The championship fight between Vettel and Hamilton got a little spicy on the streets of Baku, but it led to sweet victory for Ricciardo.
Get 10% off all official F1 Merch at TheRaceWorks.com using code ‘EF1‘ at checkout.
About The Azerbaijan Grand Prix
In 2014, Formula 1 announced that Azerbaijan would be joining the race calendar for the 2016 season. The Baku City Street Circuit was set to see drivers battling it out with some of the oldest buildings in the city just beyond the track limits.
Drivers weave their way through tight corners and narrow, slow-speed sections that can be unforgiving if you get out of shape. But hey, where else in the world can you find a Formula 1 car racing past a 12th century fortress wall?
In 2016, Azerbaijan hosted its first Formula 1 race – the European Grand Prix. The following year, the European Grand Prix was once again dropped from the calendar. In its place, was the inaugural Azerbaijan Grand Prix. It’s held the same title every year since, and Azerbaijan is currently set to host Formula 1 in Baku until the end of the 2026 season.
The 2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix
The 2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix had it all. There were tight battles, collisions, Safety Cars, pit-lane drama – if you wanted some easy Sunday afternoon watching, this was not it. Sebastian Vettel was determined to keep his lead in the championship, whilst Lewis Hamilton was snapping at his heels. Mercedes were fending off Ferrari in the constructor’s championship. The atmosphere ahead of the race start was electric, and we were in for a wild ride.
Lights Out in Baku
It was a Mercedes front-row lockout following Saturday’s qualifying session. As the lights went out for the 2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton led from the start. Valtteri Bottas maintained second, followed by the Ferraris of Kimi Räikkönen and Sebastian Vettel. As the pack went through Turn 1, Daniil Kvyat ran wide in his Toro Rosso. As the Russian driver re-joined the track, he went straight into the path of his teammate, Carlos Sainz. Doing all he could to avoid a collision with Kvyat, Sainz spun off the track. At Turn 3, Bottas and Räikkönen came together, resulting in a puncture in Bottas’ front right tyre.
Vettel saw his opportunity, and slipped past into second, swiftly followed by Force India’s Sergio Pérez and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. Bottas limped back to the pits, re-emerging a lap behind the leaders. On lap 6, Daniel Ricciardo ducked into the pits to allow the Red Bull mechanics to remove debris from his brakes, re-joining in 17th position. Kvyat’s woes came to a head on lap 11, being forced to park his car by the wall on the exit of Turn 12. One lap later, Verstappen jumped on the radio, realising that his pace had vanished due to engine issues.
The Safety Car was deployed to allow marshals to retrieve Kvyat’s car from the track. The pit lane came alive as the drivers filtered in to take advantage of a cheap pit stop. Verstappen managed to nurse his car back to the pit lane, where he was wheeled into the garage to retire. When the Safety Car period was close to ending, Bottas was able to unlap himself. At the end of lap 16, racing resumed…briefly.
Get 10% off all official F1 Merch at TheRaceWorks.com using code ‘EF1‘ at checkout.
More Mayhem
As the cars began to battle it out once more, a fairly hefty piece of debris could be seen flying from Räikkönen’s Ferrari. The Safety Car was sent straight back out to allow the debris to be cleared from the middle of the track. Hamilton jumped onto the radio to complain about the pace of the Safety Car, saying it was too slow. However, this was soon to be the least of his worries. On lap 19, whilst still under Safety Car conditions, Vettel ran into the back of Hamilton. The collision caused damage to the Ferrari’s front wing, whilst also damaging the rear diffuser on the Mercedes. Believing that Hamilton had brake tested him, Vettel showed his displeasure by pulling alongside the Mercedes and swerving into it. The stewards declared that the incident was under investigation, whilst on lap 20 the race got back underway.
Felipe Massa got his Williams up to third on the restart, putting the pressure on Vettel. Further back, the two Force Indias of Esteban Ocon and Sergio Pérez were having their own battle. Within just a few corners, the inevitable happened and the two teammates came together, scattering debris across the track. Ocon dropped to the back of the field with a puncture, whilst Pérez had damage to his front wing and retired from the race. Cue Safety Car number three… As the pack trundled around the track once again, Fernando Alonso complained over the radio about the sheer quantity of debris on the track. In order to allow marshals to clear the debris, the red flags were brought out and the cars filtered in to line up in the pit lane.
