F1 made a welcome return to Baku where stuff always happens, and so it did again this season. Our 2021 Azerbaijan Grand Prix Result Review + Great and Grape tries to capture as much of the action as possible.
Our review covers what happened in the race so you don’t have to in the laps that matter. Plus more.
We throw in our Race Ratings, the Best (Great) and Worst (Grape) drivers of the race weekend.
The 2021 Azerbaijan Grand Prix Result Review + Great and Grape gives you just enough to catch up, and stand by for our Power Rankings which highlight our driver of the season so far.
2021 Azerbaijan Grand Prix Result – THE LAPS THAT MATTERED
Didn’t see the race live? Don’t have time to watch the whole race? Well here are the top laps where stuff happened. Normally it is five or ten, so you know it was a good race if there’s more than ten.
We write these live as we go, sort of like a minute by minute for the football, but marginally more interesting.
Lap 1 – The top three get off the line OK, and maintain their gird positions. Perez pulls a great move on Gasly for fourth up from sixth on the grid. Lando Norris has the worst start by dropping three spots. Giovinazzi does his usual stellar job at the back and gains five places.
ORDER – LEC HAM VER PER GAS SAI ALO TSU VET BOT
Lap 2 – Some joy for Ricciardo as he overtakes Norris. For 12th. A lap later Norris is back in front. Lewis Hamilton zooms past Leclerc for the lead as the cars are just about to start the third lap. DRS helps.
Lap 4 – Esteban Ocon becomes the first retirement of the race. Which is great for those who placed a fifty cent bet on the Frenchman for first retirement.
Lap 6 – The top three remains as is Hamilton, Leclerc, Verstappen but it is shaping up nicely for a race long battle. Or end in tears. Either works.
Lap 7 – Verstappen takes Leclerc for second meaning we have a head to head battle with Hamilton to anticipate now. Tsunoda gets past Alonso for 7th, and the overtaking total up to three Monaco Grands Prix worth already.
ORDER – HAM VER LEC PER GAS SAI TSU ALO VET BOT
Lap 8 – Poor Leclerc. He’s down to fourth now as Perez gets past. Perez showing his usual worth in race conditions already. Red Bulls 2-3. Mercedes 1-9. A word for Pierre Gasly who looks strong in fifth. The meat in a Ferrari sandwich. Leclerc pits for new tyres at the end of the lap.
Lap 11 – Carlos goes straight on for safety at Turn 8, then reverses out at pace into traffic without safety in mind.
Lap 12 – Hamilton, Gasly and to a lesser degree Bottas and Ricciardo pit for new tyres. Hamilton held up by a couple of seconds because of pit lane traffic handing a massive advantage to the Red Bulls who stay out.
Lap 13 – Verstappen and Red Bull take full advantage by pitting the very next lap with a much quicker pit stop. Verstappen takes a net lead of the grand prix. Sergio Perez leads overall and could challenge Max for the lead if he stays out and flies for a few extra laps. He doesn’t and pits next lap. A poor pitstop (by Red Bull standards at 4 seconds) doesn’t get him the lead but it does give him net second in front of Hamilton. Meanwhile Vettel leads on track which is a first for a long time surely.
ORDER – VET VER PER HAM STR GAS LEC TSU NOR BOT
Lap 17 – Lewis Hamilton, probably seeing his chances of a win today, pulls his finger out and sets a fastest lap and closes in on Sergio Perez. But he’s still not close enough. Verstappen is now close to five seconds up the road. Perez perhaps is going just fast/slow enough to give Hamilton the shits while Max slowly extends the lead.
Lap 18 – Sebastian Vettel pits from the lead leaving the top three to play among themselves. He rejoins in seventh which is nice for him.
Lap 22 – Verstappen staying just far enough ahead of Perez/Hamilton to give Hamilton the F1 equivalent of a moon.
Lap 24 – Sergio Perez sets fastest lap and extends the gap out to two seconds. Max Verstappen is a further 3.4 seconds up the road. Don’t look like Lewis Hamilton is winning this one today. That’ll make him happy. Replays show Valtteri Bottas. Just in case people had forgotten he is racing today. The TV cut to him running wide at a corner. Monaco levels of joy for Mercedes this weekend. Even more anonymous is Lance Stroll still sitting in fourth, although he hasn’t pit yet.
