47. 2017 Azerbaijan GP: Ricciardo comes through chaos to reign supreme

June 25, Baku

Three safety cars, a red flag, the high drama of a hot-headed Sebastian Vettel ramming Lewis Hamilton, and then a stunning finish… few who saw it can forget the 2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Hamilton led away from pole as chaos reigned behind him when Kimi Räikkönen and Valtteri Bottas came together and Max Verstappen’s engine broke signalling him to scald back to the pits “Yep, here we go again… f***”. Then behind the resulting safety car Vettel hit the rear of Hamilton as he backed the pack up, the Ferrari driver then pulling alongside and deliberately hitting the Mercedes broadside in anger, feeling he’d been brake-tested by the British driver. Then the twin Force Indias collided, forcing a red flag as debris littered the track.

Hamilton continued to lead at the restart until his headrest worked loose and he was ordered to pit to have it secured, handing top spot to Vettel, but only until he was handed a 10-second stop-go for his antics behind the safety car. Through all this came Daniel Ricciardo, who had himself been forced to stop on lap six to have debris cleared from the brake ducts of his Red Bull. That left him as low as 17th, but he made progress amid the chaos to run third before trouble befell the two leaders. Perhaps just as bizarrely, despite his first-turn clash and stop to repair a puncture, Valtteri Bottas then managed to drag past Lance Stroll’s Williams on the run to the line to snatch second by 0.1sec as two cars that had been consigned to the pits early on found themselves first and second, with Stroll taking his first podium, and enduring a ‘shoey’ in celebration. Some turnaround. RL

Results

1st Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull Racing-Tag Heuer), 2hr 03min 55.573sec, 92.07mph
2nd Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes)
3rd Lance Stroll (Williams-Mercedes)
Pole position Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), 1min 40.593sec, 133.49mph