Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo won the 2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Mercedes Valtteri Bottas was second and Williams’ Lance Stroll was third – that would be the calm, cool and collected dispensation of information for the race – but what led up to that trio being on the podium in that particular order is just a few millimeters short of jaw-dropping.
Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel and Mercedes Lewis Hamilton – the current 1-2 in the Formula One driver’s standings – remained that way after finishing a respective fourth and fifth, but not after providing some curious mid-race drama. Hamilton was leading the race when a safety car was deployed for a crash and then appeared to brake-test the close-behind Vettel, causing Vettel to bump into him. Vettel then lost his cool and drove alongside of Hamilton and intentionally bumped him from the side. The result? Vettel was assessed a 10-second penalty for dangerous driving and Hamilton had to go into the pits to have a new headrest installed – and it cost both of them their chances to win the race.
Meanwhile, Ricciardo took advantage of the Hamilton-Vettel kerfuffle to claim the victory while Bottas inexplicably came back from a first lap flat tire to nip Stroll on the line for second – with Stroll taking his first-ever podium finish.
The driver standings now show Vettel maintaining a 14-point advantage over Hamilton [153-139] with Bottas in a distant third with 111 points.
2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix Results
1 3 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer 51 2:03:55.573
2 77 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 51 +3.904
3 18 Lance Stroll Williams Mercedes 51 +4.009
4 5 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 51 +5.976
5 44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 51 +6.188
6 31 Esteban Ocon Force India Mercedes 51 +30.298
7 20 Kevin Magnussen Haas Ferrari 51 +41.753
8 55 Carlos Sainz Toro Rosso 51 +49.400
9 14 Fernando Alonso McLaren Honda 51 +59.551
10 94 Pascal Wehrlein Sauber Ferrari 51 +89.093
11 9 Marcus Ericsson Sauber Ferrari 51 +91.794
12 2 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren Honda 51 +92.160
13 8 Romain Grosjean Haas Ferrari 50 +1 lap
14 7 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 46 DNF
NC 11 Sergio Perez Force India Mercedes 39 DNF
NC 19 Felipe Massa Williams Mercedes 25 DNF
NC 27 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 24 DNF
NC 33 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer 12 DNF
NC 26 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 9 DNF
NC 30 Jolyon Palmer Renault 7 DNF
