As Formula One goes east for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, what exactly does ‘Well Done Baku’ meme mean
How did F1 unwittingly contribute to the meme’s creation?
The Azerbaijan Grand Prix takes place this weekend in Baku, a city that has mixed memories for Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton since 2021.
Well Done Baku F1 Meme Created At The Azerbaijan GP Meaning
Verstappen appeared to be on his way to a comfortable grand Prix victory until his rear left Pirelli blew out with a few laps to go, forcing him to retire and causing a lot of frustration.
Hamilton was ready to steal 25 points away from Verstappen in the two-lap shootout after the red flag, giving him a 50-point advantage in the championship.
He locked up at Turn 1 and sailed by, finishing 15th after making a rare driving error by pressing the wrong button, thereby disabling the front brakes.
The Azerbaijan Grand Prix is known for generating drama, with supporters employing the slogan ‘Well Done Baku’ to criticise, congratulate, or appreciate the action.
Where did the slogan “Well Done Baku” come from, and how did Formula One contribute to its creation, which has spawned years of memes?
BAKU, WELL DONE!
The Azerbaijan Grand Prix was not the first race held in the Azeri capital.
Even though Azerbaijan is primarily an Asian country with only the north considered European, it was accorded the title of European Grand Prix in 2016.
F1 strewn the track with ‘Well Done Baku’ signs to commemorate the organisers’ completion of the track, which included the 7-meter-wide castle stretch.
These were the latter days of the Bernie Ecclestone dictatorship, with Bernie being known for handing over the series to whoever was willing to open their wallets wide enough to help F1 earn more money.
The only problem was that the first race was a bit of a slog. The F1 drivers took it easy on the first lap after the mayhem of the F2 race, in which 12 of the 22 drivers failed to finish.
Nico Rosberg won from pole, with Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel and Force India’s Sergio Perez rounding out the podium. The sole notable occurrence was Hamilton’s struggle to fifth place for Mercedes due to engine mode settings — this was during the 2016 season, when radio discussions on topics such as engine settings were prohibited.
F1 Gets Ready for Azerbaijan’s Sixth Race
Baku has usually injected a little havoc into the F1 season since then. The 2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix was a classic F1 race, with teammates colliding, Vettel hitting title rival Hamilton under the safety car, red flags, Daniel Ricciardo’s monstrous triple-pass, and Hamilton’s loose headrest.
After a race-long ding-dong, Ricciardo and Max Verstappen collided a year later, with the Australian later claiming it was one of the reasons he left Red Bull at the end of the season. Even though F1 intended Well Done Baku to be taken seriously, it has developed a cult following over the years.
It now appears to be a brilliant marketing strategy, as fans frequently tweet it in response to things going wrong, and some clubs even make light of it in their social media posts.
ALSO READ: Win against New Zealand massively important but going to be a long ride: Ben Stokes