AZERBAIJAN GP - RACE - RE-CAP & RESULTS
He was joined on the podium by Lance Stroll and Valtteri Bottas, the Mercedes driver snatching second as the pair took the chequered flag.
Both Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel pitted from the lead of the race after colliding on track, and finished just outside the podium positions.
Safety cars and red flags disrupted the action on multiple occasions, often to clear debris from the track. One such safety car led to controversy when Vettel hit the back of Hamilton’s Mercedes. Vettel clamed Hamilton brake tested him, but telemetry later showed this wasn’t the case. Vettel pulled up alongside Hamilton to vent his anger, and the two drivers’ wheels touched.
Stewards investigated the issue, and deemed Vettel to have driven dangerously. He was handed a ten second stop go penalty for the incident.
Before the penalty was decided on, the race was red flagged so marshals could clear debris, and everyone returned to the pits.
Hamilton got a good start on the restart, but had to return to the pits because his headrest was loose and needed to be secured. The late pit stop dropped him down the order.
Vettel pitted to serve his penalty on the following lap, emerging from the pits just ahead of Hamilton.
At the front of the field, Ricciardo was leading. The Australian had climbed up to fifth by the time the red flags were brought out. On the restart, Ricciardo overtook both Williams drivers with one move to take third, behind Vettel.
Once in the lead, Ricciardo was untroubled by Stroll in second. Stroll also had a big gap to those behind him, but that wouldn’t last.
Like Ricciardo, Bottas had had a difficult start to the race. The Mercedes driver collided with Kimi Raikkonen on the opening lap and was forced to pit for a new front wing. Over the course of the race, Bottas slowly moved up through the field. A move past Kevin Magnussen in the final stages of the race put him in third, but he was more than five seconds behind Stroll.
Bottas flew once he was past Magnussen. He spent the final laps cutting down the gap, and was just close enough to snatch second from the rookie in the final second.
Esteban Ocon crossed the line behind Vettel and Hamilton.
Force India looked set for a strong result at the midpoint. Whilst Vettel and Hamilton were colliding, Sergio Perez and Ocon were right behind. But the two Force India’s collided when one clipped a kerb. Both came into the pits, and the team wheeled Perez into the garage ready for retirement. But he was able to rejoin the race after the red flags.
Ocon was able to get back out with fresh tyres to finish sixth.
The Force India collision also ruined Raikkonen’s race.
After the contact with Bottas at the start of the race, Raikkonen had dropped down the order. He’d enjoyed a strong recovery and was inside the top ten when the Force India’s collided. He ran over the debris from the incident, puncturing his tyre. On his drive back to the pits, he damaged the floor of his car and looked forced to retire.
Like Perez, he was able to rejoin the race after the red flag stoppage. Both Perez and Raikkonen later retired from the race.
The pair joined five other retirees.
Jolyon Palmer was the first man to exit the race. The Renault driver had little running all weekend, and was forced to start from the pit lane as he couldn’t qualify on Saturday. He slowed on track and tried to return to the pits, only to stop in the pit lane.
Daniil Kvyat was the next retiree, stopping on track when his car shut down. The Red Bull was cleared under red flags, unlike Max Verstappen’s car. Verstappen was battling with Sergio Perez early in the race when his engine failed and he stopped on track, bringing out the safety car.
Nico Hulkenberg was sent into the run off after clipping the wall and damaging his front wheel, before Felipe Massa retired late in the race with a broken damper.
Behind Ocon came Magnussen, Carlos Sainz, and Fernando Alonso.
Having started 19th, Alonso started the race battling with the Sauber drivers. As the race progressed, though, Alonso moved up through the field and was running as high as fifth in the final stages of the race. His tyres began to fail and he fell back to ninth. The team briefly considered pitting for new tyres, but decided against it.
Pascal Wehrlein took 10th ahead of Marcus Ericsson and Stoffel Vandoorne.
Vettel extended his lead over Hamilton to 14 points. Hamilton’s gap to team-mate Valtteri is now only 28 points.
RESULTS:
1. Daniel Ricciardo / Red Bull-TAG-Heuer / Australia / + 25 Points
2. Valtteri Bottas / Mercedes-Mercedes / Finland / + 18 Points
3. Lance Stroll / Williams-Mercedes / Canada / + 15 Points
4. Sebastian Vettel / Ferrari-Ferrari / Germany / + 12 Points
5. Lewis Hamilton / Mercedes-Mercedes / Great Britain / + 10 Points
6. Esteban Ocon / Force India-Mercedes / France / + 8 Points
7. Kevin Magnussen / Haas-Ferrari / Denmark / + 6 Points
8. Carlos Sainz / Toro Rosso-Renault / Spain / + 4 Points
9. Fernando Alonso / McLaren-Honda / Spain / + 2 Points
10. Pascal Wehrlein / Sauber-Ferrari / Germany / + 1 Point
11. Marcus Ericsson / Sauber-Ferrari / Sweden
12. Stoffel Vandoorne / McLaren-Honda / Belgium
13. Romain Grosjean / Haas-Ferrari / France /
RETIRED - Kimi Raikkonen / Ferrari-Ferrari / Finland / Debris Damage
RETIRED - Sergio Perez / Force India-Mercedes / Mexico / Broken Seat
RETIRED - Felipe Massa / Williams-Mercedes / Brazil / Dampers
RETIRED - Nico Hulkenberg / Renault-Renault / Germany / Collision
RETIRED - Max Verstappen / Red Bull-TAG-Heuer / Netherlands / Engine
RETIRED - Daniil Kvyat / Toro Rosso-Renault / Russia / Mechanical Issue
RETIRED - Jolyon Palmer / Renault-Renault / Great Britain / Mechanical Issue
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Article Written By: Bethonie Waring
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