It was your standard craziness around the Baku City Circuit, which saw Sergio Perez take the victory after Max Verstappen had a tyre failure whilst in command at the front, earlier in the race Lance Stroll had a similar tyre failure at speed. Both drivers were lucky to escape unharmed.
At the start, Charles Leclerc led but eventually was passed by both Lewis Hamilton and the two Red Bull drivers. Lewis Hamilton led the race until a slow pitstop dropped him behind both of the Red Bulls. Lewis struggled to follow Perez throughout the second stint, even after the first safety car resulting from Lance Stroll’s tyre failure.
Then Max Verstappen suffered a similar tyre failure, resulting in the race being red flagged, allowing the tyres to be changed, with a standing restart resulting in a 2 lap sprint to the flag. Lewis Hamilton attempted to pass the Red Bull but to the relief of Max Verstappen, he locked up and went into the run off area, meaning neither of the title contenders would score points.
This meant the coast was clear for Sergio Perez to bring his car home, with the checkered flag coming in the nick of time as he had to park his car due to an issue on the cool down lap. In second place was Sebastian Vettel, who pulled off a stunning strategic drive, going on the alternate strategy and getting the jump on multiple cars. And as the drivers ahead fell by the wayside he inherited second place.
The battle for third kept viewers on the edge of their seats as Pierre Gasly and Charles Leclerc fought for the final podium position. The AlphaTauri won that scrap, taking his third podium in Formula One. Charles Leclerc will be slightly disappointed with fourth having been on pole after losing out to both Vettel and Gasly.
Lando Norris finished in fifth ahead of a charging Fernando Alonso in sixth, with Yuki Tsunoda picking up a career best seventh place. Carlos Sainz finished in eighth, an early trip down the escape road ruining his race, ahead of Daniel Ricciardo in ninth and Kimi Raikkonen took the final point in tenth.
Antonio Giovinazzi finished in eleventh ahead of a dismal race for Valtteri Bottas, who was simply nowhere and finished in twelfth. The two Haas cars of Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin finished in thirteenth and fourteenth. Lewis Hamilton’s mistake dropped him to fifteenth with the two Williams’ of Nicholas Latifi and George Russell rounding out the finishers. The retirements were Max Verstappen, Lance Stroll and Esteban Ocon, who retired with an engine problem early on.
Here is the result of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
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