Rate the race: 2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix

2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix

Posted on

| Written by

What did you think of today’s race? Share your verdict on the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Since 2008, F1 Fanatic has held polls on every F1 race to find out which fans thought of each round of the season.

Join in the latest poll and give your verdict on the race: 10 being the highest and 1 the lowest. Please vote based on how entertaining and exciting you thought the race was, not on how your preferred driver or team performed.

What were the best and worst moments of the race? What was the main thing you’ll remember about it? Rate the race out of ten and leave a comment below:

Rate the 2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix out of ten

  • 10 (38%)
  • 9 (35%)
  • 8 (16%)
  • 7 (5%)
  • 6 (1%)
  • 5 (1%)
  • 4 (1%)
  • 3 (1%)
  • 2 (1%)
  • 1 (2%)

Total Voters: 690

 Loading ...

1 = ‘Terrible’, 10 = ‘Perfect’

An F1 Fanatic account is required to vote. You can register an account here or read more about registering here. When this poll is closed the result will be displayed instead of the voting form.

View more Rate the Race results:

See the results for past seasons here:

Author information

Will Wood
Will has been a RaceFans contributor since 2012 during which time he has covered F1 test sessions, launch events and interviewed drivers. He mainly...

Got a potential story, tip or enquiry? Find out more about RaceFans and contact us here.

204 comments on “Rate the race: 2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix”

    1. a mess, that’s unanimous.

      What a show 10/10. Sport 0/10. Like last years the start of the race was exciting then the sc ended the fight for the lead, but somehow, thank Liberty for the bad parts as well, somebody made up a race. C4 apart from Coulthard was quite professional, SKY the opposite. I think the show was phenomenal, but honestly, today was shambolic.

      1. I disagree with the Sport as a 0/10.
        Sure, there was a lot of embarrassing driving and crashes, but there were many honest to goodness battles and results today, too.
        Don’t let the big, negative events lose sight of some of the other good things that happened throughout the race.

      2. Totally agree, summed up perfectly.

      3. Shambolic. I’ll give it 0.5/10 for sport and 10/10 for media/publicity

        1. I’ll disagree with that “10/10 for media/publicity”, for the first time in a long while, I watched it with someone who has only watched a few races, some time ago, and therefore not up to speed on how F1 does things. He was absolutely convinced Vettel should have been disqualified, In football terms ‘red card for dangerous retaliation’

      4. Completely agree @peartree

        I stopped watching and not because lack of action, but because of its pointlessness.

        1. What you and so many others seem to mis is covered by the word ‘
          ‘incidents’
          This race was full to the brim with ‘incidents’. Without incidents
          F1 is always pretty damn boring. Boring, that is, except to the nerds.
          To the rest of the human race this was a great race that will live long
          in the memory of everyone that likes/enjoys clashes, incidents, bravery,
          bloody-mindedness, sheer unadulterated skill and brilliance.

          And today we had all those things in spadesful. A mighty race.
          A race whose eventual outcome you could never predict. Both Vettel
          and Hamilton both being forcedto make an emergency pitstop was
          absolutely vital to the tension level ! And the whole field was fighting
          like hell !

          A totally brilliant spectacle.

          1. @loen China 2011/Bahrain 2014?
            IK they may have had incidents but that wasn’t what made them entertaining.

      5. I’ll agree with that.
        I gave the race 7/10.
        A GOOD GP has great driving just like this one, but no prangs, unlike this one.
        I would have given it 9 or 10 IF it hadn’t been for all the rubbish that went on. It tells you something about the place when they have to hold up racing for such a long time just to clear the track of debris. Think of the money wasted in repairing cars, just because of the %$#(*& circuit and SOME drivers being unable to handle it.

    2. Gave it my first 10/10 I think I’ve ever given, was the most excited and entertained I’ve been at a race since Canada 2011, was insane. Thought after the safety car came out it would be a 4 or 5, but how wrong was I. Absolutely fantastic race, cars all muddled up during the race in positions they shouldn’t be, controversy between the two title rivals, comeback drives from Bottas and kinda Ricciardo (as it was a forced pitstop and he came out in 16th or 17th). Excellent.

      1. Also, the amount of times there were cars 3 wide going into Turn 1. Love that. Cars could actually follow each other here, the tow worked, and it was beautiful.

  1. 10/10. WHAT. A. RACE.

    1. i agree, but most of the drivers where 1/10. Felt very amateur today.

    2. Street Fight!! Epic :)

  2. 10. Could it be anything else?
    An amazing track, overtakes everywhere, crashes, controversy, lower teams scoring and on the podium and great racing everywhere.

    1. @glynh +1 to that.

      I think that the Baku City Circuit has proven itself (for the time being at the very least).

  3. WHAT A RACE!!
    It had all. Drama, Action, unexpected podiums..
    Never been staring this intensively at a GP before.
    Well done Stroll, Well done Bottas last lap.. Well done Alonso.

    10/10!

  4. 10+ What a race :)

  5. Wacky races or Canada 2011 in the dry. What was that?! I’m still wondering what the heck happened during this race!

    It had everything… mad, just mad. 10/10

  6. petebaldwin (@)
    25th June 2017, 15:58

    Wow. I wouldn’t wan’t all races to be like that but that was incredible to watch! 3 wide into turn 1 on multiple occasions – often when DRS was disabled. Lots of incidents and some really strong drives. 10/10

    1. I gave it 9/10 because of that. No need for DRS, unless you are driving an Honda

  7. Finally, finally, finally. 9/10. THIS is Formula One.

    1. Nope, this is extraordinary F1. Not everyday F1, at least if you take the last 30 years into account.

  8. The end of Lewis and Vettel’s “friendly” rivalry?

    1. I hope so, I like hats flying

    2. Ru Chern (@)
      25th June 2017, 16:35

      No. Definitely not.

