Ricciardo beats Bottas, Stroll to win chaotic Azerbaijan GP as Vettel, Hamilton clash

2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix summary

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Daniel Ricciardo took victory ahead of Valtteri Bottas and rookie Lance Stroll after an incident-filled Azerbaijan Grand Prix that saw Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton collide.

The two championship rivals clashed under the Safety Car, with Vettel handed a ten-second stop-and-go penalty for ‘dangerous driving’, while a loose headrest forced Hamilton to take an extra stop costing him the lead.

Ricciardo took Red Bull’s first victory since last year’s Malaysian Grand Prix ahead of Valtteri Bottas, who passed Lance Stroll’s Williams for second on the run to the chequered flag.

Hamilton lead at the start, but contact between Valtteri Bottas and Kimi Raikkonen left a very damaged Mercedes cruising back to the pits, going a lap down in the process.

Max Verstappen made his way up to fourth and was pressuring Sergio Perez for third when, once again, his Red Bull broke down with an apparent power unit problem.

Dannil Kvyat pulled his Toro Rosso off circuit just past Turn 12, bringing out the Safety Car for the first of many appearances of the afternoon.

The race resumed, but the Safety Car was recalled immediately after more debris was strewn accross the circuit from minor contact throughout the field.

Then came the most dramatic moment of the race as Sebastian Vettel ran into the back of Hamilton as the Mercedes driver backed up the pack ahead of the restart.

Vettel pulled alongside to gesticulate to his championship rival in anger, but made wheel-to-wheel contact with Hamilton. Despite the collision, there didn’t appear to be damage to the Mercedes.

On the restart, the two Force Indias of Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon collided, heavily damaging both cars and littering yet more debris on the circuit, which was struck by Raikkonen’s Ferrari, causing a right-rear puncture.

The Safety Car was deployed once more, but with so much debris around the Baku streets, the race was temporarily red flagged.

When the race resumed, Hamilton led from Vettel, but then Hamilton was forced to pit with a loose headrest, while Vettel was given a ten-second stop-and-go penalty for ‘dangerous driving’, following the collision.

This promoted Ricciardo’s Red Bull into the lead, ahead of Lance Stroll, who had kept his nose clean in the Williams. Valtteri Bottas charged through the field, making his way to third behind the Williams rookie.

Vettel and Hamilton too recovered up to fourth and fifth, respectively, but it was Ricciardo who closed out the laps to take his first win of the season in the Red Bull.

Bottas passed Stroll thanks to DRS on the run to the line, but the Canadian took his first podium appearance in third. Ocon recovered to sixth, ahead of Kevin Magnussen, Carlos Sainz and Fernando Alonso, who took his and McLaren’s first points of the season in ninth.

Pascal Wehrlein rounded out the points for Sauber in tenth.

2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix

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    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...

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    225 comments on “Ricciardo beats Bottas, Stroll to win chaotic Azerbaijan GP as Vettel, Hamilton clash”

    1. That is your definition of Mercedes engine OP. Both Mercedes were monstrous on a straightline.

    2. This is your definition of Daniel inheriting track position from others failing around him.

      1. And that triple overtake was just coincidence, right?
        @pratyushp276

        1. I agree that overtake was nice, but others did the same on the same spot. But that was the first nice move of RIC in several races. We know he can drive quite well, but as almost everybody agrees, he is not the better racer in his team or the best racer on the circuit but he is by far the most lucky driver of the field for a number of races now.
          Every time he ends up on the podium even on the highest step this time without doing something really special or being that good. It’s just coming his way and that’s incredible. Poor VER because it seems that his bad luck strike continues every race.

          1. When Verstappen won the Spanish GP last year , do you credit hus ein to luck or skill?

            My point being let’s not be partisan or selective in memory.

            1. He was brilliant at Monaco last year when the team pulled Defeat from the Jaws of Victory. He deserved the luck he got today and it was fun to watch everyone else melt down in front of him. Lewis unlucky but that’s for Monaco last year when he should have been P2. We all know Max is an incredible talent and it’s pointless comparing. Neither will be at Red Bull in 2 years if the team can’t get their act together.

        2. On a Renault and a Force India down the 2-ish km long pit straight. That is SO indicative of how his race went.

      2. Indeed. Lucky Ricciardo gets all his podiums handed to him, unbelievable. Poor Max.

        1. Poor max should learn how to treat his equipment, he just may get into the same league as Ricciardo. Fast AND reliable.

          1. LOL…what a nonsense comment.

      3. It was undoubtedly an entertaining race and good for the “show”, and I know there’ll be backlash for me saying this, but…

        1. Ricciardo wins despite binning it in quali and being outperformed by Verstappen all weekend until the Dutchman’s car failure.
        2. Bottas 2nd despite being 4-tenths off Hamilton in quali and and causing the accident with Raikkonen at turn one.
        3. Stroll 3rd (major hats off to him, to be fair), despite Massa having the edge in the race until his technical problems. He did out-qualify Felipe at least.
        4. Vettel 4th despite being off Raikkonon’s pace in quali and his ridiculous antics with Hamilton.

        Indeed, Ricciardo and Bottas put in some great great overtakes (albeit DRS-assisted) and as they say, you make your own luck… But it makes for a concerning precedent if a race is seen as a 10/10 when the “entertainment” was primarily down to the better drivers on the day getting screwed over.

        BAH, HUMBUG ;)

        1. Ricciardo binned it in qualifying?

          Yes. But that was qualifying. Arguably the best drivers are ones who can put that behind them when it matters most.

          Sure you can argue Verstappen would have won without that failure, but you will never really know for sure because of it.

          Ricciardo is still beating Verstappen in the qualifying battle even with his screw-up in Baku so you can’t say it’s been all bad luck for Verstappen.

          1. @saint-jay

            Arguably the best drivers are ones who can put that behind them when it matters most.

            I agree with you on that.

            Sure you can argue Verstappen would have won without that failure, but you will never really know for sure because of it.

            I never said or insinuated that Verstappen would have won the race.

            Ricciardo is still beating Verstappen in the qualifying battle even with his screw-up in Baku so you can’t say it’s been all bad luck for Verstappen.

            I wasn’t talking about the season as a whole. Just this weekend. And neither did I say “it’s been all bad luck for Verstappen”.

          2. Arnoud van Houwelingen
            26th June 2017, 1:28

            No actually he isn’t .. Verstappen won the last 4 qualifications in a row and you can also see it in free practice that Max is always quicker then Daniel in the last races ..even is his so beloved Monaco …. so this season it is 5-3 for Max i believe and he will extend that lead from now on!

          3. HUH………

            Out of the 24 quali session we can scrap Chine due to mechanical issues
            Leaves 21 sessions… Verstappen won 18-3.

            Note: Q3 in Sochi Ricciardo won, Verstappens car was suffering from a broken floor waterpump and they needed to change the complete engine. In Bahrein Verstappen was 0.1 sec off Ricciardo’s time cause Massa ruined his warm up lap. It could have easily been 21-0.. while 18-3 already prooves Verstappen is trashing Ricciardo in quali… not to mention he was ahead of Ricciardo in each and every race.

        2. Verstappen is often quicker in practice and qualifying but there are no points for that. It’s the race that counts and again Ricciardo has come out in front. Maybe Verstappen is too hard on the equipment, he is defiantly less mature. Maybe as he gets older he mite start to match some of the race craft of Ricciardo….maybe.

          1. @johnrkh

            Verstappen is often quicker in practice and qualifying but there are no points for that. It’s the race that counts and again Ricciardo has come out in front.

            I understand where you’re coming from. But my argument focuses more on the moral/idealistic aspect of sport vs spectacle as opposed to just the numbers. Yes, the record books will tell one side of the story but there’s more to racing and life than that.

            As a disclaimer, I was genuinely happy for Dan, he’s a great guy and racer, I’m just sparing a thought for the others.

          2. Arnoud van Houwelingen
            26th June 2017, 1:36

            oil pressure engine failure has nothing to do with being too hard on the equipment .. besides Max has a whole team of engineers behind him who will warn him when he is too hard on the brakes and overheat them or something .. but this failure has nothing to do with overheating issues so total nonsense .. also i think F1 is going the wrong way when a driver can’t push anymore! Max is this season already better then Daniel only very unlucky .. Max is already getting better with qualifying and outperforms Daniel right now on that department as well .. luck will change in Max his favour i am sure of that!

