a car that many believe was the complete package in the early 2010s.

YOUR OPINIONS PLEASE

Did you like my attempt at this challenge? Could you do it better? Let me know in the comments below. As always, thanks for reading - and I'll see ya later...