ORDER – VER PER HAM STR GAS LEC VET TSU NOR BOT
Lap 31 – Did we mention Lance Stroll? Well he bins it near the pitlane entry big time. Looks like a left rear tyre issue and he was just driving down the straight. Safety Car comes out.
Lap 35 – Pit lane opens and a bunch of also-rans pit for new tyres. Mick Schumacher stops at the end of pitlane. His pit crew reverse him back up the pitlane as they are probably trying to cover forgetting a wheel nut.
Lap 36 – Safety Car buggers off and Max eventually stops weaving. Top three stay as is. Vettel is a man on a mission taking Leclerc for fifth and thinking about Gasly for fourth. He does take Gasly the next lap for fourth. Vettel providing much value today.
ORDER – VER PER HAM GAS VET LEC TSU NOR SAI RIC
Lap 40 – Hamilton not making much of a dent into Perez in front while Verstappen slowly extends his lead. Vettel on fresher tyres could prove a real wildcard towards the end.
Lap 44 – Hamilton sets a fastest lap. Maybe we have some fun left in this race at the front.
Lap 47 – Un-believable. Max Verstappen crashes!!!!! Looks like a tyre failure similar to Lance Stroll but a bit further down the straight as he approached the first corner. He was doing it so easy too. Pirelli looking like jerks now. They can enjoy their debrief with Red Bull bosses and drivers. 300kph crash and lucky to have the lack of injuries to kick his naughty tyre.
Lap 48 – Safety Car comes out but it is pretty academic as there’s no way the race will restart before the last lap.
Lap 49 – Race is Red Flagged. Now this is interesting. Because if the race does restart we have a three lap sprint race. If it doesn’t, on a two lap countback Max Verstappen could still win the race.
ORDER – PER HAM VET GAS LEC TSU NOR SAI RIC ALO
After a 40-odd minute delay………..
Lap 50 – The race restarts from a standing start which should be interesting. Perez is initially outdragged by Lewis Hamilton from the restart but Hamilton outbrakes himself and smokes his way down the first corner escape road. Vettel storms into second and there’s a massive battle between Gasly and Leclerc for third. Lando Norris also joins in on the action. Further back Alonso moved up to sixth. A little bumping and grinding towards the back of the field.
Lap 51 – Perez wins the Azerbaijan Grand Prix and parks his car not long after the first corner as it was likely to break down anytime. Vettel grabs himself a welcome return to the podium for himself and a first for Aston Martin. Pierre Gasly rounds off the feelgood factor with a podium. The two Championship rivals Verstappen and Hamilton both score zero points leaving Verstappen in front of the Championship but with a slight edge for the season ahead.
FINAL ORDER – PER VET GAS LEC NOR ALO TSU SAI RIC RAI
2021 Azerbaijan Grand Prix Result – RACE RATING
We rate the big race itself so we know which races to go back and watch in the off season or one to simply remember the winner for the post season quiz nights.
SEASON IMPORTANCE – 6/10
Is this the race that officially tips the season favour to Red Bull. Will Mercedes crack the shits and protest the Red Bulls? Verstappen looks a steady hand at the front of races and championships. Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes lacking just a little. And looking a little frustrated. Both drivers end up with their own slices of bad luck and the net championship result is nil, but it could have been so much different for both drivers. Advantage Max as this stage.
ON TRACK ACTION – 8 /10
Some overtaking at the front in the first part of the race. A Hamilton-Verstappen showdown before the first pitstops where Hamilton seemed to struggle more than Max Verstappen. Some good midfield racing.
The middle part of the race flattened out but was still tense enough to enjoy as we waited for Mercedes to do something other than follow the Red Bulls. Will Hamilton pit? Would Red Bull respond?
A safety car courtesy of Lance Stroll at two-thirds distance stops pit stop thoughts but shakes up the order and racing again.
Of course those on the other side of the world happy for the earlier kick off for the race.
Essentially better than Monaco, and great that it was yet another Grand Prix where a Mercedes didn’t simply sail off into the distance.
