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Lewis Hamilton wins chaotic Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku

LEWIS Hamilton finds himself back on top of the driver standings after a win in Baku, but he has “mixed emotions”.

James McKern
11 min read
April 30, 2018 - 7:20AM
This wasn’t how Red Bull were hoping the race would unfold.
This wasn’t how Red Bull were hoping the race would unfold.

Live: Azerbaijan Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton won a chaotic grand prix in Baku as Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen crashed out.

LUCK shone on Lewis Hamilton as he returned to the top of the Formula One drivers’ championship Sunday with victory at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

With Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari clearly faster than Hamilton and his Mercedes, it took a crash, a mistimed lunge and a puncture to elevate Hamilton to the top spot in Baku.

Vettel led for much of the race, but was stuck in second behind Hamilton’s Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas when a crash between the two Red Bulls brought out the safety car.

On the restart, Vettel lunged for the lead but could not keep his car on the racing line at the exit of the next corner and instead lost places. Soon afterwards, Bottas’ right-rear tire picked up a puncture, ending his race and elevating Hamilton to first.

“Very mixed emotions from today,” Hamilton said. He was late to the podium celebrations because he went to speak with Bottas, who “deserved” the win.

“I wouldn’t have got by him in those laps if he hadn’t had that tire blowout,” Hamilton added.

Despite taking the standings lead for the first time this season, Hamilton said the win didn’t mark a turning point in the fight with Vettel and Ferrari. “I think Ferrari still have the upper hand,” he said.

“This year, they’ve really outperformed us most of the time. We’ve been able to just hold onto them in the race, but our qualifying pace isn’t up to theirs.”

A win, not a turning point. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images)
A win, not a turning point. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images)

Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen claimed second place after having dropped to 14th following an early collision, but said he wasn’t satisfied with his drive and he had struggled to get the best out of the Ferrari.

Sergio Perez overtook Vettel after his mistake on the restart, and held off the four-time world champion to claim third place. It was his and Force India’s first podium since 2016.

“It was a roller coaster of a race,” Perez said. “The last two laps, they were the best two laps of my life.”

Vettel said he was “very upset,” adding that “I had a chance to win and I tried. It just didn’t work.”

The two Red Bulls driven by Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo fought all race for fourth place. After several dramatic near-misses, they collided on lap 40 when Ricciardo — the winner of the last race in China — ran into the back of Verstappen under braking at the first corner. That sent them both off the track. Both received reprimands from the stewards and stern criticism from team boss Christian Horner.

Bottas had been left in the lead when first Hamilton, then Vettel, stopped for fresh tires. He would have had to stop soon but for the Red Bull crash, which allowed Bottas to pit and keep the lead.

Romain Grosjean crashed under the safety car on lap 42, sliding into the wall while weaving in an attempt to heat up his tires. That delayed the restart, and when it came Vettel charged down the inside of Bottas but couldn’t slow enough to make the corner and went onto a run-off area.

Hamilton leads Vettel by four points, followed by Raikkonen and Bottas. Ricciardo’s second retirement this season leaves him fifth, 33 points off the lead. The Australian has said he could leave Red Bull next season in search of a car capable of challenging for the title.

After a start in cool, windy conditions that made it hard to get enough grip, the safety car was out almost immediately on lap 1 as several cars collided in the middle of the pack.

Sergei Sirotkin ran into the back of Perez, causing contact between several other cars. That in turn left Fernando Alonso limping back to the pits with two punctures and Sirotkin out of the race. The Russian has been given a three-place grid penalty for the next event in Spain.

The drama continued at the next turn, where Raikkonen’s aggressive lunge at Force India’s Esteban Ocon plunged Ocon into the wall and out of the race. Raikkonen needed to pit for a new nose and his chances of a podium finish appeared over.

Renault’s Carlos Sainz and Nico Hulkenberg briefly stormed past both Red Bulls into fourth and fifth, but Sainz lost his spot when he pitted, while Hulkenberg’s race ended with a slide into the wall on lap 11. Vettel was fourth after failing to retake third spot from Perez. Sainz climbed back into fifth thanks to the turmoil ahead of him, claiming Renault’s best finish since Vitaly Petrov was fifth in Canada in 2011. Charles Leclerc was a career-best sixth for Sauber.

The McLarens of Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne were seventh and ninth, sandwiching Lance Stroll’s Williams.