    3. At some point it had to happen, let’s hope even more tensions between them in the next races,

      1. If incidents happen in the next few races than I would say so.
        But they’re both mature enough off the track to maybe settle it.

        1. Blastermaster
          26th June 2017, 3:00

          After today it will eventually erupt.

  9. First time I give a 10. Fantastic!

  10. What the hell have I just seen?

    1. an excellent race?

  11. Good up until DRS robbing Stroll/Williams of 2nd at the final moment.

    When the car behind has 20kph boost from a gimmick, its just wrong.

    1. Good point. Perhaps DRS should be disabled on the last lap.

    2. It was the special Q3 mode. Not just down to DRS.

    3. Tick.

  12. My god! Ricciardo just keeps stumbling onto podiums, and now even a win. I don’t remember ever seeing such a lucky streak…

    1. Exactly, the only reason for giving it 9/10 is because the winner was Ricciardo. He had one good move today, for the rest it is just coming his way as continuing present. Not being the faster driver within the team, not doing the best qualifying and no super skills, or super moves in the race, just driving along and then ending up on the podium every time again. The total opposite of Verstappen, being the better driver, the qualifying and making the moves during the race. And then a car that brakes down within a few laps for the fourth time. Oh, he must be so frustrated.

      1. On Dutch TV he is called Lucky Badger as nickname or Lucky for short!

        1. The Dutch F1 broadcast is an embarrassment to the sport. Completely biased.

        2. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
          25th June 2017, 23:02

          @macleod Ha-ha unfortunately, they are right! Even Ricciardo is getting a little tired of “ending up” on the podium.

          He’s probably thinking to himself that he has the best chance of winning the WDC this year the way things are going.

  13. 10/10 Bottas= MERCEDES ENGINE OPPPP!!!!!!! 10 second stop and go for Vettel? That should be penalty points to his license too

    1. petebaldwin (@)
      25th June 2017, 16:21

      I think it probably will be. 10 second stop/go is quite a big penalty for the race and then he’ll likely have points and a fine to come as well.

    2. Can’t believe he (Vettle) didn’t get disqualified. If it had happen for a lower rang driver – Hyde driver would have missed the next embrace as well.
      Think the stewards need to tighten up. It was a direct hit to another driver.

      10 for the race.

      1. I agree, but that brake test of Hamilton on that spot wasn’t very sportsmanlike too. I was afraid it would be a direct disqualification of Vettel. Could understand what he did, but that’s something that has to be punished very strictly.

        1. @dutch-1 According to the FIA Hamilton did not brake test so please stop it mate.

        2. HAm deserved 10 seconds penalty
          Vettel deserved a black fleg. And at least one race ban/ penalty.

        3. But he didn’t break test him , FIA release statement stating there was no issue or fault on Lewis.

  14. Can you image if Bottas’ overtake on Stroll was for the win? That would be so intense an epic!

  15. Baku can stay in the caluder I assume?

    1. *calendar

      1. Hopefully not.

        1. @faulty Baku had more action the Barcelona..

          1. @noname

            tamata, tomaytou!

        2. hopefully yes.. but it’s more like guaranteed after a race like that

  16. I love Formula1.

  17. A reluctant 8 because I’m not a fan of the circuit and would rather see it replaced with a proper road course. That being said, a very entertaining race which seemed to have a bit of everything including an old time DNF count.

    1. it’s monaco+ monza, what else do you want mate? unbelievable, there are still people who complain. go watch indy man.

    2. Good job it’s rate the race and not rate the circuit then!

  18. 8/10. Great race and a lot of stuff happening but ridiculous safetycars and questionable penalties.
    Impressive drive from Bottas after his bumper car start.

  19. Adam (@rocketpanda)
    25th June 2017, 16:04

    Nobody could have predicted that race! That was mental! There’s so much that happened! Great race for Ricciardo, Bottas, Stroll and Magnussen. Not so great for Vettel, Hamilton and Ocon… And unlucky AGAIN for Verstappen!

  20. 7 – Because we consistent stewards and FIA who need to provide appropriate punishment. Just like Schuwacker days hitting another driver seems to be fine.

    1. nelson piquet
      25th June 2017, 16:20

      i think hamilton harvested what he’s seeded

      1. This. Hamilton brake tested Vettel. It was clearly visible on tv that he braked in the mid of the corner. When Vettel hit him, he almost stood completely still.

        No, Vettel’s reaction wasn’t good and the penalty was fair (although I can appreciate it), but Hamilton got what he asked for. He should have been awarded a penalty as well.

    2. @mcs1
      I completely agree on that one. It was a black flag incident for Vettel. You can’t just intentionally bump in to a competitor and get away with it. I guess Ferrari international Assistance worked their charm on that one.

      Anyways, not surprised to see finger boy show his true colours once again…

      1. Both were unsportsmanlike.. look like the new owners like Lewis Bieber..

        1. geoffgroom44 (@)
          25th June 2017, 16:54

          I would really appreciate you elaborating on this comment, especially the ‘both were unsportsmanlike’ bit. Or is your comment based ona lack of knowledge of the protocols, not to mention the rules?