        3. To finish first, first you have to finish. It was a great race because it wasnt a procession. I guess people like you liked last years race better.

    3. Amaizing race, but the Vettel-Hamilton incident should be properly investigated.

      That was not the kind of attitude you expect from multiple WDCs. Specially Vettel.

      Had it been Stroll or Palmer, I’m sure the penalty would’ve been harsher. Not just for this race, but even a race ban. It was seriously stupid.

      1. They should made some rules on safety car restart as leading drivers make nonsense moves on restart. Hamilton was being cock speeding up and slowing going almost to stop when Vettel hit him.
        I believe the penalty was for the nudge not for the parking in H’s back. I don’t think Vettel did touch wheel on purpose. I think it was just too much movement towards Hamilton…. Although you would think multi champion knows all his car’s measurements.
        Hamilton cried like a baby again after Vettel appeared in front after penalty.

      2. @fer-no65 No doubt on that. On the other side, an inclination of bias and lobbying is confirmed. Ham’s looking on the mirror brakes in the middle of the penultimate corner, effectively catches Seb out, and Seb loses it again, had he not reacted, he’d would have won the argument. In the end the stewards only gave Seb a penalty because Mercedes ruined Ham’s race. Lobbying made the result and the championship.

        I seriously don’t know how can sky and Coulthard on 4 be so defensive of Ham and Mercedes. They criticize Pirelli they get what they want, they witch hunt Ferrari for team orders, Ham today wanted Bottas to drop back to help him get past Seb, Mercedes press woman, instructs Ham not to say anything when Rachel Brooks asks about the incident in question.

        On the other side, Seb’s been lucky not to get some penalties.

        1. Sviatoslav (@)
          25th June 2017, 16:49

          From what I saw and heard, Hamilton did NOT brake after the corner. He kept stable speed (revs didn’t drop) through and after the corner, although Ham was really slow.

          1. Revs dropped you can see it on the onboard.

            1. Revs dropped clearly on the audio, after the apex.

              Vettel deserves harsh penalty for his childish reaction, but Hamilton should be cautioned as well for his unnecessary breaking behind the SC.

          2. Last time I checked you don’t get that much slower that fast without slowing down unless I’m lost on physics but hey there are crazy flat earth people out there so who knows

            1. @racerdude7730

              The other part of physics you seem to have missed is that vettel sped up. He was expecting Hamilton to go faster out of the corner but Hamilton kept his speed low instead. Vettel therefore went in to the back of him. Hamilton was well within his rights to not accelerate fast from the corner as it was vettels responsibility to not hit Hamilton. Hamilton did not brake. I think this was a little silly by vettel but it can be easily done. However what then happend should be looked at more seriously by the FIA you can’t get angry and purposefully turn in and hit another car! If that is the only punishment vettel gets then he is very lucky and it is ridiculous.

            2. If you watch the telemetry his speed is the same throughout and after the corner at a constant 49 kmh. Yeah don’t worry, the physics of momentum where all in balance.

          3. That came off a little rude but yeah he deff slowed down

            1. KARMA LEWIS, KARMA.

              Where is it correct to brake-check at any time, much less right after a sharp 90 degree corner? He new exactly what he was doing. Vettel shouldn’t have reacted though because he would have won the race hands down. Lewis deserved a penalty, but the karma gods were looking out in any event.

            2. Also, it’s not the first time Lewis has pulled the same garbage manoeuvre. He knew full well what he was doing, timed it incorrectly and that was the full reason he was quiet as a church mouse after the race re: the incident.

          4. He didn’t brake, but he slowed down – he probably didn’t get a penalty because he then stayed at that slower speed down the whole straight to make it less obvious that he tested Vettel. Either way, Vettel’s reaction was ridiculous.

          5. It’s clear to me that Hamilton did break-test Vettel, Ane that is the worst thing you can do in racing. On the other hand, you.can’t prove that and that’s the reason Hamilton got away with IT.
            What Vettel did was easy to prove so he got a penalty and a well deserved one to. You just don’t do that kind og stuff, just like you don’t brake-test your opponent the way Hamilton did.

            I think the racing-gods interferred today and made justice. Vettel was punished as he shold be, Hamilton should have been punished but sasn’r but the racing goods took care of that. Justice prevailed, concratulations in particular to Ricciardo and Stroll, well done guys👍

        2. FreddyVictor
          25th June 2017, 17:21

          (@Pennyroyal tea)
          YEAH, Coulthard always quick to side with HAM – no real surprise there ! (& I’m from UK)
          Amusingly, he got ‘selective hearing disfunction’ when HAM enquired on radio to team about BOT helping him with VET ahead, had to have Ben Edwards help him out

          VET really needs to cool down – totally deserved the penalty
          but I’m not sure he realized he had banged wheels with HAM
          His post-race interview with CH4 didn’t specifically mention it & interviewer chose not to point it out either, maybe because they are limited to the number of questions they can ask ?

          anyway, great race full of incident !

        3. The place Seb said Hamilton brake tested him, Hamilton did the exact same thing he did during the previous safety car in the same place.

      3. The whole situation is a joke. They were taking ages to decide on a penalty! Hamilton has an issue which will cost him a pitstop and bam, 10 second stop and go for Vettel. That is a disgrace. I don’t support Vettel but I’m not a hater of him, in fact, I think he’s been the driver of the season so far. That said I think he needs a race ban for what he did today. He used his car as a weapon and that’s just never ok. If he said he saw red, owned up and apologised I’d be a bit easier on him, but telling lies in the interview and making out he’s not sure how it was dangerous is beyond a joke. As Hamilton said, Vettel truly disgraced himself today. It’s like punching another player in any other sport. 10 seconds for this race is fine, but it needs to be investigated again as it wasn’t a dangerous attempt at an over take, it was a deliberate hit in anger. That’s just not right and needs to be dealt with very strictly. I mean we’ve seen drivers have grid drops for genuine mistakes while trying to overtake, so how can this be the same?

      4. I was thinking, on last year’s car the front wing spoilers would have punctured the tires of the car in-front.

        I honestly think Vettel was hoping to cause damage to Hamilton’s tires, with the excusing being Hamilton was ‘brake testing him’. Vettel is no dummy was driving behind hamilton for enough laps to know he slows at that point, he was counting on it – to cause damage. And when he failed he tried again automatically, by bumping Hamilton again in a manner that would again pass as a ‘racing incident’. Subconsciously declaring his intentions. This is all Vettel and his attempt at brinkmanship.

        His radio message on the incident was so fake.

        1. Bull gravy, Hamilton was moaning the safety car was too slow and therefore dangerous, next breath he is the whole straight behind it. He caused the collision no one else and tried repeating it later on. Vettels reaction was natural and hilarious in equal measure. The penalty was a joke coming 20 minutes or so after the event and only after Hamilton had to pit, total politics

          1. Every safety car since the 90s, the lead car backs the pack up before the SC pits so they are at racing speed when they cross the finish line.

      5. Marian Gri (@)
        25th June 2017, 19:26

        Yup, kinda weird. But I guess there’s a tendency to punish harder the rookies because it’s worse to have a driver not knowing what he’s doing rather than a driver knowing what he’s doing. That’s because a driver not knowing what he’s doing means he can repeat the same mistakes endlesly, while a driver who knows what he’s doing can stop doing a certain mistake. I guess we can say Maldonado was a driver who didn’t knew what he was doing. So, yeah, VET did something wrong, but he’s a proven racer and everybody expects him to evaluate most situations properly and not create any dangerous situations. Let’s be honest, the accident wasn’t dangerous, the fact that he did it on purpose (or it seems) it’s outrageous and got him the penalty… bot that he created a really dangerous situation.

      6. Some of the arguments on this page are simply pathetic. Vettel and Hamilton
        are top line pros. They know exactly what they are doing…most of the time.
        They are both quite capable of pulling a fast one on the other guy.
        Both of them know very well that experienced lead car drivers always drop back
        from the safety car pace when they know the SC is about to leave the track.
        In any case rule one says that, whatever you do DON’T EVER run into the back
        of the lead car. Be aware that the lead car driver is about to become the pace
        car and that driver will nearly always drop back from the Safety Car.

        So….though I have no illusions that Hamilton is an innocent, that he is perfectly
        capable of pulling a fast one if he can get away with it, he had nothing whatsoever
        to gain from risking a rear end collision with Vettel in that time and in that place.
        Whereas Vettel compounded unprofessional inattention with crass stupidity in
        retaliating in such childish manner. Bang to rights I’m afraid.

