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Ricciardo wins Azerbaijan Grand Prix in chaotic circumstances

Writer's picture: Andrew ZarbAndrew Zarb


Daniel Ricciardo claimed victory in the 2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix after starting from 10th on the grid in a race which involved plenty of controversies, 3 safety car periods, as well as a red flag in what was arguably the most dramatic race of this hybrid era for Formula 1 (the hybrid era began in 2014). Valtteri Bottas finished second for Mercedes, whilst rookie Lance Stroll finished 3rd for Williams to claim his first ever podium in Formula 1, and becoming the youngest ever driver to claim a podium in his first season in Formula 1.

At the start, Hamilton got away well, ahead of Bottas who was ahead of Raikkonen, who in turn was ahead of Vettel. In turn 2, however, the two Finns of Bottas and Raikkonen collided, which caused a puncture to Bottas' tyres, and dropped him massively down the field, whilst Raikkonen dropped behind both Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen, who were running third and fourth respectively. No action was taken on the incident involving Bottas and Raikkonen.

Meanwhile, Ricciardo then dropped down to 18th place after stopping to clear debris that he collected in his brake-ducts, and just before that Jolyon Palmer retired with smoke coming out from the back of his engine. A few laps later, Daniil Kvyat stopped on the track, which initially prompted a yellow flag, however, it could not be cleared, and therefore a safety car was required. This saw many of drivers make pit stops, and on lap 15 the order was: Hamilton, Vettel, Perez, Raikkonen, Massa, Ocon, Stroll, Hulkenberg, Magnussen and Ricciardo. This safety car period enabled Bottas to unlap himself and thus emerge at the back of the field, and also during this time Max Verstappen retired from the race with seemingly an engine failure.

The safety car went in on lap 16, and at the re-start on lap 17, Ocon managed to get past Raikkonen, who lost some bodywork in the process and this prompted the safety car to be deployed once again. During this safety car period, when the safety car was going into the pits at the end of that lap, Hamilton bunched the field up and Sebastian Vettel first ran into the back of Hamilton, but then as if that was not bad enough, he drove alongside Hamilton and banged his wheels into him in an absolutely mindless move, for which, quite frankly, he escaped light punishment. On the safety car restart, Hamilton did manage to pull away from Vettel, but the two Force India drivers of Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon collided unfortunately in a move which was probably a racing incident more than anything else. This prompted a third safety car period, and Raikkonen picked up further damage which at that point seemingly caused him to retire from the race. Meanwhile, the stewards had announced that the Hamilton-Vettel incident had been noted.

However, on lap 22, further drama occurred - the race was suspended (red-flagged), and during this period it was announced that the Hamilton-Vettel incident would be investigated officially. This gave the teams a chance to work on their cars, and when the race resumed, Sergio Perez and Kimi Raikkonen managed to re-emerge for the race, albeit a lap down. The safety car went into the pit lane once again at the end of lap 22, and it was Hamilton who remained ahead of Vettel. During the restart, Daniel Ricciardo managed to overtake both the Williams drivers of Felipe Massa and Lance Stroll and move up into third place. Nico Hulkenberg hit the wall slightly later and this caused him to retire from the race. Felipe Massa also retired soon after with an issue on the car.

On lap 28, however, Hamilton's headrest became loose and he was required (under FIA instruction) to pit for a new one on lap 31. Meanwhile, the stewards announced that Vettel was to serve a 10-second stop-and-go penalty for his incident with Hamilton, which quite frankly was an extremely light punishment, whilst to make matters worse, Vettel questioned the decision and claimed Hamilton deserved a penalty as well. When Hamilton pitted on lap 31 (the actual stop cost him some 9-seconds), he re-emerged behind team-mate Bottas, who was now up into 7th place, but, more crucially, he was stuck behind a lapped Sergio Perez, and, Vettel, who served his 10-second stop-and-go penalty a lap later, managed to re-emerge ahead of Hamilton.

At this point, Ricciardo incredibly took the lead of the race, whilst Lance Stroll was running in second place. Sergio Perez and Kimi Raikkonen were both given drive-through penalties for having their serviced outside of the 'fast lane' (the lane in which the drivers drive during their pit stop where they drive on). The order now was: Ricciardo, Stroll, Magnussen, Ocon, Bottas, Vettel, Hamilton, Alonso, Sainz and Grosjean. Then Esteban Ocon and Valtteri Bottas both overtook Magnussen, with the latter being later passed by both Vettel and Hamilton. Bottas eventually passed Ocon, who was passed by both Vettel and Hamilton. The 2 Saubers of Marcus Ericsson and Pascal Wehrlein collided whilst battling for 10th place, which Wehrlein managed to claim after Grosjean retired with a brakes issue. Sergio Perez and Kimi Raikkonen ultimately both retired in the end.