Tenth place for Brendon Hartley in the Toro Rosso was the best result by a New Zealander in F1 since Chris Amon took his final career points in Spain in 1976.

2.37am

Ricciardo reprimanded after Red Bull crash

Red Bull drivers Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen have both been formally reprimanded by Formula One stewards after they collided at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on Sunday.

The pair fought all race for fourth place until lap 40 when Ricciardo attempted to overtake Verstappen on the pit straight.

Ricciardo crashed into his teammate when Verstappen hit the brakes to turn. Both were forced out of the race to the embarrassment of their Red Bull team. The incident brought out the safety car, which helped Lewis Hamilton to eventually take the win following further incidents.

Race director Charlie Whiting says “you could probably argue that both drivers could have done a little better,” in comments before the verdict was announced.

2.05am

‘In the doghouse’: Red Bull pair ‘screwed-up’, says team chief

Red Bull team chief Christian Horner said his drivers Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen were “in the doghouse” and have been instructed to apologise to all staff following their crash in Sunday’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

“They both recognise that they screwed up today and will be apologising to the team and to all members of the team,” said Horner, who was left speechless immediately after the pair crashed in the closing laps of Sunday’s chaotic race won by defending world champion Lewis Hamilton.

“We allow them to race and allow them to go wheel-to-wheel. We spoke to them in team meetings about giving each other space.

“This was the culmination of two guys taking things in their own hands, which shouldn’t have happened.

“There were probably three incidents between them through the race. They touched wheels and were told to calm it down.

“We don’t want to interfere with them going wheel-to-wheel. We are not apportioning blame one way or the other, but they are both to blame for this.

“Our intention is to continue to let them race, but they have to show respect and give space. They have been reminded that they are part of a team, they are highly-paid individuals with the team’s interest at heart.

“The message was delivered very clearly. They are both in the doghouse. They will apologise to all of the staff before Barcelona.”

12.05am

Hamilton wins as Red Bull’s crash out

Comfortably the craziest race of the early F1 2018 season has been taken out by Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton.

An incredible bizarre ending to the race saw the drivers sit behind the safety car before being released with less than five laps to go.

Sebastian Vettel chanced his luck on the restart but went into the first turn with too much pace and locked up and fell back to fourth.

Valtteri Bottas then looked headed for victory but unfortunately ran over a piece of debris on the track which destroyed his rear tyre along with his chances at the points.

All of the chips fell the way of Hamilton who crossed the line for his 63rd Grand Prix victory

ahead of Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen and Force India’s Sergio Perez.

The win vaults Hamilton back to the top of the drivers standings on 70 points, four points clear of Vettel.

Sauber’s Charles Leclerc was awarded the driver of the day for his phenomenal drive that saw him cross the line in sixth position.

The race was best summed up by Sky Sports’ Martin Croft.

“What a crazy, chaotic race,” Croft said.

The race of course didn’t go according to plan for Daniel Ricciardo and Red Bull as both drivers were wiped out in a nightmare collision.

After two earlier near misses, the teammates came to blows not long after their respective pit stops.

As Max Verstappen headed down the main straight, Daniel Ricciardo closed with great speed and looked to duck down on the inside only for Verstappen to shift from the right back to the left and shut the door on the overtake.

The momentum being carried by Ricciardo carried him into the back of his teammate and forced both drivers out.

It’s not going to be a happy camp in the Red Bull debrief.

Many pointed the finger at Ricciardo straight after the incident but after replays the consensus turned to blaming Verstappen for a double move.

Red Bull boss Christian Horner was in no mood to talk when confronted by Sky Sports reporters following the accident.

“I’ve got no comment to make until I’ve spoken to the drivers,” Horner stated.

As Horner made his way up the stairs into the debrief room it was noted that he was “shaking with rage”.

Helmut Marko, Red Bull adviser, wasn’t happy with the drivers and guaranteed it won’t happen again.

“I don’t care who is to blame. Both drivers should have enough brain to avoid such an accident. We will take measures to guarantee it won’t happen again,” Marko proclaimed.

“It was a racing accident between the two. There’s not more fault on one or the other side.”

This could well be another strike against the Red Bull team in their hopes of luring Ricciardo back when his contract runs out at the end of the 2018 F1 season.

Speaking after the race Verstappen remained diplomatic about the events that had unfolded.

“It’s really disappointing for the team, we lost a lot of points today unnecessarily,” Verstappen said.