        2. If you see it from the Hamiltons view with the speedometer. He doesn’t slow down. He stays at 52-56 km/hour.

          1. geoffgroom44 (@)
            25th June 2017, 17:25

            sir, I think we must be careful not to confuse people with actual facts, huh? hehehe
            Thanks for pointing this out.

      2. I’m I the only one who noticed that both of Vettels hands were waving in the air when his car turned right and into Hamilton. What Vettel did was stupid and reckless. But it wasn’t intentional. His hands were not on the steering wheel.

    3. Marian Gri (@)
      25th June 2017, 17:05

      Get real! What VET did was unwanted (wonder if he really did it on purpose or he just steering into HAM by mistake/involuntary hand movement – he was driving with 1 hand at that time), but the driver in front is not entitled to do anything he wants. I’m one of the guys who say that the driver in front has more rights than the driver behind, but it’s more like 33% to 66%, not 0% to 100%.

      1. He was driving with zero hands on the wheel. He was gesturing with both hands.

    4. Just like in Schumacher days the only drivers the FIA seem interested in penalizing are German.

  21. Wow, I have no words, so much going on, Karma for Hamilton and Vettel, Stroll nearly getting 2nd, Ricciardo somehow onto the podium again, even with a win, nevertheless I’m happy for him.
    Poor Max, probably the most unlucky driver this year.

    10/10 for me, just wow.

    1. I’m interested to know, what karma for Hamilton?

      1. Oh silly me, mistypo there, but to be honest the two of them have been 1-2 for about 1/2 of the races so far this year so it’s nice to have a change.

  22. 10/10. This is why I love this sport. Despite all the dark news, political hiccups, controversies and poor races, I will always love F1. No matter what.

  23. Incredibly chaotic race, unlike last year. A lot of erratic driving, but also a lot of fun to watch. This race was totally unpredictable. DRS was too powerful on this occasion, however.

    1. petebaldwin (@)
      25th June 2017, 16:15

      @f1infigures I agree. You don’t need DRS in Baku – at least not on the home straight. After the restarts, it was almost like the Indy 500 with the drafting going on and then 3 wide into turn 1! It was amazing and I’d love to see a whole race of it rather than DRS making it too easy.

  24. Zero point 5. Total joke as a race although entertaining.

    1. +10
      GP3 farce. A lot of drivers made a fool of themselves today.
      Only thing that kinda made me smile was Stroll on the podium, seeing Bottas and Ricciardo there made me wanna cry.

      Entertainment value, for the media: 10

    2. @bbt I agree, that said, judging from the comments above, I guess fans rather watch something fabricated and pretend that this was a natural eventful race but it wasn’t. There’s a couple stewards decisions that are a complete joke.

      1. I think the best argument against today’s race is Stroll’s podium.

        Yeah, really indicative of the sport’s current state, sure.

        1. On the other hand, this was the first race that literally half the grid could have won. Mercedes, Red Bull, Williams, Force India, and even Sauber!

          Just kidding about Sauber, but this was mental.

          1. As Alonso called: we could have won this one.

  25. Wasn’t Bottas a lap or two down at the beginning? Madness! And where on earth did Ricci come from… Was so upset when he crashed yesterday

  26. Great race. Great racing. Just great.

  27. 😳😳😳😳

    Wow. Just wow! 10/10!!

    😳😳😳😳

  28. 10, what a race!
    Vettel penalty was a farce. Ridiculous, should be DSQ. But he drives a Ferrari.

    1. +1

      A good race but I was absolutely gobsmacked by some peoples reaction saying it was Lewis’s fault that Vettle turned in and drove INTO him..You would get kicked out of a karting event for that kind of behaviour and this is Formula One..Even in football if you shove another player in an aggressive manor it’s a automatic red card and sent off, I can’t help but feel that if any driver lower down the grid pulled something like that off they would have been black flagged.

    2. Lack of penalty for Hamilton was a farce. But F1’s efforts to make him the racing Tiger Woods cannot be impeded.

      1. Hamilton didnt do anything to warrant a penalty, Vettel did something that warranted a DSQ.

    3. “Ferrari Internal Affairs”
      -Juan Pablo Montoya

  29. Michael Brown (@)
    25th June 2017, 16:12

    “Anything can happen in Formula One, and it usually does.” – Murray Walker
    9/10

  30. It’s always racing incident with Bottas but he has a knack of ruining everyone’s race. He should get some time penalty which will give Stroll 2nd.
    Bad Karma for Lewis for Break testing, he’ll think twice next time. Vettel – school boy and hot head – but does make things entertaining.

    Is Max the problem? His car always retires

    1. When did Lewis brake test? I swear people looked at the incident and didn’t bother watching the replay, Lewis was going slowly but he never did a “brake test”..Vettel was just too preemptive on the throttle and was expecting Lewis to take off on the same spot and floored it too early..Why on earth would Lewis go from the same spot twice knowing that Vettel was waiting for it? The pace is dictated by the leading car not anyone else..

      Vettel’s reaction should have gotten him a black flag, if even at a karting level that kind of behaviour gets you kicked out then how the hell is it just a time penalty in Formula One..It all has a bit of wiff of the Schumacher Ferrari days about it

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cx4AartWhg4&ab_channel=KenzoF1 If you call that a brake test then you clearly have a biased opinion.

      1. Also looking back on it the safety car was way too close for Lewis to take off so I really do not have any idea what Vettel was doing..