However, no one was stopping Daniel Ricciardo who claimed his first win of the season and his first since the 2016 Malaysian Grand Prix, whilst Bottas managed to just about overtake Stroll for second place, with Stroll finishing third to claim his maiden podium in Formula 1, becoming the second youngest driver in history to do so, and the youngest ever to manage such a feat in their rookie season - OK, you could argue that it came with a bit of luck, but hey, you have to be there to take advantage and Stroll did just that with a very impressive drive. Vettel just held off Hamilton for fourth, whilst the rest of the top 10 was (in order from sixth): Ocon, Magnussen, Sainz, ALonso and Wehrlein. The rest of the finishers were: Ericsson, Vandoorne and Grosjean who was classified.

Speaking on the incident with Vettel, Hamilton said:

“Driving alongside and deliberately driving into a driver and getting away scot free pretty much - he still came away with fourth - I think that’s a disgrace. I think he disgraced himself today to be honest.”

“If he wants to prove he’s a man, I think he should do it out of the car face to face. I think driving dangerously which in any way can put another driver at risk - luckily we were going slow but if we going fast it could have been a lot worse.

“Imagine all the young kids that are watching Formula One today and see that kind of behaviour from a four-time world champion. I think that says it all.”

Whilst Vettel said (although it absolutely shocks me to hear his take on it):

“He brake tested me. What the f*** is going on?” (This was on team radio)

This absolutely was not the case, and was indeed proven by FIA analysis.

This was his take after the race:

"It was very clear. We are racing with men. I don't have a radio to him. If we get a penalty, we should both get a penalty."

"I wasn't happy with the brake-testing. I drove alongside him and raised my hand to say that is not the way to do it and we had a little contact."

"I don't run into the back of him on purpose," he said. "I damaged my wing; he had a little damage as well.

"His restart was really good; I didn't think it was necessary. The problem is me right behind getting ready and all the other cars.

"The leader dictates the pace, but we were exiting the corner, he was accelerating and then he braked so much that I was braking as soon as I saw and I could not stop in time and ran into the back of him. That was just not necessary."

Classification:

Daniel Ricciardo - Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer

Valtteri Bottas - Mercedes

Lance Stroll - Williams-Mercedes

Sebastian Vettel - Ferrari

Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes

Esteban Ocon - Force India-Mercedes

Kevin Magnussen - Haas-Ferrari

Carlos Sainz - Toro Rosso

Fernando Alonso - McLaren- Honda

Pascal Wehrlein - Sauber-Ferrari

Marcus Ericsson - Sauber-Ferrari

Stoffel Vandoorne - McLaren-Honda

Romain Grosjean - Haas-Ferrari

Retired: Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari), Sergio Perez (Force India-Mercedes), Felipe Massa (Williams-Mercedes), Nico Hulkenberg (Renault), Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer), Daniil Kvyat (Toro Rosso) and Jolyon Palmer (Renault)

World Championship standings:

Sebastian Vettel - 153 points

Lewis Hamilton - 139 points

Valtteri Bottas - 111 points

Daniel Ricciardo - 92 points

Kimi Raikkonen - 73 points

Max Verstappen - 45 points

Sergio Perez - 44 points

Esteban Ocon - 35 points

Carlos Sainz - 29 points

Felipe Massa - 20 points

Nico Hulkenberg - 18 points

Lance Stroll - 17 points

Kevin Magnussen - 11 points

Romain Grosjean - 10 points

Pascal Wehrlein - 5 points

Daniil Kvyat - 4 points

Fernado Alonso - 2 points

Jolyon Palmer - 0 points

Marcus Ericsson - 0 points

Stoffel Vandoorne - 0 points

Antonio Giovinazzi - 0 points

Constructors' Championship standings:

Mercedes - 250 points

Ferrari - 226 points

Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer - 157 points

Force India-Mercedes - 79 points

Williams-Mercedes - 37 points

Toro Rosso - 33 points

Haas-Ferrari - 21 points

Renault - 18 points

Sauber-Ferrari - 5 points

McLaren-Honda - 2 points


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