        Up to now I have had enormous respect for Vettel. I always believed he had
        wisdom beyond his years. But today he blew it. And what’s more I think he
        knows deep down that he blew it. Without that 10 second penalty he would
        have had a vastly better result from today’s race.

        So….these guys are human after all……!

    4. What an overtake by RIC for what was ultimately was the WIN!!!

      Defenitely driver of the Day for me. WOW

    5. WHAT A RACE!! Best race of the year by faaarrr!!
      Had absolutely everything! Overtaking, crashing, suprise winner!

      1. What is exactly did you find so good? I found it crappy because
        * winner didn’t win due to something silly as a headrest
        * Top contenders crashing on lap one
        * Vet behaving as a spoiled child
        * FIA not punishing Vet as they should have. They banned Gro some years ago because he made a racing mistake. This was on purpose!!! How is this tolerated?
        * Safety cars sent out when VSC should have sufficed
        * Quali has been my favorite part of many weekends yet there are no rewards for been quickest.
        * Why with so many tires available, every driver is complaining of poor grip? This were suppose to be the tires that were designed for speed.
        * Overtakes were mostly DRS assisted
        * Max gets yet another car failure while Ric crashes but wins?
        * Unpredictability isn’t good, I want good driving to be rewarded and just not gift podiums to those who remain.

        1. @ivan-vinitskyy Agreed and include Hamilton and Mercedes not getting penalized for dangerous driving.

          1. When did Hamilton exhibit dangerous driving? If you are referring to the vettel incident then if Hamilton was driving dangerously then almost all of us would be convicted of dangerous driving on the way to work every day! Maintaining your speed through and after a corner during a safety car is not dangerous driving.

            1. SevenFiftySeven
              25th June 2017, 18:00

              Dangerous driving – one hand on the steering wheel and the other behind his head, trying to get the head rest down at high speed. Technically, that is dangerous driving. As pennyroyal tea said earlier, the lobbying was in full swing. The stewards were busy deciding how to minimize Lewis’ point loss at that point. And, so came the 10-second stop and go penalty for Vettel right after Mercedes convinced Lewis to pit, which he did. I’m not arguing Vettel shouldn’t have got the penalty. The penalty is well deserved, but it only came at a point where it was convenient. And, the brake testing from Lewis was subtle, but obvious. He had to do that in a way he could get away with, because Vettel staying right behind him would have meant Vettel possibly overtaking Lewis on trun 1 after that huge straight once the safetycar went back.

              Vettel got blinded by rage and lost it. That was the real sad story. He allowed himself to be rattled for a guy who is usually calm. He needs to be extra cautious in a situation like this in a tightly contested championship. The English-speaking media, which gets carried around the world, is against him, and the stewards are heavily home-biased. A certain Dereck Warwick has openly said he would favor a British driver while adjudicating incidents. Then there was the snippet from Bernie, himself, who said Vettel and Rosberg are not good for business. Talk about conflict of interest. No wonder Vettel gets upset these days. And, let’s not even talk about Sky.

            2. SevenFiftySeven, that would be the same Bernie Ecclestone who has also previously said that he wishes that his daughter had married Vettel? The same Vettel who is so close to Ecclestone’s family that he has gone on joint holidays with them (I believe he is the only driver in the field who has that level of personal intimacy with Bernie and his family)? Surely that presents a fairly sizeable personal conflict of interests too.

              It’s also not hard to find quotes from just one or two years earlier when Bernie had been singing Vettel’s praises, calling him a great driver and how he was great for the sport. Basically, Bernie will say whatever he thinks you will accept, whether it is singing Hamilton’s praises or championing Vettel – knowing full well that you will probably only tune in to one set of those messages.

            3. SevenFiftySeven, also, since when did the publication Auto Motor und Sport suddenly change nationality from German to British? Unless you are suggesting that the German press is somehow in league with the British press?

              They say they have seen the telemetry from that incident, and have compared it to the previous laps under the safety car – they show that there was no difference between the way that Hamilton took that lap to the previous ones, the only difference being that, on that particular lap, Vettel started accelerating earlier than he had on previous laps.

            4. SevenFiftySeven
              26th June 2017, 10:35

              Hello anon. I didn’t know Vettel and Ecclestone had been on holiday together. Depending on the situation and context, that is definitely a conflict of interest. Your other point about regional news networks and publications is also valid. The concern about Sky is not because it is just an English-language network, but because it’s the official media partner of F1, the global sport. Imagine football or cricket world cup being covered in the same manner by official broadcasters like Sky is covering F1. Both games originated in the UK and are now globally played and celebrated. Cricket adheres to the highest degrees of professionalism in all aspects of the game, including selection of umpires for specific matches based on non-alliance and non-affiliation of umpires to participating countries. Not to mention the multinational pool of commentators and officials. F1 doesn’t even try to project a modicum of transparency in its dealings. And, on top, it’s run like a fiefdom (well, up until recently). Some of us simply don’t trust it, and that’s the reason we question its motives sometimes. It has nothing directly to do with anything British or German, but how F1 is run.

        2. They banned Grosjean for repeated offences dangerously crashing on lap one. The two situations aren’t comparable. I’m not saying Vettel shouldn’t have got a larger penalty, but it’s an entirely different situation.

          1. Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
            25th June 2017, 16:43

            Yes, this incident was also at such a slow speed is certainly isn’t comparable to Grosjean’s. Hamilton was barly moving then he slowed down even more so I think he is certainly partly to blame. Then Vettel doing what he did was idiotic, but not exactly very dangerous at this speed. I think Hamilton should get some sort of penalty for suddenly slowing down. All the cars suddenly had to bunch up behind him and the safty car had pulled way ahead of him. That was just too slow.

        3. i enjoyed every single thing you just mentioned @ivan-vinitskyy
          For me those are the exact things that make a race interesting to watch!

          1. @ivan-vinitskyy Take a look at rate the race for what people enjoyed. Personally I thought it was brilliant. There was wheel to wheel racing everywhere alongside crashes and unpredictability.

            1. @glynh sure, after promoting the sport like a show and attracting nascar-minded viewers and then you expect me to accept that’s what the sport should be like? I wish you silly fans just left elsewhere and not alter F1 and its competitive spirit of racing.

            2. @ivan-vinitskyy If you think fans who enjoy a variety of races should leave I don’t think it’s us who are the silly ones.

              If you didn’t enjoy the race that’s fine, it’s your loss but it seems most other fans did so hopefully we get more races like that.

              I’ve enjoyed every race this year but that was one of the best F1 races I’ve seen in a long time. Would you prefer if they just lined up in qualifying and there was no unpredictability?

            3. @glynh I’m sure I can’t change what you want to see in a race but at most I can do if suggest a better place for your needs (hint, not F1) Unpredictability is part of racing and I don’t mind that. However when all you get is unpredictability then why not have reverse grid every week and standing start restarts? Why bother have qualifying? Why call this a sport when driver / team input is worth so little? I expect to see best drivers racing at high standard and what I’ve seen today was poor driving standard and too much bad luck. This isn’t exciting, it’s sad.

        4. @ivan-vinitskyy I don’t think top contenders crashing makes it crappy. Racing incidents – and it’s nice to see other drivers up there once in a while, which for some (probably most) is where the excitement comes on.
          And personally qualifying shouldn’t be rewarded more than it already is. Hamilton’s headrest was the team’s fault, but stuff like that happens in F1, regardless of whether it should or not.
          Finally poor grip was down to low tyre temperatures due to the safety car being slow.

        5. Opinions are opinions, hence difference in opinions. I agree with some of your points, disagree with other points. As a neutral the race was generally great. The VET penalty and HAMs misfortune (a mistake by a team member? Don’t forget it’s a team game) made for interest in how they both try recover. Just like RIC and BOT had great recovery drives.

          1. @ivan-vinitskyy You do realise the irony that you’re telling the people who enjoy F1 that they should leave. Wouldn’t it be better to find a sport you like or, better, just accept that we all like different parts of F1.

            Also you say you want drivers and teams to have more influence when that’s exactly what caused all the issues. It was their mistakes through crashes and car failiures that made it a great race.

        6. At 5 mile an hour grow up you …..

        7. Ivan, you must love those races that start with the announcer saying “This race will be decided in the first corner,” and that’s exactly how it turns out.