      2. geoffgroom44 (@)
        25th June 2017, 17:01

        totally, totally agree with you Jammy B. It seems that anti-Hamilton prejudice really blinds some folks to the facts and to the rules.
        Personally, I have always respected and liked Sebastian Vettel, but today he really let us down with a show of petulence that is not normally his persona. I hope he will have the grace to mitigate his actions with a ‘sporting apology’. Not a good example to set today,Seb. So sorry I can’t go with your explanation/excuse. You would have served your cause better had your reserved your verbal comments to the end of the race and not taken such capricious action on the track.

  31. 10, well done to all the drivers on the podium. Ricciardo put himself in a great position with that 2 car overtake on the restart and then benefitting from Vettel and Hamilton’s enforced pit lane trips.

    Cool drive from Stroll very well deserved. Shameful behaviour from Vettel behind the safety car, irrespective of Hamilton.

    Great recovery from Bottas,reminded me of Hulkenberg on Rosberg at Monaco.

  32. That was just a mess, a great race, but at times, for the wrong reasons.

    As per Channel 4, the safety car seemed to be deployed as a tool to spice up the race. A VSC would have been far more appropriate the second time. The safety car ended up causing more issues than it solved the second time round.

    Vettle bashing hamilton deserved more than 10 sec stop go. Hitting another driver with your car, which seemed intentional to me….only 10 sec!?!?

    Merc just lost it due to lack of check on the head rest….shame….

    A messy…mental…but great race

    Having said that, a great race non the less.

    9/10 nearly a 10

    1. Merc just lost it due to lack of check on the head rest….shame….

      Lucky to not get penalized for an unsafe release.

  33. Max would easily have won if his engine didn’t fail on him :/

    1. One of the Force India’s would have won if they didn’t crash into each other.
      Kimi would have won had he not picked up a puncture because of that.
      Hamilton would have won if it wasn’t for his headrest.
      Vettel would have won if it wasn’t for his hotheadedness.
      Stroll would have won if Bottas hadn’t gotten the lap back and Daniel crashed.
      Wehrlein would have won if all drivers in front of him retired on the last lap.
      etc….

      1. Nah…Max would have had the Force India had his engine not failed. He nearly had Perez the lap prior.

  34. Fantastic race, 9/10 just missing an on-track battle for the lead.

    Shame re the stewarding though. Vettel should absolutely have been black flagged. I like the guy and he’s a fantastic driver but that behaviour is inexcusable from a kid let alone an experienced 4-time champion.

  35. ILuvSoundtracks (@)
    25th June 2017, 16:18

    10/10. Absolutely unbelievable but also upsetting.

  36. As an event, a piece of entertainment, an absolute once in a lifetime 10.
    As a sporting competition, a 1. F1 at its worst.

    1. you are correct that DRS is still too strong…

  37. A very good race for F1 standards. Somewhat reminded me of IndyCar/CART street-track races from late 90s.

  38. What a crazy race! By far the best of the season so far! A very unpredictable one for a change.

  39. 10/10 the best f1 can produce with the regulations they have. F1 will never be a proper moment to moment motor race like the incredible motogp race an hour earlier.. safety cars liven up f1 races sadly because its such an uneven sport.

  40. Jimmie in LA (@)
    25th June 2017, 16:24

    8/10. Fun race. If not for lewis’ head support failure and subsequent pit, would we be saying the same thing?

    1. Pretty much.
      Hamilton and Vettel did bugger all afterwards

  41. 9/10. Great race, the only reason its not 10/10 for me is because there are many messy performances by the drivers and its almost lottery on who end up in the front after all what happened. I need to get my popcorn to hear Vettel defense on his road rage and the drama that follows after.

  42. 10 out 10 for entertainment though questionable use of a safety car instead of VSC, someone could easily have been seriously hurt out there.

    1. @emu55 I think the biggest reason why SC was deployed is to bunch up the field. Since the marshalls need to do their job at the track (instead of run off area for regular circuit) VSC won’t give them enough window to do their job safely. It’s a difficult situation for the race control, I’m glad they actually red flagged the race.

    2. Needed safely car to allow marshals on track to clear debris. As it’s a Street circuit there aren’t many places they could get on and off the track, VSC means cars are strung out.

  43. If I had to rate this race for the face value, it would be a .5/10, but….. This was not a normal race. Hamilton being an ducking more-on like always and Vettel losing his ship, tired of the abshole tactics from the English deception, made for this race an epic. And seeing Lance, a rookie on the podium was fantastic.
    I’m angry for Vettel getting a drive through, bit Hamilton not being reprimanded at all for doing the same thing twice is not what the rule book says. Both should get penalized and I hope this war goes on for the rest of the championship.

  44. Ferrari, Seb fan
    25th June 2017, 16:31

    11

  45. Ben (@chookie6018)
    25th June 2017, 16:32

    I told my dad before the race. It’s Azerbaijan likely to be a bore fest. Best race of my life. How bloody incredible. You beauty Dan. STRAYA! I’m biased and possibly caught in the moment but I’m putting it the best race of the century.

  46. Ferrari, Seb fan
    25th June 2017, 16:32

    11. The best since 2012 brazil

  47. OmarRoncal - Go Seb!!! (@)
    25th June 2017, 16:34

    I would give it a 10 if Hamilton hadn’t brake tested Vettel and Vettel hadn’t Maldonadoed Hamilton. These 2 showed today that at the heat of the moment, they can still behave like 2 irresponsible kids.

    1. Rage induced by adrenaline and Ham trying to be too clever. Vet after the race hadn’t yet realised that he crashed into Ham, I would like to see his face when he sees the replay and realise how stupid the situation was.

