Azerbaijan GP: Sergio Perez wins 2nd ever F1 race, while Lewis Hamilton goes off course

It was a day of drama and nail-biting action as the Azerbaijan Grand Prix saw three unlikely podium holders. The race was won by Red Bull’s Sergio Perez, followed by Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel and Alpha Tauri’s Pierre Gasly. For the first time this season, neither of the two championship favorites were even in the top 10. While the qualifying race had seen four red flags, this one saw just a single one right at the end. With a few laps to go, the race was halted for a tire inspection owing to two preceding crashes. Both of them were results of tire-related issues.

With only four laps to go, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen held a comfortable lead while his teammate Sergio Perez and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton followed in second and third respectively. However, a tire failure caused Verstappen to slam hard against a wall, ending the race for the Belgian-Dutch. It was a puncture. Verstappen got out of the car to inspect the damage and was left furious a few moments later as he kicked the tire and walked away in disgust.

Red Bull were furious over the second failure of a Pirelli tire in the race and asked for a stoppage to allow tire changes for safety reasons. This was not the only crash that took place in the Azerbaijan GP. Earlier, Lance Stroll of Aston Martin also crashed due to a tire failure. The pole position finish would have allowed Verstappen to steer further clear of Hamilton at the top of the drivers’ championship table but it was not meant to be.

HAMILTON GOES OFF COURSE

With Red Bull’s ace driver out of the picture, fans were certain that Hamilton would grab the advantage from the restart and leapfrog Verstappen to the top of the drivers’ championship table. As it turned out, it was not Hamilton’s day either. As the cars stood at the grid for the restart, it was visible that Hamilton’s breaks were far from alright. A large amount of smoke was emanating from the Mercedes car and the British driver also seemed somewhat hesitant.

However, he tried to grab the first position right from the off and that proved to be a costly error. His worn-out brakes failed to allow his car make a turn and the world champion strayed off course, handing the first position to Sergio Perez.

A DRAMATIC BATTLE FOR THIRD AND ASTON MARTIN’S FIRST PODIUM

The Mexican comfortably held off the veteran Vettel who finished in second. Vettel’s finish meant that Aston Martin would get their first podium finish of the season. The real battle on the final lap was the one for third place. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who had started the race from the pole position, had slipped to third. After the race was restarted, he and Pierre Gasly had a nail-biting competition for third place but it was the latter who ultimately managed to secure a place on the podium.

Leclerc finished in fourth place with McLaren’s Lando Norris and Alpine’s Fernando Alonso finishing in fifth and sixth respectively. Yuki Tsunoda, Carlos Sainz, Daniel Ricciardo, and Kimi Raikkonen finished at the following top 10 places respectively.