        8. So negative, you can always rewatch last years race if you didntvlike tyhis fascinating race.

    6. I cant help feeling that RIC leads a charmed life. Lucking into the race win today and his earlier podiums.

      One thing we have to admit he is not the complaining type and his smile adds to the positivity and helps him shine. Disastrous for MAX but be overdriving the car and needs to calm down.

      Villain of the day VET. He is back to his antics and no tears will be shed if he loses out on WDC this year. Overaged brat.

    7. Before all the Hamilton fans and anit-fans come jumping in. Firstly the Ham fans, Hamilton lost cause of a slack headrest, not because of Vettel. Secondly to the anti-Ham fans, lets wait to see what telemetry says during the safety car period to see if he “brake-tested”.

      Lastly, that’s two strong results from Stroll, so now lets give him till the end of the year to judge him. I think he deserves that. Yes the 3 on the podium were lucky, but you have to take advantage when luck comes your way. Full credit to the 3 of them.

      1. Yep, Hamilton lost due to the headrest issue, remarkable that could happen. However it did make for a great finish to the race. Bottas and Ricciardo, brilliant recovery and opportunism.

      2. So you think the talking point is the break testing? I think your missing the road rage bit there.

        1. That point was aimed at anti-Ham fans, can see them saying that Hamilton brake tested Vettel without any evidence. The road rage is inexcusable but wasn’t the point I was trying to make

          1. You didn’t watch the race? He enter the corner in 3 or 2nd gear.. he hit the Apex in 3rd or 2nd gear… AT the EXIT!! he shift to 1st gear… At the EXIT!! that’s more than brake test..

            1. Video? pictures? Regardless, as far as I’m aware the safety car lights had gone out therefore making Hamilton the pace car. He gets to choose the speed at which he enters and exits corners at that point

            2. Thank you! Some people are blind to everything HAM does including that sad excuse for a network Sky. You can see clearly what happen. VET deserves the penalty but come on that aside we saw what happen

      3. I’m not a Hamilton fan and a I am a fan of Vettel…

        Vettel got away very lightly with doing what he did and regardless of whether Hamilton brake checked him or not (I personally feel Hamilton just didn’t accelerate out of the corner rather than brake check), he should NOT have retaliated.

        I felt for Hamilton hugely on his headrest coming loose, it’s one of those things that just should not happen and as far as I am concerned stole a win away from him.

        1. +1
          Hamilton simply didn’t accelerate. Vettel was worried about Perez taking him on again at the restart and anticipated Hamilton accelerating away when he should have been waiting for Hamilton’s cue as leader. And then he totally lost his temper, not actually an uncommon occurrence with Vettel. Really a disqualification would have been correct punishment for deliberately driving into another car out of anger, misplaced or not.

        2. Imagine this was last year and Rosberg would have been steering in on Hamilton…. Pffff

          1. Also, imagine this was last year and Hamilton’s headrest would have come lose in the middle of the championship fight with Rosberg….. the conspiracy theories flying around haha!

      4. GtisBetter (@)
        25th June 2017, 16:34

        i don’t think you can break test during a safety car, as you aren’t going very fast anyway and you shouldn’t be in the front guys gear box, unless it’s the couple of corners before restart.

        1. Marian Gri (@)
          25th June 2017, 19:37

          Yeah, right… Ask M.Schumacher about 2004 Monaco. It not necessary to be true brake test, it’s needed just some lack of correlation and not enough distance to have accidents under SC. HAM was cruising or slowing down when he was supposed to accelerate, VET was accelerating, few meters between them… that’s what yout get: accident.

      5. @rob8k Vettel didn’t get away lightly, the penalty is fair, maybe a reprimand should ensue, the most disappointing part is that I’m sure that no significant penalty would have been granted had Ham’s headrest stay put.
        I don’t think Ham brake tested, however he did that on purpose, you can see him looking on his mirror and he actually brakes in the middle of the corner, but any mind game dirty move that Ham did there was undone when Vettel lost it again. Ham keeps winning on mind games. The stewards shouldn’t mess with the championship and shouldn’t pamper to the big teams requests.

        1. @peartree,

          Maybe Vettel should look where he’s going and not accelerate mid corner. Hamilton didn’t brake, he rolled through the corner and was trying to let the safety car get away. Vettel accelerated into the back of Hamilton ( who has the full right to control the pace.) What Vettel did next was childish and out of order. What’s worse is he’s turned into Sebastian Maldonado in not admitting his mistake or apologising. The after race interviews told me everything. No apology or even acknowledgement of the bash from Vettel. What a disgrace he is.

          That could have caused suspension damage or tyre damage just before they go full speed at 220MPH ! It’s the worse thing I’ve seen since the Maldonado swipes and shouldn’t be the action of a 4x WDC. Let him sit out until he owns up to what he’s done.

          1. Can you imagine if Hamilton had driven into Vettel when he pulled along side? After all Vettel had just barged him.

            As it is, i think Vettel only got that 10 second penalty ‘because’ Hamilton was forced to stop with his head rest issues. Typically the stewards would have reserved their judgement until after the race, which might then have been more severe.

          2. Get your telly fixed

        2. It’s not a ‘dirty move’ for Hamilton to set the pace as leader. Brake testing would be, but he fairly clearly didn’t do that.

          Vettel really hasn’t matured much over the years, it’s not worth your while trying to justify these fits of temper he has.

        3. Aditya (@adityafakhri)
          25th June 2017, 16:57

          @peartree it’s unrelated, but can’t help to think the accident in Fuji 2007, when Hamilton moves behind safety cars allegedly cause Vettel and Webber crashed that day.

          I’m not saying he did a right thing, but I guess he was really fed up at these sort of moves.

        4. He is looking in his mirror as he is looking for the perfect time to sprint away. He certainly went slow on purpose and he was well within his rights to do so. He was the pace car at that point so he controls the speed. He is not allowed to hit the brakes erratically but he is fully allowed to go through a corner slowly. He could have gone through at 1mph if he wanted. It was vettels responsibility to stay behind safely. Vettel made a mistake, he then got angry and what he then did was indefensible. In my mind he should have been penalised for hitting Hamilton initially and then again for driving in to him out of anger (which should be a serious punishment if you ask me as it was premeditated).

          However Hamilton lost the race due to a broken headrest so that was just bad luck.

          1. Marian Gri (@)
            25th June 2017, 19:42

            I thought the pace car under the SC period was actually the… Safety Car! I hardly believe the 1st car after the SC can go as slow as 1mph, simply because they have to follow the SC. Plus, there’re all kind of situations where it’s forbidden to slow down without a serious reason.

          1. @rob8k Andrew Benson shows disgusting cunning with that tweet. Again I’m not saying Ham brake tested him, but as that tweeter feed suggests, the onboard graphics must be lying. The onboard graphics are not lying at all, nor is Benson and the FIA, it’s Benson’s wording that’s desperately trying to justify FIA’s reasons to drop this unsolvable and unwanted debate. The graphic shows Hamilton braking in the middle of the corner but because he didn’t brake or lift at 100% Benson says Hamilton isn’t guilty. Mercedes were right to brief before commenting on the subject they have been very smart and Arrivabene has calmed Vettel enough, one thing Ferrari can’t absolutely do is challenge the British press.

      6. Please explain how you break test someone whilst turning a corner behind the safety car?

        Also how does that justify running into him? Out of curiosity with the head rest thing, did that problem happen before or after the Vettel incident?

        1. I don’t think he brake tested, I think he just rolled out of the corner. Although I can’t prove that as much as people who dislike Hamilton can’t prove that he brake tested either.

        2. the headrest thing happened after

        3. Its called Brinkmanship, and vettel clearly thought he saw a way to profit from Hamilton slowing the pace down. He was driving behind Hamilton long enough. He would have known after the restart he stood no other chance of coming close to Hamilton.

          To use the football analogy this is like the defender taking a chuck out of the more skilful player whose eyes were set on goal. Just another aspect of the beautiful game.

    8. Ricciardo was paying $30 for the win after the red flag. #thankyou

    9. Utter farce. Very, very amusing, but dispiriting and ridiculous. So unsatisfying, the level of racing, the mistakes, the penalty, the result, the luck factor. Just astonishing.

      Not an advertisment for F1 as a sport. But a great advertisment for a Nascar-like lottery.

