The 'boring' circuit Baku could have had

When Azerbaijan was added (originally as the European Grand Prix) to the Formula 1 calendar in 2016, many were sceptical about what Baku would bring to the championship.

After seeing several new race projects including Turkey, India and South Korea fall by the wayside as those venues failed to attract the fan or government support needed to keep them going, few were convinced that the Azerbaijan tale would be much different.

In the first year, many newspapers focused more on the country's human rights issues rather than the racing - and a pretty boring inaugural event left some suggesting that F1 might not even return for a second attempt.

Thankfully, though, it did. In the last two years Baku has delivered some real thrillers.

That dull first race has been put down to conservative high-downforce set-ups and the drivers all being so convinced that the race would turn into a crash fest that they decided to take a conservative approach to guarantee a decent finish.

They realised the errors of their ways after the first year (plus teams subsequently opted for a lower downforce approach), and Baku 2017 and '18 were two fantastic and unpredictable events that totally changed perceptions of the race.

Now nobody doubts Baku's place on the F1 calendar and it is a venue that the grand prix circus embraces and looks forward to attending.

But what has made Baku a success has nothing to do with the money thrown at the event, the attempts to showcase Azerbaijan that come with it, or the epic Baku city-scape backdrop. Instead, it has happened precisely because of the track layout.

The Baku circuit works because of the very same combination of characteristics that make the Macau street track so brilliant.

The tight and twisty street circuit part - especially up in the old town - is a challenge for the drivers, but it is made even more difficult by the ultra-long main straight meaning that, unlike Monaco and Singapore, downforce is taken off. And this leads to cars struggling for grip throughout.

The contrast between the long straight section and the city segment also makes it exceptionally difficult to get the brakes and tyres working in the right operating window.

The acceleration blast, city sections shrouded in shadow and without long corners to generate energy, plus late April weather, all conspire to leave the drivers having a headache with temperatures.

"Because we were all so passionate about Baku, we wanted to create something special" Carsten Tilke

Things can get even more difficult if a safety car comes out; with tyres all too easily falling off a cliff temperature-wise. Again add in the long straight, where the way the safety car procedure ends produces immediate overtaking opportunities for all cars behind the leader, and restarts prove to be exceptionally tricky too.

This means incidents after green flags are common; which can then trigger more safety cars and more chaos.

Throw all these elements together and there is everything needed for a great race: a challenging circuit for the teams and drivers; set-up compromises that mean no one is ever totally comfortable; and an increased probability of incidents and safety cars that keeps them all on their toes.

But history could so easily have taken a different path had circuit designer Tilke and then F1 race director Charlie Whiting decided not to make a joint push for the current layout when it came down to getting the Baku authorities to sign off the plans.

When the layout was being decided, there was a second option for a different configuration: one without the qualities that make the current version work so well.

"When we first went there we had two different options to go through," says Carsten Tilke, the CEO of circuit architect Tilke, which headed the Baku project.

"There was the option we have now, or there was another option. That option would have been much easier for everyone."

This alternative design would have used the current pits and paddock, but the track would have run in a clockwise direction. It would have used only some of the long straight and would have avoided the old city altogether, instead working its way through the modern streets at sea level.

Opting for this layout would have been much more straightforward. For Tilke and the FIA, there would not have been the headaches of the narrow 7.6metre wide old city corner or the challenge of covering up cobblestones.

"It would have been more or less only 90-degrees corners, like we have in the first part of the lap," adds Tilke. "It would have been easy for everyone, and not such a headache.

"But because we were all so passionate about it, we wanted to create something special. So, we felt we needed to make the other version happen. And I remember many times when I was there with Charlie Whiting, he really spoke for this [current] track as well. We could only have made it happen with him."

Had Tilke and Whiting not been aligned in accepting the headaches and pushing for what they felt was the better track choice, then things could have been so different. Baku may have turned out to have a featureless, easy and 'boring' layout.

That Whiting and Tilke won in the end is a victory for more than just Baku, though. It is living proof of something that every F1 fan has known for years and was perhaps lost for a while by the championship's bosses: circuit layout matters.

Baku has proven that taking a bold approach with tracks pays off in the end for everyone

You can have as many flashy grandstands as you like; build as many fancy hotels near the circuit; entertain as many corporate guests and have as many colour-coordinated run off areas as you want, but all of that means nothing if you don't have a decent track.

Old school circuits such as Spa and Suzuka are loved by everyone because they are a challenge; they are difficult for drivers and teams to master and that throws up good races. What grandstands, hotels or corporate hospitality they have doesn't matter.

If a track offers a challenge it normally offers a good race. Cobble together some short straights with 90-degree corners and that's just a recipe for a boring race: which isn't going to give a venue a long-term future.

The Austin design took cues from successful parts of other tracks when it was conceived, and Tilke has followed that approach with the new Vietnam circuit - which has parts inspired that are by the Nurburgring, Monaco and Suzuka.

But what Baku has proven is that taking a bold approach with tracks, making it more difficult for teams and drivers and taking them out of their comfort zone, pays off in the end for everyone - from the fans in the grandstands and watching at home to the very top management of F1.

"We all have to challenge ourselves to make something special," concludes Tilke. "Otherwise, if we always took the easy solutions, there is a risk of everything looking the same. If we see something which is worth fighting for, we should do it!"