      I do have to confess that is the sort of reaction that I have in traffic, maybe I could have been a World Champ, what a waste of my talents.

      At least we have some attrition between them now, that will be good for us.

      At the same time it was all quite funny, with 3/4 current champions crying on the radio.

      Uuh when did I drove dangerously
      Uuh Charlie! 10s penalty was not enough
      Uuh I could have won if I had more power

    2. How does one brake test someone without using the brake???

      I don’t usually like Hamilton but I thought what he said after the race was very mature, thinking about how their actions effect kids watching. Vettel on the other hand seemed to endorse extreme road rage in his interview. Hamilton was absolutely correct, Vettel was a disgrace today.

      Raikkonen needs to stop copying Vettel’s bad language also. Really unprofessional.

  48. F1 as it should be. Unpredictable, exciting, tense, surprising, controversial, and fun. More like that please.

  49. I already forgot how it is to bite your nails and hear your heart pounding during an F1 race

  50. My first 10/10. What a race, incredible battles, clashes, penalties, controversies and what was quite refreshing no Strategy involved. Well done Baku, for real this time.

  51. All the safety cars, red flags, debris was a massive farce but for pure entertainment that was 10/10, knocked a point off for all the delays. Very good racing towards the end.

  52. 10/10. Very happy for Stroll, he did a perfect race. And Bottas! from last to second! And Ricciaardo!

  53. Amazingly entertaining race!

  54. To quote Mad Max: “What a lovely day!”

    What a wacky race, which had a bit of everything. Reminded me of Spa 1998, all that was missing was Hamilton punching Vettel..

  55. 8/10 it was a lot of fun because of all the incidents. I’m really annoyed with the DNF again for Max, otherwise t could’ve been higher

    I think BOT needs to stop his weird early braking in the 1st corners. He again hit RAI because of it

  56. John Toad (@)
    25th June 2017, 16:47

    Difficult one to score fairly.
    Organisation -2
    Marshalling -10
    Use of Safety car -2
    No Black Flag for Vettel -2
    Racing 8
    Entertainment 8
    So that gives me a average score of 0
    If I leave off the joke that was the organisation and marshalling it gives me an average score of 8
    So good, entertaining race totally messed up by the organisational shambles.

  57. An absolutely crazy race with lots of action and unpredictable results. It’s 10/10 but I am reluctant to give that because how overtaking looked like… not a single proper pass outside the restarts, they got ahead so easily. But outside of this… WOW! But about the controversies, they are always in the most exciting races, the grands prix when everyone does a good job are likely to be boring, because we need the unexpected events to create an entertainment.

  58. Great entertainment value, as is often the case when many drivers pull boneheaded moves… but some great driving as well, way more fun than I expected from this circuit, looks like Stroll’s solid drive in Montreal has steadied his nerves and great podium atmosphere all around.
    9/10

  59. I’m quite conflicted on the racing, marshals taking 20 minutes to retrieve a car that wasn’t in a dangerous position, all the debris yellows, Hamilton and Vettel losing their cools and half the field driving around without using their heads.

    So I’m going to vote for entertainment value: 9/10.

  60. Let’s just put it this way. Since 2007, there have been 4 races that I have recorded and never deleted on my set top box. Just so I can watch and re watch and re re watch whenever I like. This is the fifth. Heart thumping moments throughout. It’s been a while since I had my heart in my mouth. The last one being when both Mercs crashed last year in Spain. A lot will be said and written about the ‘negatives’ and it is to an extent true that there were more negatives than positives but once a while you need these races that awaken the teen in you!

    1. What were the other four?

  61. 10/10. Properly exciting throughout. Vettel should have been thrown out though.

  62. Well it had almost everything except for a sudden downpour from the heavens. The best race since Brazil 2008?
    Good scrapping, great individual drives, controversy, bumps and shunts, penalties, broken cars getting re-emerging and dodgy marshalling.
    10 from me.

  63. I can also not understand the level of bias from Sky Sports. Not one mention of Lewis break-testin Seb. It’s as if they ruled on their own volition that he was not at fault at all! Also, not sure if anyone observed but seb didn’t steer his car towards Lewis. You can clearly see on the onboard that his steering is already to the right – he obviously was stupid not to correct the angle while gesticulating wildly but it really didn’t appear as if he did it intentionally.

    1. I had the displeasure of my TV box only transmitting program information and no images, so I opted for a Sky stream. After the Vettel incident, I was appalled at the amount of emotional pleading from whoever sits next to Martin Brundle these days for a penalty. It was as if Vettel stole a child’s toy or ruined someone’s wedding…

  64. After a gray-ish debut, Baku delivers an incredible show.
    Plenty of good racing all around the field, contacts, clashes, drama between the two championship contenders & a breath-taking finale to the chequered flag.
    Just improve the Marshalling, that was below average.
    Well done Baku

  65. 10/10!!! Fantastic racing up and down the grid!!! Especially the Vettel-Hamilton situation; that was the highlight for me.

    I love moments like these where the usually buttoned-down drivers see the red mist and go “*BLEEP* IT!”. Drama, it’s what makes sports so investing from the human emotional perspective. Without it, all sports would just be watching statistics. I think the post race interview was weak though, if you’re gonna do something as blatant as that OWN IT! Own it unapologetically! Should he have gotten a DSQ? Most likely yes, but it seems the rules give a lot of leeway for race stewards on penalty calls.

  66. Jeez, now that was some kafkasque stuff if I’ve ever seen one. I was expecting a borefest, but got instead one of the best (if not the best) races of the whole season. 10/10

    1. …sorry but how was that kafkaesque?