      1. What lottery? The teams and drivers eliminated themselves.

        Bottas eliminated himself and Raikkonen with a poor move on lap 1.
        Vettel eliminated himself with a move that should have him disqualified.
        Ocon eliminated his entire team in what could have been a 1-2 finish for Force India.
        Hamilton was eliminated by a careless mechanic.

        Ricciardo just stayed cool and made a race-winning move on the Williams’s.

        1. GtisBetter (@)
          25th June 2017, 16:43

          i don’t think bottas had much choice. He couldn’t brake or take the outside line,cause of traffic. He was stuck taking the kerbs.

        2. +1. This was a classic race.

      2. what are you talking about??
        This kind of race is exactly what F1 needs to attract newer / younger viewers. It was soo entertaining!

        1. I don’t care for viewers who want THIS. There’s Nascar if you want this kind of drama. F1 isn’t about making it ‘exciting’ with this silliness.

          1. GtisBetter (@)
            25th June 2017, 16:56

            Actually there is a lot of good racing in nascar. Though the close racing, easy tracks and long distance makes it susceptible to crashes. Still, like indycar ovals. It’s a lot harder then it looks.

        2. How are new, younger viewers going to see F1 in the future? Are they going to take out a sub with $ky on the off chance we get a golden race? Time will tell.

      3. @hahostolze I agree, some people are either gullible or delusional to think that the stewards didn’t orchestrate this race.

        1. @peartree Americanized F1?

      4. Ricciardo win, Stroll podium and Verstappen dnf. Of course you’d make such a statement.

        F1 has, and always will be a lottery. Clumsy driving and mechanical errors happen every race.

        1. @davef1 Exactly. I don’t see how people are complaining about luck factor, when that’s practically present for every racing sport at one point in time. It’s like people are only happy seeing Vettel and Hamilton battle it out every race, and let’s face it: Hamilton and Rosberg did that for the past three years and, with the exceptions of 2014 Bahrain and Italy, entertainment came from other contenders at other races.
          Races like these are good in F1, once in a while. Yes we want to see an established order, but it should be a driver sport for some part as well.

    10. Crazy race. Very entertaining- cruel luck for Hamilton. Quite something watching him holding on to that head rest at 200mph- holding on for a crucial win but it wasn’t to be.

      Vettel- I thought he had matured. I was actually gaining new admiration for him this season but that move- whether Hamilton break tested him or not (which is part of the game anyway)- was *bleep* disgraceful. As a 4 time champion he should know better and be setting an example. I thought the penalty was a slap on the wrist. As Damon Hill said- “if you do that on a public road you would be in prison”.

      Congratulations to Danny RIC, been a tough season for him. Verstappen will be having nightmares after that one. Big congrats to Stroll and Bottas was a solid recovery drive.

      1. I just watched Vettel’s interview on Sky: “Lewis break tested me so what did he expect”. Now, I don’t know if he is talking about the contact at the rear- or he is talking about ramming into his side. If it’s the latter, that is proper gutter, open sewer stuff.

        1. Heard it too. To me it sounded like he meant the rear-ending.

        2. Its seems to me that quote wasn’t just about the incident, but about the position Hamilton held with the safety car out.

          Of course Hamilton was slowing the field, and leaving the rest undecided. This is what Vettel took an affront to. He was beaten soundly on the first restart, and knew he would be again. This was the only way he had to maintain his points advantage, and so he ceased the moment. He drew close and waited for Ham to slow. Where better than the corner which is naturally slow, and where Hamilton says he had previously slowed.

          This is driver equivalent of those claimants citing ‘wiplash’ as they defraud the insurance company. ‘break testing’ , reaction testing, driver testing…. brinkmanship.

      2. Reminded me of Button holding his helmet in place at the end of the race at Germany in 2004 I think it was.

        1. ah good one! there’s an onboard of him doing that somewhere on youtube

      3. Blazz if you do anything like an f1 driver on a public road, you belong in prison.

        1. I think your missing the fundamental point- road rage is road rage- whether its an F1 car or a road car.

        2. @peartree, if you think it is acceptable to drive into other people because you are angry with them, then I hope that I never have to face you on a public road.

      4. I wondering if other driver have same incident with the headrest they will be caught. No one can see and pay attention to a headrest slightly lifted up if not for the on board camera.

      5. Marian Gri (@)
        25th June 2017, 19:46

        If playing with the guys behind (to see if they crash or not) is part of the game… then I guess we can consider VET’ move part of the game too. HAM has some fault.

    11. AllTheCoolNamesWereTaken
      25th June 2017, 16:19

      Well, that was unexpected to say the least.

      Kudos to Stroll. A certain amount of luck involved, obviously. But still – he’s been doing pretty well in the past couple of races.

    12. Vettel is a clown. Absolutely embarrassing interview.

    13. How did Vettel get away with just a 10-second stop-and-go?

    14. Hamilton should’ve been penalized as well! What he did to Seb wasn’t on. At least justice was served when Vettel rejoined in front of him despite the time penalty.

      1. Hamilton was moving at a constant speed when Vettel rammed into him.

      2. And are you ignoring Vettel’s reaction- the road rage bit?

        1. @Blazzz No, but since most people seem to ignore Lewis’ actions entirely I decided to not mention anything about Vettel’s so-called ”road rage bit”, and furthermore, regarding the ”Hamilton was moving at a constant speed” part: It’s a bit doubtful as you can’t lose that much speed without decelerating at all (either by pressing the brake pedal nor just by engine braking, i.e., decelerating without by lifting off).

          1. Let them play

    15. Notice how the FIA did not even wanted to penalize Vettel, they only did it after Hamilton was forced to come in for safety reasons. FIA is so Ferrari biased, it’s pathetic.

    16. What a race… Insane action from start to finish
      Ricciardo didn’t exactly drive the race of his life, but kept it clean and managed to win despite having to pit earlier due to debris in his brakes.
      Bottas had the contact with Raikkonen on lap one, and despite the whole headrest debacle, and the safety car, beating your team mate from a lap down is an impressive feat, even moreso that he finished 2nd
      And Stroll, saw so many people (possibly myself included as a joke, I forgot), saying that he’d crash at turn 8 on the first lap, but like Ricciardo, he kept it clean throughout the whole race despite so many incidents happening right in front of him (Force India’s, Vettel and Hamilton, etc) and came through for his first podium, in his 8th race. What a drive

      Vettel and Hamilton, Hamilton did slow down out of the corner, but didn’t get a penalty as he then stayed at that speed down the straight. Vettel was stupid and childish, even if Hamilton did a mini brake test, you don’t go and drive into him, but the result is the result, Hamilton could’ve overtaken him if he was as quick as he was yesterday, but he wasn’t, so Vettel finishing ahead is fair enough as far as I see.
      I am concerned as to how Hamilton’s headrest came loose though, did he just not put it in right before going back out at the red flag? Hopefully, as if it dislodged when he was driving then that’s worrying.

      Also, rip Hulkenberg… Car had been sliding out off the apex at turn 7 all weekend, this one time it didn’t, the kerb sucked him in and bounced him into the barrier… :(

      1. absolutely right, was an insane race

      2. If you watch the on board telemetry Hamilton did not slow down. He maintained 49 kmh through and after the corner. Vettel anticipated him accelerating. Completely vettel’s fault, he should be more mindful of what is going on infront of him obviously.

    17. Bottas really showed poor race craft again braking way too early, trying to make up for it, hit the kerb and RAI

      1. Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
        25th June 2017, 17:50

        @anunaki

        I think it is unfair to say braking early is poor racecraft. He maybe remembers what braking later can result in. Remember Bahrain 2016? He braked later, it resulted in a crash.

        He did go very tight, but unfortunately did loose control. He was at fault, but I can also agree with what he said that once he had braked, he had no other choice but to go over it. He couldn’t help that it resulted in a bounce and losing control. I think it is the fact that he couldn’t help this that he didn’t get a penalty. Anyway, he had a mighty impressive recovery from being well over a lap down to 2nd. Even if the safety car did help, he did loads of impressive overtakes.

        1. What I mean with it is that he breaks very early and then let’s go the brakes later. This is what caused the situation. He did the same in Barcelona, with the same result.

          By breaking so early you allow others to pass you on the outside while it traps you in the inside where the kerbstones are.

          1. Yeah, that was very clumsy from Bottas.
            Oh well, nothing unusual being a Kimi fan…

            1. Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
              25th June 2017, 22:55

              Well they did say that this year in F1 that they are more relexed about first lap incidents. But they did say if it was clear who was to blame, a penalty would be given. No penalty was given so they clearly didn’t think Bottas did anything that bad. IMO, Bottas didn’t really have much choice once he was on the kerb. He couldn’t go any tighter and wasn’t exactly at fault that the kerb made him jump and loose control. He made an incredible recovery though.