Red Flag Period
Whilst under red flag conditions, the mechanics got to work. Ocon’s punctured tyre was replaced, and Ferrari replaced the front wing on Vettel’s car. Over at Mercedes, work was being done on Hamilton’s rear diffuser, which thankfully had no serious damage. There was even work being carried out on the retired cars of Räikkönen and Pérez. As the repairs were completed in time, the stewards used their discretion to allow both cars to rejoin the race, but they would be one lap down. (They would later be handed drive-through penalties for the work being carried out in the garage rather than the fast lane of the pits. Race stewards do work in mysterious ways…)
Just over 20 minutes later, the debris was cleared and the race was ready to resume. At the restart, Hamilton led away from Vettel, with Massa, Stroll and Ricciardo chasing behind. As they sped through Turn 1, Ricciardo managed to slip past both Williams cars. Massa slipped down the order quickly with suspension issues. On lap 25, Nico Hülkenberg hit the wall and was forced to retire with suspension damage. The following lap, Massa also retired with what turned out to be a broken rear suspension damper.
Hamilton, Vettel, Ricciardo and Stroll had all managed to build a 10-second gap to the rest of the field. When it looked like he might be untouchable, Hamilton encountered a unique problem when his headrest came loose. Initially, Hamilton tried to push it back into place himself, however the call came from Race Control for him to pit. On the very same lap, Vettel was handed a 10-second stop-go penalty for his bumper car antics with Hamilton during the earlier Safety Car period.
Get 10% off all official F1 Merch at TheRaceWorks.com using code ‘EF1‘ at checkout.
Last Stint
At the end of lap 33, Vettel came into the pits to serve his penalty, and rejoined in seventh place. Crucially, he was ahead of Hamilton, thanks in part to the lapped car of Pérez holding the Mercedes up. Ricciardo was now leading the race, with Stroll and Magnussen behind him. The trio were losing ground to Ocon, Bottas, Vettel and Hamilton, who had formed their own fast-moving pack. They passed Alonso and Magnussen with relatively little trouble, with Ocon now in third place.
Bottas soon dispatched Ocon, putting himself in a podium position. Stroll was a further 12 seconds up the road, and both Vettel and Bottas were catching the Finn at a rate of knots. Hamilton requested that team orders be invoked so that Bottas would slow Vettel and help him to get past the Ferrari. Mercedes politely declined, as they felt Bottas still had a chance to catch Stroll in the final laps. Battling it out for 10th place was Marcus Ericsson and Pascal Werhlein, who collided but managed to avoid major damage and continue their scrap.
As the chequered flag waved, it was Ricciardo who crossed the line to take Red Bull’s first win of the season. Behind him, it looked for all the world like Stroll was going to come home in second place. However, Bottas managed to pass him just meters before the finish line, snatching the position with just 0.105 seconds. Whilst having to accept third, it was still an incredible achievement for Stroll, who became the second-youngest driver to finish in the top three. Vettel finished fourth, ahead of Hamilton in fifth, and increased his lead in the championship.
Summary
The 2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix was a non-stop rollercoaster of highlight-worthy moments. Whether it was penalties, good old fashioned on-track battles, or collisions (intentional or otherwise), Baku had it all. We had the second-youngest podium finisher. There were drivers fighting for position right up to the line. Nine different constructors ended up scoring points. Daniel Ricciardo was absolutely on the money when he called it “a crazy race”. It’s one of the races that, for me at least, really showcases just how exciting a street race can be.
Which Azerbaijan Grand Prix do you think is a race to remember? Let us know in the comments!
Get 10% off all official F1 Merch at TheRaceWorks.com using code ‘EF1‘ at checkout.
Feature image courtesy of the Red Bull Content Pool
The post A Race To Remember – 2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix appeared first on EverythingF1 – Formula 1 News and Updates.