“I don’t think we need to speak about who’s (at) fault because at the end of the day we are racing for the team.

When asked if the team should have interjected earlier to tell him to allow Ricciardo to pass, Verstappen again stated it wouldn’t have mattered.

“The tow was very strong, as soon as he was in front I was catching up. We were pretty similar speed and we were always pretty close to each other,” he said.

“Before that it was hard racing, but it was fair. We gave each other space, of course we had a little brush with the wheels. I think in racing that can happen.”

Later, Red Bull Racing appeared to calm down enough to post this on Twitter:

11.55pm

What is going on

The safety car stayed out for an extended period of time thanks to the Red Bull coming together and Romain Grosjean spinning into the wall behind the safety car.

Once the race got back underway with less than five laps remaining, the mayhem continued.

As the drivers sped down the main straight and towards the first turn, Sebastian Vettel made the daring move down the inside only to lock up the brakes and run wide.

Allowing Valtteri Bottas, Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Raikkonen to pass him.

Then on the very next lap and with the lead in hand, Bottas his a piece of debris and watched as his rear right tyre was torn to shreds.

11.25pm

Finally Ricciardo makes it stick

After three attempts Daniel Ricciardo finally made his way past his teammate Max Verstappen. The two previous attempts almost ended in disaster as Verstappen refused to let Ricciardo take his place and caused the two drivers to bump into one another.

Valtteri Bottas still leads, although he has yet to pit, from Sebastian Vettel who sits seven seconds clear of Lewis Hamilton.

11.20pm

‘What the hell’: Red Bulls mess

Daniel Ricciardo is flying around the Baku track and looms as the biggest chance Red Bull have at landing on the podium, but Max Verstappen won’t have it.

The Red Bull teammates have now on two separate occasions bumped each other as Ricciardo tries to get around his younger German counterpart.

After setting the races fastest lap time, Ricciardo went around the outside of Verstappen only for him to claw his way back into the narrowest of margins around turn two.

The issues have also continued in 2018 for Fernando Alonso and his McLaren team as the former world champion languishes in 12th position and doesn’t look like a threat of entering the points.

11.05pm

Hamilton’s monumental mistake

Mercedes star Lewis Hamilton was pumping out lightning quick lap times and was looking to close the gap on race leader Sebastian Vettel when he pushed it too hard.

Heading into the first turn Hamilton ran wide and unfortunately lost all of the hard work he’d put in and was forced into the pits.

Vettel leads as the race goes beyond the halfway mark ahead of Valtteri Bottas, Hamilton, Mas Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo in fifth.

10.50pm

That doesn’t belong there

As the drivers sped around the Baku track, viewers had to question a piece of commentary from former driver David Coulthard.

And believe it or not, he wasn’t kidding. There was in fact a giant branch from a tree sitting on one of the straights. The hazard hadn’t been picked up by track marshalls.

Now that’s not something you see every day.
Now that’s not something you see every day.

10.30pm

Ricciardo loses out on restart

As Sebastian Vettel kept the entire field in check, he ignited the restart and flew away from rival Lewis Hamilton.

Daniel Ricciardo withstood his teammate Max Verstappen through the first corner but as they headed towards the second Verstappen dived down the inside and the move forced Ricciardo wide enough to allow Force India’s Carlos Sainz through into fifth.

Vettel is building his gap at the front which has now increased to over two seconds from Hamilton who is a further four seconds clear from teammate Valtteri Bottas.

10.20pm

Opening lap carnage

The narrow streets of Baku have claimed several victims on the very first lap of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

As the lights went out the cars at the front of the grid all got away safely but it was in the middle and latter stages of the grid where it all went pear shaped.

Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen was heavily involved as he looked to take the inside line against Esteban Ocon, unfortunately the two collided and Ocon is now out of the race.

Prior to the crash, Williams’ Sergey Sirotkin ran into the back of a Force India and the damage has also forced him out.

Fernando Alonso also picked up a double puncture and was forced into the pits, safe to say he wasn’t happy.

“What a stupid guy! He closed the door. We were side-by-side, I don’t understand,” Alonso said over the team radio.

One lap into the race and the safety car has already been deployed.

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Original URL: https://www.news.com.au/sport/motorsport/formula-one/live-azerbaijan-grand-prix-in-baku/news-story/22f518ed729ea1b5fbca1254fb0b6ad7