    18. Ric overtake for 3rd was my highlight..masterful!!!

    19. This was the best dry race in 15 years. And it was dry, remember that.

      And this is why we need more races then that boring 18-race calender. The nostalgic grumpy people that axed me for extending the calender need to go away and allow F1 to have more of these races. And quickly. This proved it, you guys keep ruining the sport. This is what we need. Well done Baku. This race had everything.

      Furthermore.
      Dutch fans need to calm down and be very honest in admitting that….. maybe Ricciardo is better then Max. Could be Max is over driving his vulnerable engines.
      People will need to be fired at Force India, they wasted a 1-2 even though he didn’t attend to overtake at first.
      Vettel needed a black flag. The only thing worse in my lifetime was Schumi’s DNF.
      The guy that didn’t check Hamilton’s cushion needs to get fired as well.
      Sauber needs a reshuffle at well, how many times has Sauber teammates clipped each-other already!?

      This was a race above all that showed that even without cutting costs and allowing the teams to race with (up to) 100-400 million budget, the only driver not to make a crucial fault is a teenager from Canada. Think of it.

      1. Schumi’s DQ* (in 97). And no not DQ’s because he should’ve got one in 94 as well.

      2. Re your point about Max – a few of his problems this year have been hydraulics, brakes, water pressure etc which aren’t his fault. I just think that Red Bull haven’t built a particularly reliable car and Max has been a bit more unfortunate (although Ric has had quite a few problems too). I’d say that currently Verstappen’s driving better, but I’d still consider Ricciardo to be the better and more complete driver, for now.

        1. No. Enough with that Dutch denial bullcr*p. Red-Bull has a problem with activating the full potential of the ERS during driving which influences the pressure he can put on the brakes, and with the Turbo. His water pressure he can influence as well in his car. He would get a pressure warning in the car or could see by activating the menu in the car he was over-driving it. The technical explanation is much longer in fact but I honestly believe he is over-driving his car and Red-Bull doesn’t want to lose him (because he is not a bad driver, indeed) so they accept it.

          1. LOL, I guess that Max is an engineer now. Next up you’ll blame him for not building a better engine.

      3. I’m not sure this entire mess is because of Baku. We had a race quite like this at Valencia in 2012, yet nobody seems to be asking for it to return.

        1. Also, @xiasitlo, please do not lump in all Dutch users with the rabid Max “fans”. This site has suffered enough flamewars based on users’ nationalities and the drivers they supposedly immediately support because of it.

      4. GtisBetter (@)
        25th June 2017, 17:22

        Overdrive an engine in f1? Who made that up? You think Alonso is taking it slow, cause McLaren have bad engines? All f1 drivers are paid to drive as fast as they can. I have never heard this overdrive nonsense in any motorsport category. RB has a contract with Renault and you can bet that there is nothing about potential overdrive in there. This is all Renault. Or tag heuer in this case…..Or Maybe even RB. The problem is not that a driver drives to fast. It’s a bad engine.

      5. FreddyVictor
        25th June 2017, 17:45

        (@Jules)

        Dutch fans need to calm down and be very honest in admitting that….. maybe Ricciardo is better then Max. Could be Max is over driving his vulnerable engines.

        I don’t really think he was over driving the engine
        Through practice (2 sessions) he had been having a problem with his engine cutting out near rev limiter
        maybe the writing was on the wall already for his engine ?
        BTW – I’m not Dutch

      6. Max consistently outperforms Ricciardo. Deal with it. The points reflect his luck, not his skill.

        1. Lol that’s why ric is more than double points.

      7. What does overdriving a f1 car mean?

        Is max pushing the car too hard? In what way? Should he drive intentially slower than the grip let’s him?

        @keithcollantine

        Is this really a serious possibility?

        1. @xiasitlo

          According to the Dutch TV presenter the overdriving talk is “nonsense from people that clearly don’t understand a thing about racing”

          I asked him on twitter

      8. @xiasitlo

        Dutch fans need to calm down and be very honest in admitting that….. maybe Ricciardo is better then Max.

        Agreed, but unfortunately Dutch people think Max is the best thing since the invention of sliced bread…. Most of them never really watched F1 until VER won spain.

        1. Dutch fans need to calm down and be very honest in admitting that….. maybe Ricciardo is better then Max

          Ha red rag to a bull there mate :) I think you may be correct, Ricciardo is definitely the more mature intelligent driver.

      9. Can’t everyone just be honest and admit that in a clean race…We would not have had yesterday’s top 5. Both Ricciardo and Stroll would have been outside the top 5. There is no way you can link yesterday’s race to Ricciardo or Verstappen being the better driver. This is absurd!

    20. Vettel is old enough to know when to say sorry.

      1. Alex McFarlane
        25th June 2017, 16:57

        He hasn’t even admitted any wrongdoing.

        If he’d have done that at a karting club he’d have been tossed out.

      2. Hadn’t heard the way he treated Webber? This man does not say sorry…

    21. Michael Brown (@)
      25th June 2017, 16:36

      For Sainz’s spin, there was nothing wrong Kvyat did. Sainz just accelerated too much.

      Vettel threw away a podium at least and a win at best with his driving. Even if Hamilton did brake test him – it looks like Hamilton left the corner at the same apex speed he had, so no brake test – it doesn’t justify what Vettel did.

      I also hate that the TV feed barely shows the intervals between drivers now. I would have loved to see the gaps between Ricciardo, Stroll, Bottas, Vettel, and Hamilton.

      This was the race we were promised last year. To be honest, I think the track could straighten a few corners, like turn 15. Just have the apex be the inside wall instead of some dumb kerbs in the middle of the road.

    22. Miltiadis (@miltosgreekfan)
      25th June 2017, 16:37

      Felipe,ah Felipe…P2 at least was there…So sad & angry for him :/ Clean overtakes but again,not his day :(
      Hamilton & Vettel showed their bad character,especially Vettel…

      1. Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
        25th June 2017, 18:06

        @miltosgreekfan
        Some may disagree, but I think Massa could have won quite easily. his race pace earlier on was a little better than Strolls and in the past, has been much better. Considering he was a couple of places above Stroll when he was 3rd just before he hit trouble, I think it is so likely he will have won. As Stroll was under 5 seconds off Ricciardo. That win or 2nd at the worse will have been amazing. If he won, he will have broke the record for the longest gap between wins by quite some margin I think. His luck is awful this season. He will be comfortably ahead of both Force India drivers in the drivers championship if not for his bad luck. I can comfortably say he would have over 35 more points than he currently has if he hadn’t had so many issues.

        1. Miltiadis (@miltosgreekfan)
          25th June 2017, 18:46

          @thegianthogweed He drove a flawless race today…Perfect at every restart,he stayed out of any trouble…His bad luck this year is awful…I really can’t describe his bad luck in this season.He isnt doing anything wrong on his side & something always happens…It will be a bigger shame if he doesnt stay and for 2018…He could have a couple of podiums & a race win right now,but he has only 20 points,3 more than Lance.Its a real shame…

    23. I’m devastated for Massa, more bad luck, he would have been on the podium, and let’s not forget, was beating Stroll.

      So sad.

      1. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
        25th June 2017, 21:02

        He’s unlucky – he and Hulk are the last people you should take to the casino with you :-)

        But then again he survived that accident in 2009 and has been able to compete and live a full life, so maybe not so unlucky overall.

    24. Max does a lot of over driving

      1. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

    25. Ben (@chookie6018)
      25th June 2017, 16:40

      I love F1. Best race I’ve ever seen.

      1. Definitely one of them, but for me behind Brazil 2012, Japan 2005, Britain 1987 and China 2011. (Not in that order).

    26. Riciardo has been so lucky this whole season. Its the complete reverse for verstappen

      1. Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
        25th June 2017, 18:12

        @f1fan-2000
        This just isn’t true at all. “Been so lucky this WHOLE season” ??

        He couldn’t start the race in Australia and he retired in Russia. That is not what you say in the slightest.

        Verstappen has been more unlucky. I would say extremely unlucky actually. But both drivers had loads of technical problems.

        Ricciardo has had some luck to get his podiums but in 2 of the races he got podiums, he really did put in a great performance so I have to say they were deserved.

