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Azerbaijan GP Driver Ratings

Who starred, who suffered and who had plain misfortune as Formula 1 went crash, bang, wallop in Baku.

After starting in 10th and even dropping down to 17th after an early pitstop, a sensational but in the end comfortable Azerbaijan GP victory was probably the last thing Daniel Ricciardo expected.

There's a reason the Australian claimed he "would have put all my money" on not ending his Sunday evening on top of the podium.

If there was an ultimate beneficiary from a chaotic and crazy race - it was Ricciardo. But while the ever-smiling Red Bull star was certainly helped by Mercedes and Ferrari's faulty cars and raging drivers, not to mention his speedy team-mate Max Verstappen's retirement, he would not have secured his first victory of the season without what was surely the move of the day.

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After already executing a double pass on Marcus Ericsson and Carlos Sainz on his way into a point-scoring position, Ricciardo took two Williams and a Renault in an incredible three-car overtake on Lap 25 following the final Safety Car restart, which lifted him up to third and behind the yet-to-be penalised nor troubled championship leaders.

"That was, in a way, the winning move," admitted Ricciardo. A Red Bull holding off a Williams is no sure thing these days but the 28-year-old displayed his increasing maturity and kept his nerve in the trouble-free closing laps.

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Ricciardo crashed out in qualifying and was seemingly off the pace set by his younger team-mate in the sister RB13 all weekend, but will that matter to him? No way. This may not go down as one of his best performances, but it could be his sweetest victory yet.
Rating out of ten: 9

Incredibly, Valtteri Bottas pulled off an even greater recovery than Ricciardo. The Mercedes driver was last after contact with Kimi Raikkonen at Turn Two on the opening lap and a lap down by the time he had rejoined the field after a pit stop to replace his front wing and punctured tyre.

But the three Safety Cars allowed Bottas to first unlap himself and then be in a position to fight his way through the field. And the Finn showed why you should never give up as he astonishingly passed Lance Stroll right on the line to claim second place by just a tenth of a second.

"A completely crazy race," was how Bottas summed up his afternoon. And crucially for him and Mercedes, Bottas is quickly developing a habit of bringing home big points when team-mate Lewis Hamilton hits misfortune.

However, his was the fourth time in two years, and second in just over a month, that Raikkonen and Bottas have collided, with the Ferrari driver declaring Bottas "completely at fault". He needs to find a way to avoid being drawn into his compatriot's car.
Rating out of ten: 8

Was Sunday the day Lance Stroll came of age in Formula 1? The 18-year-old has had a tough start to life at the top table but delivered a mature drive beyond his years to claim his first podium - becoming the youngest rookie in the sport's history to do so.

The confidence boost from his first points finish last time out in Canada appears to have done Stroll the world of good. The Canadian was arguably the most comfortable driver around Baku's streets throughout the weekend, being within the top 11 in every session and out-qualifying team-mate Felipe Massa for the first time to claim his highest starting position.

As others slipped and slid, Stroll kept his nose out of trouble to produce what Martin Brundle labelled a "rock solid" display. Not even being pipped to second on the line by Bottas could lessen the teenager's delight.

"I can't quite realise what just happened," he told Sky F1. "P3 is amazing; a dream come true. You dream of being on an F1 podium growing up, work towards it your whole life, and then you feel the moment."
Rating out of ten: 9.5

Sebastian Vettel's performances in races this season had been near-perfect up until lap 19 of the Azerbaijan GP. If his initial bump into the back of Hamilton was an unfortunate misjudgement, then his immediate reaction - pulling up alongside the Mercedes, waving his arm and, deliberately or not, veering into its front tyre - was wild and, for some in the paddock, deserving of F1's equivalent of a straight red card.

Does the 'red mist' come down on Vettel?

Questions about his conduct, and his in-car reactions in moments of pressure, will run for longer than the Baku weekend and it will be interesting to see how the championship leader handles the inevitable continued fall-out from Austria onwards.

He's been cast as F1's 'bad boy' before, of course - most notably after the Multi-21 saga in Malaysia 2013, and that season ended with a record run of nine straight wins. Leaving Baku with an increased title lead of 14 points was certainly hugely fortunate, and while he again drove strongly either side of his lap-19 aberration to secure fourth, the four-time champion finds himself back in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons.
Rating out of ten: 6

It could have been worse, of course, but once Lewis Hamilton clears his head and reflects on a quite extraordinary race, he will be ruing a series of the most unfortunate events in an otherwise faultless drive.