ENDING 9 / 10
Looked a bit of a fizzer really as the Safety Car effect didn’t last too long. Then Max Verstappen crashes due to suspected tyre failure from the lead and the last few laps light up. The race restarts with two laps to go and Hamilton outdrags Perez for first but outbrakes himself into the first turn and fails to make the corner. Leaving some good racing and good stories behind.
OVERALL RATING 23 / 30
A race that offered plenty. Early race battles at the front. A championship defining moment. Tyre failures out of nowhere. A different podium. And a two lap sprint race to finish it all off.
2021 SEASON RACE RANKINGS
Bahrain GP – 25/30
Emilia-Romagna GP – 17/30
Portuguese GP – 11/30
Spanish GP – 18/30
Monaco GP – 12/30
2021 Azerbaijan Grand Prix Result – Great & Grape
Here we go through the field and highlight the three drivers we think deserve a little extra love, and one driver whose had the grapest weekend of all.
These points get added to our Driver of the Season scores. Five points for a great nomination, and -5 for the worst or grapest driver in the pack. Then it is +2 / -2 for honourable or dishonourable mentions.
It used to be called the good, bad and ugly, but everyone is using that now. And who doesn’t like grapes.
THE GREAT-EST – SEBASTIAN VETTEL
Sometimes you forget that Sebastian Vettel is a four time World Champion after a few ordinary last seasons at Ferrari and a mediocre start to his Aston Martin career, but he drove an outstanding race in Baku. Gaining positions early and running a different strategy which saw him lead out front by running much longer than the front runners. The safety car saw him nail some great overtaking and see him sitting third when the race was red flagged. He grabbed second place and driver of the day when Lewis Hamilton outbraked himself in the first corner from the restart.
THE GREAT – MAX VERSTAPPEN
Might seem strange to have someone who crashed from the lead in the great, but Verstappen drove a flawless race until his tyre became fatally flawed and pushed him in the wall at 300 kph. Although he lost his lead of the World Championship, the psychological damage to Hamilton and Mercedes from his dominant performance for 48 laps may have benefits in future races. But Lewis Hamilton failing to make the first corner from the restart means the World Championship pain is net zero.
THE GREAT – SERGIO PEREZ
Slowly becoming the number two driver that Red Bull need. Picking up as many points from Mercedes as possible and winning when Verstappen isn’t able to. Perez drove a great race and looked to have Hamilton’s measure when the Red Bull team took advantage of a tardy Mercedes pitstop.
THE GREAT – PIERRE GASLY
Another solid weekend from the Alpha Tauri driver. His problem is where does he go. Another podium to prove his speed and racecraft. A Red Bull driver that Red Bull don’t want. Did very well to hold off Leclerc in the end.
HONOURABLE MENTIONS
Fernando Alonso – Looked to be another slightly disappointing weekend but somehow went from 10th to 6th after the restart to score some good points.
Lando Norris – As above took advantage of the restart to score another solid haul of points, and get closer to the top two in the Championship. Outraced and outqualified his team mate again. Could quite rightly wonder what would have been if not for the penalty in qualifying.
Yuki Tsunoda – A massive improvement on previous weekends with a solid points finish and looked likely for points throughout.
THE GRAPE-EST – VALTTERI BOTTAS
A shocker from the Mercedes driver, who is looking at his final season for the team. Underwhelming qualifying was followed by an anonymous race where he was eventually battling a Williams for 14th or 15th or something.
THE GRAPE-EST – LEWIS HAMILTON
The Mercedes team weekend deserves dual grapest weekend for different reasons. Lewis Hamilton looked not quite up to the Red Bull pace today, and he blew it when offered the chance for a massive haul of points after Max Verstappen failed to finish.
DIS-HONOURABLE MENTIONS
Daniel Ricciardo – His crash in qualifying killed his weekend. A few points is nice, but it was still a few places behind team mate Norris, and the gap between them remains on all fronts.
Charles Leclerc – Turned pole into a handful of points. An improvement of Monaco for sure, but still.
2021 Azerbaijan Grand Prix Result – Power Rankings
Stay tuned for our Power Rankings from the 2021 Azerbaijan Grand Prix and the overall 2021 F1 Season Power Rankings leader/s.
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