        1. RIC drove a mistake free race, while others hit problems one way on another and then put in some truely awesome overtakes and still people will say he ‘lucked into 1st place’ just because VER retired.

          Yes, he benefitted from other’s F-ups and misfortunes in the last few races, but guess who was the one putting in the consistantly great performances to scoop up major points?! You create your own luck and RIC totally deserved this win for that reason in my opinion.

          1. Great performances? Guess he was using his Jedi powers to loosen Hamilton’s headrest…Can’t really remember what he did in the past races except for the restart overtake on the two Williams yesterday.

            1. @Mike great drivers make the most out of all opportunities. Most of Ricciardo’s wins have been through other’s misfortune, but he has usually been there to capitalise on it.

              For Baku, beyond getting past the Williams (mind you, after coming back from 17th), I’m not sure there’s much more he could do. He was never going to catch Vettel and Hamilton on pace alone – his car simply isn’t fast enough. He did exactly what was required to bring the car home in first.

    27. Not the first time that whining monkey from limping horses has hit other driver on track under safety car conditions. Not sure why that team is licking his rearside who has history of throwing out drivers for silly reasons.

    28. How come hamilton couldnt ratake vettel in last 15 laps?

      1. Cus he aint skillful @kpcart

    29. Jonathan Parkin
      25th June 2017, 17:01

      Can somebody explain to me like I’m a three year old, why when the Safety Car is returning to the pits the lead driver falls more than five car lengths behind it then hits the gas. I’m told this is because you can’t overtake the SC, but in my opinion if the SC has fully entered the pit entry road it isn’t on the track anymore. I should also point out that I didn’t see the end of the first SC period because my digital TV picture was breaking up

      1. GtisBetter (@)
        25th June 2017, 17:06

        It’s because the lead driver wants to have a gap to the nr 2 driver. By keeping the nr 2 driver guessing when he will accelerate, he will create a gap, cause the nr 2 driver has to react to him.

      2. As soon as the lights go out on the Safety Car, the lead driver determines the pace. I’d say Schumacher and Hakkinen were the first two to really use this as a means to back up the field. These tactics tend to catch some drivers out, if you search youtube for “button monza 2000” you will find some clips of Schumacher essentially using the same tactics as Hamilton did today, catching out Jenson Button.

        The obvious goal is to leave the drivers behind to react to your sudden pace increase, although I’d say none of the current drivers are particularly good at it.

      3. Jonathan Parkin, this is the relevant section from the regulations:
        “39.13: When the clerk of the course decides it is safe to call in the safety car the message “SAFETY CAR IN THIS LAP” will be sent to all teams via the official messaging system and the car’s orange lights will be extinguished. This will be the signal to the teams and drivers that it will be entering the pit lane at the end of that lap.
        At this point the first car in line behind the safety car may dictate the pace and, if necessary, fall more than ten car lengths behind it.”

        In other words, as soon as the message is given that the safety car is returning to the pits, the leading driver then controls the pace of the pack. As he is usually much faster than the safety car, the leader is allowed to slow down in order to create a larger gap to the safety car – that way, when they return to full speed they do not run the risk of overtaking or running into the safety car.

        With regards to overtaking the safety car, when it returns to the pits, the drivers are allowed to pass it once it passes a defined point on the track (the first safety car line).

        1. Also, when the leader is dictating pace, they cannot act in an erratic manner, HAM was reprimanded for this in Japan 2007 or 8 after he slowed unnecessarily causing a collision.

    30. The pinnacle of racing -not so ! A comedy of errors !
      Look at what we saw .
      Vettel should have won the race but, his need for anger management won out and he lost . Fool .
      Hamilton should have won the race but, even with plenty of time to look over his car over and repeated inspections of seemingly nothing during the reg-flag period ,no one ,no one on team Mercedes or Hamilton himself checks the cockpit cowling and Hamilton has to pit .Fools.
      While we are on Hamilton note how he effectively” break-checked” Vettel ( perhaps a violation perhaps not but certainly causal of contact ) and then Hamilton told his team to instruct Bottas to slow down and flood Vettel with dirty air so he ,Hamilton , had a chance to catch Vettel. If Mercedes listened it would have cost Bottas his P2 and perhaps more. Selfish and foolish .
      After the red flag Ferrari was penalized for continuing to work on Raikonnen’s car in the garage rather than pulling the car out into the fast lane . Really, pull a car that was being worked on in the garage out into the fast lane to continue working on it ? In what universe does that rule make sense ? Who does that help and how ? Fools .
      Perhaps the worst performance was by Force India. They were bad last race but, today they demonstrated the true meaning of the phrase ‘grasped defeat from the jaws of victory”. They could have had P1 and P2 but, their driver in-fighting and lack of leadership left them with nothing .
      While there was more foolishness to go around I’ll stop with William’s .
      Stroll does a great job and is about to get a P2 and no one,no one notices the Bottas charge and tells Stroll to defend his position as even a split second delay will keep Bottas at bay long enough to preserve the status quo ante . Williams and Stroll placed P3 but, should have placed P2 .
      I , like most ,have said that F1 represents the high point of motor sport but, their rules and inconsistent enforcement has long been at issue. Today,however, so many of the top personalities and entities in the circuit displayed a true low point for any racing and put their #1 status into questions .No one at the top should ever sink that low ,ever ! You can’t call yourself the best while repeatedly making a fool of yourself .Any first time viewer would and should walk away from watching today’ race shaking their head and saying the word,”amateurs”.
      What was displayed today can best be described by two words : “fool and “foolish”.
      I know I said I would finish with Williams but, I must add F1 itself once again because the reality of the Baku city road course did raise it’s ugly head . The rate of attrition was clearly far too great for any race and it was the course itself that was responsibly for many of the incidents .It seems that last years was just “beginners luck” and if what we saw today is a true indication of what the course has to offer F1 should look elsewhere no matter how much money the race sponsors can offer .Foolish.
      Having said what I have I should point out that were this not a “family ” site I would have used more colorful language .

      1. It was a great race!

    31. Otoyo Sibuor
      25th June 2017, 17:11

      Vettel is a disgrace, but the F1 stewards are worse. Imagine it was Hamilton that drove into someone like that – they’d throw the book at him.

      1. I can’t even imagine what would have happened if the roles were reversed. I guess we will never know.

        1. Have a word with yourselves

    32. The effort F1 puts into the ‘don’t drink and drive’ message, yet they have basically just sent out a message that road rage is ok.

      Disgusted.

    33. It was just nice to see some personality from F1s drivers. A shame we couldn’t see the two stay at the front after the love tap. I do find it funny that F1 drivers make fun of IndyCar driver’s talents, yet they kept flubbing their restarts like amateurs…let’s see what happens at Road America today as I may eat my words.

    34. How can Lewis Brake check if he didn’t apply the brake?! If you watch the graphics you can see he maintains speed into, around and just after the corner, which he has every right to. Seb misjudged it expecting him to fully accelerate out of the corner so it was his fault! To then go and drive into Lewis is pathetic, whether you believe he did brake or not. The petulance shown today by Vettel surpasses even his standards and goes way beyond what other drivers have done, there’s just no excuse for it! And remember this comes off the back of his behaviour in mexico last year, he clearly struggles to control his emotions…… a bit like a child does!

      1. In the analysis after the race on Dutch tv he was actually breaking. You could see this in the graphic that shows the speed, gear throttle DRS and brake

        1. So the stewards are wrong? Sre you saying they have no data to back it up? Please.
          People will believe what they want to believe

    35. Vettel was very lucky not get a bigger penalty, don’t know if post race licence points are still an option for the stewards, but there should be a hat full of them for today’s antics.

      The stewards looked long at this incident, all through the red flag period and beyond, they will have received data from the teams to assist in making up their mind. They blamed Vettel. He rammed the back of Lewis car, ran around and drove into him, in the process of which he was actually ahead of Lewis, another mistake I think [see rule 39.8 of the sporting regulations].

      Pleasing to see a thoughtful, calm and collected Lewis at the end of the race, and a still protesting Sebastian. This indicates just who came out with the moral high ground and his head in order.

    36. Imagine if the internet was around in the Prost/Senna days. The level of outrage here would shut down the website. How many would claim to have lost all respect for Senna or Prost (depending on season), yet if you ask them now they’ll tell you they are the greatest. Thats just the way it is now days I guess but I can’t help but laugh at it. They said the sport was dying and suddenly we get a season which if it goes down to wire will surely be remembered. No doubt an exciting race, with two epic drivers battling it out. On a personal note I wish Seb didn’t loose his cool but it’s too late now.