      1. To clarify, the race had so much events so that it felt both surreal and insane, but in this case, in a good way.

    2. @dinaveer Umm I think you need to review the meaning of Kafkaesque? Sure, maybe for Hamilton & Verstappen, possibly also Vettel.

      The rest was more like Ray Cooney was having a bad day with the script.

      1. @psynrg Oh, my bad. Just been living with the assumption that ‘kafkaesque’ (something confusing and threatening) and ‘surreal’ are one and the same. Stupid me.

  67. Vettel is a such a brat. Should have been Black flagged and banned for a race.
    Them did it to Grosjean for less.

    #RoadRage

    Bad luck for Lewis with the head protection. Would won the race easily.

    Great race for Lance and Williams!

    As a race, it was the best for a long time and I hope we will see more times, cars return to track after crashing.
    I’m tired of teams pulling cars out for ‘little’ things. They are the best drivers – let them handle it!

    About Ferrari EXTRA money, so sorry, work on your driver’s manners first.

    I hope McLaren returns to Mercedes engines. Force India is doing a great job with much less resources. And if Alonso goes, I would really like to see Sainz in!

    Away we go to Austria!

  68. Firsts points to mclaren!!!! They still have option for the championsip. Come on!!

  69. That race was full of unpredictability, carnage, mistakes, some good overtakes, a lot of controversy and with a podium that was totally unexpected – A 9

  70. Best race since Canada 2011! That was a blast!

  71. This is how a F1 race should look like. Mechanical retirements, mistakes, close racing, incidents, barier contacts, overtaking, safety cars, racing on the edge, drivers chasing each other until the last lap, slippery tyres with long warm-up time and so on. I enjoyed the race, and after a long time i was really focused on it from start to finish.

  72. Loved the thing Vettel did. Only wish they would do something like this again. And a brawl would be nice, also.

  73. Mine was a 9…could have been a 10 but the lack of a black flag for Vettel (and I am no Seb hater) showed me that politics play a part in F1, not fairness…..and even if Lewis had stood on the brakes, that was his right behind a safety car to do, and Vettels to be ready for it…..and sideswiping Lewis???
    Well done all drivers who took part, and especially Stroll, who I did think was not going to make a F1 driver……shows what I know…..bring on Austria

  74. impredictable but too silly. 2/10

    1. Worst race ever.

      Desctruction derby,

      1/10

  75. Very nice race to watch. Overtaking was possible, but not too easy, lots of action. 9/10 for me. Just a pity 3 cars went out because of engine failures.

  76. andrew_s (@)
    25th June 2017, 20:18

    If Monty Python had scripted this race, it could not have been more ridiculous. 2/10 for me. Bad driving/mistakes on so many counts, ludicrous safety car calls….

  77. 10/10. Marking relative to some of the other races this year it had to be a 10!

    I posted on here a couple of days ago and said that we should probably give the circuit a second chance after last year’s disappointing race. How right I was it seems. Under these new rules it seems to have a bit of everything, both high speeds and twisty sections with opportunities for overtaking. Great to see the first 5 cars all on the same straight on the last lap.

    I think the tension and excitement was a little manufactured by the choice to deploy the full safety car twice and the red flag. I think at least one of these incidents could have been dealt with by a VSC.

    Really though if people are not giving this race at the very least an 8/10 I don’t know what they are looking for.

    1. @phil-f1-21
      “Really though if people are not giving this race at the very least an 8/10 I don’t know what they are looking for.”

      Something more of a sport where we have close racing that isn’t artificial and good battles(some of the overtakes were just sailing on the 2km straight). A race where there is no shady politics in the background in support of 1 team. And last of all a race where the best driver with the best car wins not someone who got lucky, just stayed out of trouble(didn’t do a crazy gamble) and never showed he had race winning pace. I would compare this to something of Game of thrones season 6 vs Game of thrones season 1. Sure excitement and people everyone wants to see winning doing well are good for show but the depth of season 1 and true action just make it superior to its artificial sibling.

  78. Great race! Full of action! Far better than last year! A shame Hamilton’s headrest came loose!

  79. The most interesting race in a long, long time! So much drama and uncertainty. I gave it a ten, because I feel it was lacking nothing.

  80. A very entertaining race to watch. To say I’m disappointed in Vettel would be an understatement as I thought he left that arrogance at Red Bull (long story short it’s irrelevant what he thought Hamilton did, it’s his responsibility not to run into him and he didn’t have to deliberately run into him the way he did).

    One of the bizarrest things was that those who caused clashes (Vettel, Bottas and Ocon) ended up winning out against the person they clashed with, with Raikkonen and Perez suffering issues and eventually retiring while Hamilton’s head rest came loose, robbing him of victory.

    Stars, I think are Riccardo and Stroll, who took advantage of the chaos and restarts to move up the order before driving well controlled races. Did want Stroll to keep 2nd, but a hard charge from Bottas saw an exciting run to the line where he just sneaked it.

  81. I honestly couldn’t decide whether to give this race a 1/10 or a 10/10. I’m still digesting it :)

    1. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
      25th June 2017, 22:57

      lol, I went with 1 – I can see your dilemma:-)

  82. The race was incredible.
    Rated it 9/10. Eliminate Riccardo from the starting grid and it would have been a perfect with a final line finish overtake.
    He is quite lucky, isn’t he?

