Nobody in the history of Formula One has managed to win the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on more than one occassion.
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After a week’s gap, Formula One is back and this time. it will be the streets of Azerbaijan that will see the new era of cars zoom across its asphalt. The Azerbaijan GP is a relatively newer race when compared to the others on the calendar. The first race that was held on the Baku street circuit was the European GP back in 2016. Since then, it has been renamed as the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. 2022 will see the fifth installment of the race and it surely will see drivers pushing to the limit. The championship battle is a three-way affair with the Red Bull duo of Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in the hunt. Perez was the winner of the race in 2021 but chances of him winning this year is slim if one goes by the statistics. Nobody has ever won more once in Baku so far. That can change in the coming weekend but for now, here are the past victors of the Azerbaijan GP.
Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen, both title contenders, had issues throughout the 51-lap race; Verstappen retired due to a high-speed tyre failure, while Hamilton made a critical error on the restart. Their misfortunes allowed Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Pérez to win his second Grand Prix, following his victory in the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix. Sebastian Vettel finished second for his maiden podium with Aston Martin, while Pierre Gasly of AlphaTauri finished third. After the race, Pirelli began an investigation into the tyre issues that forced Verstappen and Lance Stroll to retire.
Then Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas crossed the finish line to win for the sixth time in his career. In second place, Lewis Hamilton secured Mercedes’ fourth consecutive one-two result of the season, with Sebastian Vettel earning third. Driver of the Day went to Charles Leclerc, who set the quickest lap. For triggering the crash with Kvyat, Ricciardo was given a three-place grid penalty for the following race in Spain.
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Mercedes legend Lewis Hamilton was the victor in the 2018 Azerbaijan GP while Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen finished second, followed by Sergio Perez. At the time, Hamilton was simply unstoppable and it was no surprise to see him win. Bottas might have ended up on the podium instead of Checo that time had it not been for a unfortunate retirement towards the latter stages of the race.
Lewis Hamilton may have started on pole, but Daniel Ricciardo of Red Bull Racing won his fifth career race ahead of Valtteri Bottas of Mercedes, while Lance Stroll became the first Canadian to finish on the podium since Jacques Villeneuve at the 2001 German Grand Prix, and the second youngest driver ever to finish on the podium. This would be a Williams driver’s final podium until the 2021 Belgian Grand Prix.