      1. Around 2000-2006 my parents both volunteered as marshals at Zandvoort. Many of these 30+ marshal characters would talk down to me (a teen) for being an F1 fan still, as all the drivers were robots, had no personality and could never drive cars like Lauda, Schekter, Andretti, Prost or Senna did.

        Yet, they all thought Schumacher was a tainted driver, Irvine and Villeneuve were drama queens and on and on..

        Here we are, 17 years on, and it’s still a case of ‘modern drivers have no personality’, until they show it. Then, it’s something negative. Whether it’s Raikkonen not enjoying the media, Hamilton having a jet set lifestyle and tattoos, Vettel being hotheaded, they’re all not the monolithic deities people have made out of their favorite drivers when they were younger.

      2. Imagine social media after Jerez 97…

    37. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
      25th June 2017, 17:50

      A crazy race with ridiculous results:

      Hamilton should have won – very unlucky
      Vettel could have won, if he acted like a 3 year old instread of a 2 year old
      Verstappen could and should have won – very unlucky
      Perez could have won
      Ocon could have won
      Massa could have won – very unlucky
      Ricciardo won, but should not have won
      Bottas could have won
      Raikonnen could not and should not have won
      Stroll could not have won
      Alonso, as he pointed out, could have won

      1. Alonso, as he pointed out, could have won

        …In 8 others cars, actually.

      2. Alonso had zero chance of winning this race, i want some of what you’re smoking.

        1. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
          25th June 2017, 18:20

          @jay well, if he had started in Baku instead of starting with 40 grid spot penalties – he would have won. I think that’s what he meant.

        2. Alonso made a joke about it on his radio when HAM and VET passed him

          1. Alonso referred to je fact he was right behind RIC after the restart. In another car he would’ve been fighting for victory. At least that’s his view

      3. Ricciardo won, but should not have won

        Fast and Reliable!! the others did not fill that criteria. Ricciardo deserved his win 100%

    38. I’m surprised Stroll wasn’t speeding in the pitlane (and penalized for it) when he locked up right at the entry of the pitlane.

    39. Unpredictable and Full of mistakes all teams took themselves out, the team with the least mistakes won.

    40. Renault is becoming the new Honda…What a joke.

    41. Libertini (@)
      25th June 2017, 19:47

      Both Vettel and Hamilton are unsportsmanlike. Several F1 drivers have been dishonest over the years. I wish they were more than glorified crybabies. Maybe there is too much money in the sport… their behaviour today was a disgrace.

    42. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
      25th June 2017, 20:55

      45-92 points
      1 podium vs 4 podiums + 1 win

      Has Red Bull officially lost Verstappen today?

      I think the head honchos at Red Bull were smiling but you could literally feel the tension on their faces…

      1. VER lost to RIC on points and podiums last year too (over the races they were together) and in fact he’s still losing the qualifying battle too over this period. That’s quite a sample size now.

        1. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
          26th June 2017, 2:45

          @jeffreyj

          Exactly my point! :-) People are going to make statements like that one which is ridiculous if you’ve watched the season.

    43. For me the best part was to watch the Haas on a 3.th…great fun until they all came from behind in faster cars – think Gene and Steiner was dancing lapdance at that moment…
      Wonder where MAG would have been in a FI or a Williams…

      1. Hope he goes… out of ferrari, worst ferrari driver ever.

        1. Better than Raikkonen, so perhaps Kimi should go

    44. I’m confused by all the people who

      1) Say they didn’t like the race.

      So you prefer the parade we had last year?

      Don’t like all the wrecks and breakdowns? That’s racing. Breakdowns and crashes happen. If you don’t like it go to your mom and bake cookies because evidently racing may not be for you. Or levy for some Robo-racing, that ought to solve your problem, right?

      2) Don’t like Ricciardo winning.

      Why? He drove great today, that pass that was ultimately for the win will be one of the best this year.

      He screwed up in qualifying? That was qualifying. The race is what matters, and he deservedly won. Qualifying means nothing once the race starts, ideally the best drivers are the ones who are able to move on from that stuff like he did today. Didn’t see this many people screaming against Hamilton crashing out of qualifying last year strangely enough….

      He wasn’t the fastest? Guess what, the fastest driver doesn’t always win. Actually I’d argue more often than not the fastest doesn’t win. If you want things to be judged purely on who’s the fastest than just watch hillclimbing and rallying, or maybe just F1 qualifying? Racecraft and luck play equal parts. It was once said that, in order to be a champion, you need to be good and lucky.

      Though I’m guessing most of the upset people are:
      1) Ferrari fans
      2) Hamilton fans
      3) Verstappen fans.

      Message if you’re one of these people: Don’t watch the race. Find your favourite driver/team’s onboard and just watch that. Once they’re loosing and you want to throw a tantrum, turn it off.

      Easy fix.

      1. Arnoud van Houwelingen
        26th June 2017, 1:43

        as a Verstappen fan of course i am upset. 4 DNF’s in the last 6 races and a strategy in Monaco that didn’t work in his favor .. hallo of course we are upset .. but luck will come his way i am sure about that .. Max is faster then Daniel right now .. he even out qualify Daniel in his beloved Monaco and now 4 in a row …

      2. +1 Exactly, sometimes winning is largely a result of ‘failing to lose’…

      3. He wasn’t the fastest? Guess what, the fastest driver doesn’t always win. Actually I’d argue more often than not the fastest doesn’t win

        Yep I think it was Jack Brabham that said something along the lines of you only drive as fast as you need to win. there are a few who could take something from that.

      4. Nail on the head. Yes!

        – I felt bad for Verstappen (I’m an Aussie and huge Ricciardo fan), he’s been really unlucky lately. Character building.
        – Hamilton was also unlucky (I didn’t feel so bad about this one).
        – Vettel made his own fate by seeing red as he seems to much more often since he joined red.

        Ricciardo did what was required to get himself into third, which was really only available because RAI and BOT clashed. Then he got lucky and found himself in first; and just did what was required to bring the car home. Horner’s comments after the race indicated that he wasn’t pushing, rather just maintaining pace and managing the race. Y’know, like what Hamilton does every other weekend.

    45. Fantastic race!
      What was Vettel thinking? that was one of the worse things I’ve seen from a world champion. I don’t care who it is, that was just plain wrong and shouldn’t be tolerated. Sour end to the race to be honest

      1. I think he meant to swerve, but not to connect

      2. Check out Valentino Rossi’s manoeuvre on Marqeuz if you want worse. Everyone has a button to press.

    46. Vettel is a shame for ferrari and for the sport, he lost his mind again… Hope he didn’t win the title this year.

    47. Hamilton is leading Vettel after the red flag restart, then has to pit for a new headrest. Vettel has to pit for a 10 second stop/go yet he comes out ahead of Hamilton. How did that happen? Did Hamilton get held up in traffic after his stop, or did he lose time fiddling with the headrest with only one hand on the wheel?

      1. Hamilton’s pitstop while Mercedes fitted the new headrest was 9.3 seconds. Obviously this is only .7 seconds quicker than Vettel’s 10 second stop go penalty.

        Hamilton did lose time to Vettel trying to correct his headrest before pitting, but was still leading when he pitted. Vettel however was allowed 2 laps at full racing speed before serving his penalty, while Hamilton had to spend those two laps in the pack. That is why Vettel came out ahead.

      2. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
        26th June 2017, 2:51

        @rd43 Hamilton was ultra unlucky – his stop was just slow enough for him to end up behind 2 cars that he had to follow for a lap. 0.2 seconds faster and he would have been ahead of them and Vettel.

    48. Two things I guess I’ll never see ever:

      Hulkenberg podium
      Force India win

    49. One thing i loved in the race was Perez giving verstappen a taste of his own medicine with a late block!

    50. Extraordinary race, much emotion, much drama, film finale.
      Red Bull Ring is already hot, I want to start the race.
      My stars for Baku:

      5+ Lance
      5 Daniel, Valtteri
      4 Kevin, Carlos, Fernando
      3 Pascal, Marcus, Stoffel
      2 Sebastian, Lewis
      1 Esteban, Sergio, Romain
      0 Kimi, Felipe, Max, Daniil
      -1 Jolyon
      -2
      -3 Hulk

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