    The 1 point I took away is due to the dissappointing decisions made by race control trying to turn the sport into pure entertainment.
    From the un-necessary safety cars (instead of VSCs) to the unclarification of the vettel penalty causing the whole Ferrari team to be confused as to on which collision he was penalised for, it was a dissappointing performance from race control.

    Regarding the collision between my 2 favourite drivers, I see it as Sebastian’s lack of focus to run into the back of Lewis and just an instantaneous angry confrontational bump into Lewis which is being discussed more than necessary.
    Lewis is my favourite driver but I love how Sebastian wears his heart on his sleeve while driving. It is so pure.

    1. ” I love how Sebastian wears his heart on his sleeve while driving. It is so pure.”
      I wish people would only say that about Maldonado.

      1. Why try and relate unrelatable things just to grab some attention.

        Get a life!

  83. Very very good race! I rated it a 8/10.
    It was the crazy race we expected last year (like the GP2 races that took place there last year). A lot of uncertainty, and real tension towards the end as the Mercedes and Vettel were chasing the leaders, and it was not sure whether they will catch them on time.
    The only thing that left me disappointed is that I really wanted a fight between Vettel Hamilton, the clear protagonistes of this season. But instead, they both got quite unlikely and bizzare problems. It’s a bit disappointing that the race outcome was decided by this weird set of circumstances.
    The clash was quite strange too (although Vettel had a fair penalty, as it was the same thing Maldonado did to Hamilton in Spa in 2011), maybe Vettel is getting a bit nervous as last season.

    But of course, the highlight of this race is Stroll’s podium finish : this must feel like a vindication fro him. I believe he received so much unfair criticism this year for his lack of results. The boy had a tough season so far, because he needed to learn so much, in a difficult season. He still managed to do a very solid race, and did no mistakes (and this race punished mistakes quite harshly). His happy face on the podium really put a smile on my face, and I genuinely wish him success for his career!

  84. I gave it a 3 and I was surprised. It wasn’t about the entertainment out of the race either. It was due to the fact that today was a disgrace for F1. If I wanted to see artificially forced close and unpredictable races where drivers act like jerks I would watch Nascar. This was not F1.
    3 times was a VSC not put on track although it was the best course of action. Putting a safety car on track is not only inconsistent but also unfair and unsafe. To make matters worse, a 4 time world champion dangerously rams into another multiple world champion. He drives for a team that have got away with outrageous decisions from FIA in the past and he got away with this. A 10 second stop and go penalty that would have hurt more right after the red flag came in the right time for him to get ahead of Hamilton since the latter had 2 more laps in traffic. Vettel should have been disqualified but he got 3 more points than his title rival today. It’s at least 15 points in a close title fight that were gained unfairly by a Ferrari driver. Last time Ferrari had an equally best car a similar incident happened( Belgium 2008). I don’t know if FIA wants a Ferrari to win the drivers world championship or they just wanted exciting racing and I really don’t care.
    This is a dark day for Formula 1 as a whole. It had the worst of F1 and the worst of other series. There was nothing about finesse, or outright speed. The only redeeming thing about this grand prix were some of the overtakes (Danny Ric’s triple overtake was out of this world). The show was there, unfortunately the sport part was not. There was nothing sportive about this race and people enjoy it. This is probably a sign of things to come.

  85. Garbage. Lewis deserved that win. He should not have had to pit

    1. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
      25th June 2017, 22:11

      It’s interesting that they brought him in for that. They seem ok when pieces of the front wing that are about to come off.

      Now anytime a piece that weighs more than 0.001 grams is not properly affixed, all drivers need to come in. Essentially, the FIA can bring anyone in as they please.

      Wait, that happened to Lewis so it doesn’t apply to the grid – Duh! I sometimes get carried away thinking that Lewis is a F1 driver…

      1. Front wing does not hold your head in safe position in case of another “senna” crash…

        1. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
          25th June 2017, 22:56

          Hmm, but that foamy thing is not affixed – they just snap it in. Does it really hold their head in a safe position?

  86. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
    25th June 2017, 22:09

    The most polarizing race I’ve seen in a while. Good spectacle but also disgraceful from Vettel, Ferrari, and FIA.

    The following rivalries exist:

    Vettel VS Hamilton
    Perez VS Ocon
    Verstappen VS Red Bull (Ricciardo)
    Sainz VS Kvyat
    Bottas VS Raikonnen
    Massa VS Williams

    Baku has been an extremely “toxic” race for some reason.

  87. Should I really be entitled to vote? So much was going on that I can’t even begin to describe half of it. I barely recall most of this race! All I know is I was standing up come the last lap. I haven’t done that since Brazil 2008. Do with this information what you will.

  88. This was a joke, not peak in motoracing….

    Drivers unable to keep it clean, track marshals unable to effectively remove stopped vehicle, unable to deal with debris well. Red flagging, many SCs, restarts are always somewhat random, so you screw up once, you have another go later…
    This race displayed how badly prepared Baku still is.
    Many people rate high because a lot happened in this “race”. But what happened was not racing but random chaos that someone came on top of. 1/10 from me and feel bad for F1.

    1. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
      25th June 2017, 22:54

      I gave it a 1 for the same reasons!

    2. Exactly!!!!!!!!!!

    3. Indeed. Exactly. Yes.

  89. I heard someone say after qualifying yesterday that cricket is more interesting than F1… if you still think that now then you need your head examined. :P 10/10

  90. I think this is the first time i’ve given 10/10. What more could you ask for? Several contenders for the win, underdogs holding top five positions for long periods on merit (Stroll, Magnussen, Alonso), drama, crashes, collisions, brain-explosions, a bit of luck and some outrageous overtakes. Who overtakes three cars at once?! Who does that!? Crazy. Force India must be kicking themselves.

