Red Bull Racing's Daniel Ricciardo emerged a shock winner in a remarkably chaotic Azerbaijan GP, punctuated by a huge flare-up in the rivalry between title rivals Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton.
Hamilton and Vettel had an on-track run-in while the race was neutralised, which yielded a penalty for the latter – but a loose headrest denied Hamilton what could've been a comfortable cruise to victory.
This left Ricciardo, who qualified 10th and looked well and truly out of contention after stopping early to have debris cleared out of a brake duct, in position to take his fifth grand prix victory.
The Aussie headed home Valtteri Bottas and Williams rookie Lance Stroll, the latter picking up a maiden podium just two weeks on after scoring his first points in F1 with a ninth-place finish in Montreal.
Bottas had run a lap down after a collision with Kimi Raikkonen – but allowed to unlap himself during one of the race's many interruptions. Chaos ahead allowed him to find his way into third, and he reeled in Stroll, beating him to the chequered flag by a tenth to claim runner-up.
At the start, the Mercedes drivers had maintained a 1-2, but Bottas suffered wheelspin coming out of the first corner, allowing Raikkonen to enter the left-hander Turn 2 alongside him.
Bottas kept to the inside line, bouncing off the kerb and understeering into his compatriot, with the contact sending Raikkonen into the outside wall.
The Ferrari appeared unscathed at first, although Raikkonen did slip behind Vettel, Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen, whereas Bottas was forced to crawl to the pits with a right-front issue and rejoined a lap down.
The gap between leaders Hamilton and Vettel ebbed and flowed during the first stint, with the Brit ahead by over three seconds when the race was neutralised by a safety car for the first time.
The culprit was Daniil Kvyat, who had earlier run wide at Turn 1 at the start and rejoined sharply, with Toro Rosso teammate Carlos Sainz spinning as a result.
While Sainz dropped to the back, Kvyat had carried on, but what appeared a a technical issue left him stranded exiting the castle section on lap 11.
Shortly thereafter, it was also race over for another Renault-engined car in the Red Bull of Verstappen, who was pressuring Perez for third before radioing in a power unit issue and retiring in the pits.
The safety car, which lasted for several laps and allowed all the leading runners to swap their supersofts for softs, was back in on lap 16 – with Hamilton speeding up early on the main straight and immediately establishing a lead over Vettel.
Hamilton and Vettel had an on-track run-in while the race was neutralised, which yielded a penalty for the latter – but a loose headrest denied Hamilton what could've been a comfortable cruise to victory.
This left Ricciardo, who qualified 10th and looked well and truly out of contention after stopping early to have debris cleared out of a brake duct, in position to take his fifth grand prix victory.
The Aussie headed home Valtteri Bottas and Williams rookie Lance Stroll, the latter picking up a maiden podium just two weeks on after scoring his first points in F1 with a ninth-place finish in Montreal.
Bottas had run a lap down after a collision with Kimi Raikkonen – but allowed to unlap himself during one of the race's many interruptions. Chaos ahead allowed him to find his way into third, and he reeled in Stroll, beating him to the chequered flag by a tenth to claim runner-up.
At the start, the Mercedes drivers had maintained a 1-2, but Bottas suffered wheelspin coming out of the first corner, allowing Raikkonen to enter the left-hander Turn 2 alongside him.
Bottas kept to the inside line, bouncing off the kerb and understeering into his compatriot, with the contact sending Raikkonen into the outside wall.
The Ferrari appeared unscathed at first, although Raikkonen did slip behind Vettel, Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen, whereas Bottas was forced to crawl to the pits with a right-front issue and rejoined a lap down.
The gap between leaders Hamilton and Vettel ebbed and flowed during the first stint, with the Brit ahead by over three seconds when the race was neutralised by a safety car for the first time.
The culprit was Daniil Kvyat, who had earlier run wide at Turn 1 at the start and rejoined sharply, with Toro Rosso teammate Carlos Sainz spinning as a result.
While Sainz dropped to the back, Kvyat had carried on, but what appeared a a technical issue left him stranded exiting the castle section on lap 11.
Shortly thereafter, it was also race over for another Renault-engined car in the Red Bull of Verstappen, who was pressuring Perez for third before radioing in a power unit issue and retiring in the pits.
The safety car, which lasted for several laps and allowed all the leading runners to swap their supersofts for softs, was back in on lap 16 – with Hamilton speeding up early on the main straight and immediately establishing a lead over Vettel.
RACE RESULTS
| POS. | DRIVER | TEAM | TIME | POINTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | DANIEL RICCIARDO | RED BULL RACING | 2:03:55.573 | 25 |
| 2 | VALTTERI BOTTAS | MERCEDES | +3.904s | 18 |
| 3 | LANCE STROLL | WILLIAMS | +4.009s | 15 |
| 4 | SEBASTIAN VETTEL | FERRARI | +5.976s | 12 |
| 5 | LEWIS HAMILTON | MERCEDES | +6.188s | 10 |
| 6 | ESTEBAN OCON | FORCE INDIA | +30.298s | 8 |
| 7 | KEVIN MAGNUSSEN | HAAS | +41.753s | 6 |
| 8 | CARLOS SAINZ | TORO ROSSO | +49.400s | 4 |
| 9 | FERNANDO ALONSO | MCLAREN | +59.551s | 2 |
| 10 | PASCAL WEHRLEIN | SAUBER | +89.093s | 1 |
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