Just when you thought that the 2018 FIA Formula 1 World Championship was due a ‘dull’ race to calm things down, the Azerbaijan Grand Prix threw up yet another crazy finish that saw Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes AMG F1 fortuitously win their first race of the season.
Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari had started from pole position and had looked in control of the race after opening up a cushion of around 4.5 seconds over Hamilton. All looked like plain sailing for Vettel until lap 20 when Hamilton started to cut down the lead but then on lap 22, locked up his tyres going into the first corner of the 20-turn, 6.003km Baku City Circuit.
Vettel gained an extra three seconds on Hamilton as a result and following the pair’s respective pit stops, the German kept his lead over the defending world champion. Vettel and Hamilton both pitted by lap 31 and chose to be on the soft tyres to finish the remaining 20 laps of the race. The other Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas, however, kept circulating in a bid to stay out as long as possible and at least try to come out ahead of Hamilton.
Away from the top three, Red Bull-Renault’s Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo had been fighting each other all race long with some daring overtaking maneuevers and attempts. They chose to run their soft compound tyres until lap 38 and 39, respectively with Verstappen coming out in front. Both were now on the fastest ultra-soft tyres and looking to challenge for podium positions.
And that’s where the race started to turn on its head. With Ricciardo looking racier of the two, the Australian was able to get close enough behind Verstappen towards the end of lap 39 to follow him on to the two-kilometer long main straight. Ricciardo went to the right and as Verstappen went there too to cover him off, the Chinese GP winner went to the left. Verstappen seemed to ignore the rule of moving just once to block an overtaking attempt and as he went left to cover Ricciardo, the Aussie was unable to slow down enough and rammed into the back of his teammate just as they crossed the line to start lap 40.
The resulting collision brought out the safety car and in the scramble among the field to pit for ultra-soft tyres, Bottas seemed to have lucked out as he emerged ahead of Vettel with Hamilton third. A big fight for victory seemed likely but with just eight laps left till the end of the race, Haas-Ferrari’s Romain Grosjean crashed while trying to keep heat in his tyres. That kept the safety car out for another five laps.
When things finally got underway on lap 48, Vettel made a huge lunge at the first corner which resulted in him losing two places to Hamilton and also his Ferrari teammate Kimi Raikkonen but also put him under threat from the Force India-Mercedes of Sergio Perez.
On lap 49, the race provided its final and probably cruelest twist. Bottas Mercedes seemed to run over some debris on the main straight, which lead to his right-rear tyre getting punctured and gave Hamilton the race on a platter. At the same time, Perez passed Vettel to take fourth place, which became third thanks to Bottas’ retirement.
The unlikely top four finishing order of Hamilton, Raikkonen, Perez and Vettel meant that Hamilton now leads the championship from Vettel by four points.
Renault’s Carlos Sainz was fifth and an incredibly unlikely sixth place for Alfa Romeo Sauber-Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc who kept his nose clean amid the madness. McLaren-Renault’s Fernando Alonso scored seventh place while Williams-Mercedes’ Lance Stroll, McLaren-Renault’s Stoffel Vandoorne and Toro Rosso-Honda’s Brendon Hartley completed the top ten.
It was fitting that the race that started with a bit of collision and mayhem at the beginning with Raikkonen and Force India-Mercedes’ Esteban Ocon colliding (among others) ended on a similarly unpredictable note.
Now the F1 season moves on to its first European race of the season with the Spanish Grand Prix on the 11-13 May weekend.
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