  91. It was certainly unexpected. 9/10

  92. -1 for the lengthy safety car periods, -1 for the inability of the track to cope with stopped cars and debris, and -1 for giving Vettel a slap on the wrist for that appalling display. 7/10 left for a shockingly good race after what we saw last year.

  93. suryana (@mursidsuryana)
    26th June 2017, 3:25

    Thanks to my trip Back to my hometown+Crazy traffic, i missed this one. Gonna regret for the rest of my life.

  94. 10/10. Easily the best race this year IMO.

  95. 10/10 the best in the last 3 years

  96. After giving it a night to sleep over this one, I did give it a 10 in the end. This really was one of those races we will remember for a long time. It had surprises, controversy, inner team battles, and far more.

    But it was a hard one for me. Because the Stewards allowed behavior that should have no place anywhere near the track, behavior that got Maldonado benched when he did tried it in Spa a couple of years back to go only lightly punished. Their reasoning? Not wanting to upset the championship. To me, there can hardly be a worse reason NOT to punish something (I guess being payed off is even worse?). So for that I thought of giving it a bad rating.

    But in the end, the entertainment value, and the seeds of controversy sown and grown between drivers (Ocon/Perez, Ericsson/Wehrlein, Bottas/Kimi and yes, Vettel / Hamilton) as well as between teams and their drivers (second race in a row Daniel had a great result after Verstappen was faster until his car died for Verstappen, Ericsson with his team) won it for me. This is indeed a race that will probably be remembered for a long time.

  97. Rated 1. The old Hamilton is back trying to find anyone he can to bully. Unfortunately he picked Vettel and hammy may not survive the season. Fingers crossed. He was OK for a few races after bullying his former team mate into retirement. And Botas won’t fight back; he’s a wus. But Seb will.

  98. A well-deserved successor for Canada 2011,
    made it a 10/10.

    You couldn’t know who would win until lap 40-45 when Bottas wasn’t fast enough to catch Ricciardo.

    A hell of a race. A race we’ll still talk about in 10-15 years.

  99. For the entertainment value, I gave it a 9. For the actual racing, something much lower would be appropriate – maybe a 5 or 5. With the VET/HAM drama, no one is taking about the FI issues. Without their incident, at a minimum, PER would have jumped VER in the standings. They may have even won the race!!!

    1. Oops. Intended to say 5 or 6…

  100. Easy 10. Not gonna be so easy picking driver of the weekend.

  101. Great circuit, they put on a great show and have shown Monaco up for the snoozefest it’s become. I’d like to attend this GP, it an interesting city that’s embraced F1, and the racing is challenging. Having said that I only gave the race a 7 because of the artificiality introduced by the use of the safety car. It wasn’t necessary but was used to close up the pack. It unfairly penalised the leader for the sake of the show, and that left a nasty taste in my mouth.

  102. I gave the race a 7.5.

    It was a bit of a crazy race with all the safety cars and the red flag, I thought that some of the safety car periods could have been dealt with by the virtual safety car which in turn wouldn’t have led to some of the other problems.

    A part of me thinks that they chose to use a full safety car to close the field up and try to make things more exciting, which for me made the race feel a bit artificial and probably resulted in me giving it a slightly lower rating. Race control would obviously deny their intention was to liven things up and say their decisions are based on safety reasons only.

    With everything going on it was an entertaining race, much better than I expected as I thought it would be dull race like last year.

    I have long held the view that given the right circumstances almost any circuit can provide a good or bad race. The main thing which often makes a race better is rain, but multiple collisions and safety cars and an unexpected result also usually deliver a good race, and this is what we had in Azerbaijan this weekend.

    After Hamilton made a clean getaway I thought it would be like the last race in Canada and that only a car problem would prevent him from winning, well this time he did have a car problem which stopped him from winning.

    How costly could that issue with his headrest be for Hamilton come the end of the season, if he and Vettel had finished 1-2 Hamilton would have closed the gap by 7 points, if he had won with Vettel finishing fourth because of his penalty, Hamilton would have scored 13 points more than Vettel and so taken the lead in the championship, but instead Vettel ended up extending his lead by 2 points.

    So that faulty headrest cost Hamilton up to 15 points, he has lost titles by less, most recently just last year.

    It was good to see Stroll get his first podium in F1, even if he did lose out on second in the final moments, he followed up scoring his first points in F1 at his home race by getting third next time out.

    Also Alonso and McLaren finally got off the mark with a points finish, ninth is not much to celebrate for them given the success they have enjoyed in the past but considering the season they have had it is better than nothing.

    Regarding the Vettel and Hamilton incident, from what I have seen and read Hamilton did not brake test Vettel, Hamilton maintained a constant speed but it seems that Vettel thought Hamilton would accelerate so Vettel accelerated and ended up hitting the back of Hamilton’s car, if it had ended at that I think Vettel would probably only have received a reprimand at most as no major damage was done.

    However in the heat of the moment Vettel thought Hamilton had brake tested him, the red mist came down and he drove into Hamilton on purpose, some may claim that it was only at slow speed and that Vettel did not cause any damage but the fact remains that he still intentionally drove into another car.

    Finally does anyone know if they used experienced marshals from over circuits in Azerbaijan like they have at some other new tracks, as it seemed to take a while to clear the track a few times and in commentary they mentioned that over the weekend a few cars had been damaged whilst they had been recovered by the marshals.

Comments are closed.