Hamilton secured a comfortable 66th career pole and navigated not only Lap One, but also the several restarts, despite the antics of a certain Ferrari driver, and a race win - possibly even a championship lead - was his for the taking.

All this, before a faulty head rest ruined his afternoon. Were it not for Vettel and Hamilton's collision, surely this would be an incredible talking point.

Hamilton not interested in talking to Vettel

"It hurts to cost ourselves the win because of a detail like a loose headrest," admitted Mercedes technical director James Allison and though the team were eager not to blame anyone, the fact that a mammoth amount of points slipped from their grasps in such a manner will be so disappointing after the all-night work put into improving results following last month's Monaco GP.

As for the incident with Vettel, drivers, pundits and brake stats alike seem to have absolved Hamilton of blame for his part in the collision - given the Briton was in front and controlling the pace behind the Safety Car. And there's something not quite right about Vettel re-emerging from his stop-and-go penalty ahead of Hamilton.

Fourteen points is now the championship gap but on Baku's evidence, Hamilton will be both confident and fired up for an Austria-Great Britain back-to-back.
Rating out of ten: 9

For the second race in succession, Esteban Ocon had a great opportunity for a first Formula 1 podium and for the second race in succession, there was Force India controversy as the Frenchman was made to wait.

Unlike in Canada, there was heavy contact between Ocon and Sergio Perez this time and, though the former was side-by-side with the Mexican going into Turn Two, perhaps he was slightly too aggressive down the inside.

Knocking a team-mate out of a race is a no-no for any team, especially for one who could have realistically challenged for their first ever F1 victory with the cars in third and fourth at the time of the incident.

"We will definitely review it in a professional manner, talk to the drivers and say this is unacceptable," admitted Force India's COO Otmar Szafnauer.

Ocon tried to make the most out of his race following the damage and did make it back up to third from 16th before the Mercedes and Ferrari's came fighting back. Sixth place was a decent damage limitation job in the end and Ocon is certainly impressing given his age, even if he is ruffling the feathers of his consistently quick team-mate.

This is a battle to keep an eye on.
Rating out of ten: 6

Finally some good fortune for Kevin Magnussen. There were plenty of hard-luck stories around the Baku paddock on Sunday night but seventh place on a tricky weekend for Haas was far more than the Dane or the team could have hoped for when the lights first went out.

Level with team-mate Grosjean in qualifying, and now ahead on points, Magnussen did run third with 15 laps to go but was picked off by Stroll, Bottas, Vettel and Hamilton with the Haas not a match for the quicker cars in a straight line.

"To come away with a seventh-place finish is pretty good," he said. "We were in P3 at one point and I got a bit excited about that. I had some fun out there. It was a great afternoon." Given those have been few and far between for the Dane in recent years the result was well deserved.
Rating our of ten: 8

In a race of such chaos, an eighth-place finish represented a missed opportunity for Toro Rosso but Carlos Sainz could at least be pleased having run second last at the end of the first lap after spinning to avoid team-mate Daniil Kvyat.

The Safety Cars, and then the red flag, allowed him to go on the attack with the supersofts to the flag and he overtook countryman Alonso with eight laps to go. Kvyat had the edge on pace until the race but, after plenty of criticism coming his way after Canada, it was a return to more typically solid points-scoring form for Sainz.
Rating out of ten: 7

You didn't have to be a mind reader to work out what Fernando Alonso was getting at when he said rather wistfully over his McLaren radio "we could have won this race". Yes, he ultimately finished ninth having run as high as fifth amid the carnage and chaos around him, but an error-free Alonso armed with a little more grunt from his car's engine would certainly not have fallen that far.

Still, if anyone deserved to have some points next to their name this season, it's Fernando Alonso. The galling thing was that in a race in which seven cars retired, it's still only two.
Rating out of ten: 8

Pascal Wehrlein Canadian GP Drivers' Parade

A place in Q2 and a points finish was rounded off a "better than expected" weekend for Pascal Wehrlein, with so much attention on Sauber following the departure of team principal Monisha Kaltenborn.

The German had found himself answering difficult questions on Thursday in the wake of Kaltenborn's exit and rumours the team's owners wanted Marcus Ericsson to gain preferential treatment.

But it was, in fact, Wehrlein who would benefit from team orders in Baku as Ericsson, suffering from floor damage, moved aside to give the German his second top-10 finish of the season.
Rating out of ten: 7

In a week which started with claims that Kalternborn had left Sauber because she was coming under pressure to favour Marcus Ericsson over Pascal Wehrlein, it was Ericsson who was instructed to play the team game and let the German through as they tried to keep Vandoorne at bay in the battle for 10th. Coping with a damaged car, Ericsson remains without a point in 2017 as a result, and probably not all that happy.
Rating out of ten: 6.5

Another tough and ultimately fruitless weekend for Stoffel Vandoorne. Mired in engine and gearbox penalties, he was slowest of all in qualifying and then beaten by both Saubers after making a second pit stop for tyres. Team-mate Alonso is driving the wheels off the sister McLaren, but Vandoorne, eight races into his full-time F1 career, has yet to find an answer.
Rating out of ten: 6

BAKU, AZERBAIJAN - JUNE 25: Romain Grosjean of France driving the (8) Haas F1 Team Haas-Ferrari VF-17 Ferrari locks a wheel under braking during the Azerba

A weekend of nightmares for Romain Grosjean. The Frenchman was once again struck by brake-by-wire issues on his Haas, describing the car as "undrivable" and "ridiculous" before telling the team to retire him if they saw the data getting dangerous.

Last of the cars to finish and the only one to be lapped by the end of the race, Grosjean will hope the double header in Austria and Great Britain brings better fortune.
Rating out of ten: 5

Did not finish

"It's not a good day when your car retires twice in a race" was Kimi Raikkonen's frank assessment of his afternoon in Baku.

Once again the Finn had no luck on a race day as he found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time on multiple occasions.

First, he was sent into the wall by Bottas, then part of his front wing flew off before a piece of debris ruptured his right rear tyre, which in turn ripped apart his floor as he returned to the pits.

The Red Flag allowed Ferrari to do some rapid repairs to get Raikkonen back in the race but ultimately the earlier damage proved terminal. You wonder what the 37-year-old had done in the week to deserve such luck.
Rating out of ten: 6.5

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The chaotic first lap of the Azerbaijan GP as Valtteri Bottas and Kimi Raikkonen collide

Sergio Perez's streak of 37 consecutive race finishes is over and a civil war may be brewing at Force India.

The Mexican was scathing in his criticism of team-mate Ocon after being forced to retire with damage following contact between the two. Perez said the Frenchman was "over-aggressive", "didn't have any logic" and described the incident as "totally unacceptable" for the team.

In the wake of Canada, the pair had insisted they remained on each other's Christmas card lists. That may be about to change.
Rating out of ten: 6

For a moment it looked like Felipe Massa was on course to finish on the podium for the first time since the 2015 Italian GP.

The Brazilian was enjoying his best race since his short-lived retirement as he ran third when the Red Flag was thrown out. But immediately after the restart, a suspension issue hit his Williams and he was forced to retire.

"We had the opportunity to have both cars on the podium, and maybe even a victory," bemoaned Massa. He also now faces a growing intra-team battle with Stroll as the Canadian gains confidence with every race.
Rating out of ten: 8

A tough weekend for Nico Hulkenberg and Renault. The German had looked on course for a decent points haul after taking advantage of the chaos ahead of him to climb from 13th on the grid to be running sixth.

But he was left red-faced as he hit the wall at Turn Seven shortly after the red flag, causing suspension damage to his from right tyre and forcing him to park up.
Rating out of ten: 6

After a promising Friday where he was fastest in both sessions, it turned into a weekend to forget for Max Verstappen as reliability woes handed him a fourth retirement in six races.

The Dutchman said a "podium was within reach" and he may well have claimed the second victory of his career had his RB13 not suffered an engine failure when challenging Perez for third.

Christian Horner is optimistic the teenager's luck will soon change and says a big race is "just around the corner". But that can't come soon enough for Red Bull if they are to keep their prized asset happy, with rumours continuing to swirl about whether Verstappen will remain with the team next season.
Rating out of ten: 8

A second consecutive retirement for Daniil Kvyat in Baku as he ground to a halt on lap nine with smoke pouring out of the rear of his Toro Rosso. He'd done enough in that time though to be branded a "madman" by his team-mate, Sainz, after the Spaniard span avoiding Kvyat returning to the track at Turn One on the opening lap.
Rating out of ten: 6

If Jolyon Palmer didn't have bad luck, he'd have had no luck this weekend. The Briton retired on lap seven with his second engine problem of the weekend, having been forced to start last after missing qualifying following an engine fire in Practice Three. Palmer will hope for a clean run in Austria with the pressure on for him to secure his Renault seat.
Rating out of ten: N/A

Don't miss the F1 Report: Azerbaijan GP Review on Sky Sports F1 at 8.30pm on Wednesday for the final word on the weekend's action.

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