Five shocking moments from F1 Azerbaijan GP
8th June 2022From crashes, punctures to rare mistakes, the Azerbaijan Grand Prix has given spectators some shocking moments since its debut in 2016.
The Azerbaijan Grand Prix is still a relatively new addition to the calendar. Since its debut, in 2016, where the then-to-be world champion Nico Rosberg took both the pole position and victory, F1 has only raced at the circuit five times (2016-2019 and 2021).
The city circuit has an iconic, counter-clockwise, layout which consists of 20 corners, 12 to the left and eight to the right. The track showcases Azerbaijan’s heritage as the track moves away from the modern high-rises and twists through the ‘old city,’ before returning to the feet of modern-day architecture.
Despite its infancy on the calendar, Baku has thrown some spanners into the works – and some shocking moments – during its five-year tenure.
Max Verstappen & Daniel Ricciardo crash (2018)
After the safety car peeled back into the pit lane at the end of lap six, following a significant amount of debris littered across the track, an intense fight for position ensued between the two Red Bull drivers.
As Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel led into turn one, Ricciardo filtered through the first corner on the inside of his teammate. However, Verstappen soon returned the favour a corner later.
A number of fights soon followed between Ricciardo and Verstappen as the two drivers fought fiercely to finish higher than the other. Hard racing between the two drivers prodominately occurred between turns one and two, with one instance resulting in wheel-to-wheel contact.
Things finally came to an end, on lap 40, as Ricciardo tried to dummy Verstappen into turn one and take the inside line. However, the Dutch driver swerved once to the right and back over to the left, to defend his inside line with the Australian right behind him.
As a result, due to the lack of downforce, Ricciardo wasn’t able to effectively brake to avoid a collision and the Australian ran into the back of his teammate – ruining both their races.
Romain Grosjean’s Crash (2018)
Following Verstappen and Ricciardo’s collision, the safety car was deployed to allow the track marshals to remove the stranded Red Bull’s. As the pack ventured around the city circuit, many drivers were attempting to maintain tyre temperature, one of these drivers: Haas’ Romain Grosjean.
After the Frenchman navigated through the narrow castle section, he attempted to keep his tyres inside their optimal window. He reported, to his pit wall, the cars were going to be ‘massively cold’ if race control opted to unlap the lapped cars from behind the safety car.
Grosjean swerved sharply, to increase the energy into the tyres, before he accelerated to catch up to the safety car. As he approached the queue, he continued his effort to maintain the vital temperatures.
However, as he swerved slightly, his rear tyres let go and the French driver found himself in the barrier at turn 13. The collision ended Grosjean’s race as he had broken his cars front right suspension on contact.
Charles Leclerc’s ‘stupid’ mistake (2019)
Due to the unforgiving nature of any street circuit of the F1 calendar, drivers have to be well acquainted with the barriers. Any space away from the barriers is where lap time can be found. Baku’s city circuit isn’t an exemption to this rule.
2019’s season saw a highly contested battle between Ferrari and Mercedes, for the constructors crown. With a stronger power unit, the Scuderia looked to have a promising chance to sit on the front two rows for the race. However, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc couldn’t get out of Q2.
Despite a lap good enough for P5, in the first initial runs, Leclerc went on another flying lap. As a result, the Monegasque locked up into turn eight and made heavy contact with barrier. The young driver felt disheartened by his actions as he radioed to his pit wall ‘I am stupid.’
Verstappen retires from the lead (2021)
Ahead of the 2021 Baku GP, Verstappen had a chance to pull away from the defending world champion, Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, in the drivers standings. The Dutchman had established a four-point (105pts) lead ahead of his, second-placed, championship rival.
Although he ran behind Hamilton, in second, after the Dutch driver dispatched Leclerc at the end of lap six, Mercedes suffered a slow stop as they had to wait for Alpha Tauri’s Pierre Gasly to pass in the fast lane. When the time came for the Dutchman to pit, the slow stop allowed the then-to-be world champion to return to the track in first place.
As the race wore on, Verstappen looked to be on course to secure his third win of the season with a comfortable four-second lead over his teammate, Sergio Perez, in second.
However, on lap 46, the #33 Red Bull was seen spinning down the main straight, just outside the pit entry, after he suffered a rear right tyre failure. Fortunately, when Verstappen crashed, his car veered off to the right and along the barrier before he spun to a halt.
This dissipated the energy of the impact and slowed him down which was a better alternative than a nose-dive into the pit entry barrier, on the left side, at over 200 mph.
Hamilton throws away vital points (2021)
Despite a P2 start, the seven-time world champion secured led the race at the end of the second lap as he overtook Leclerc down the main straight. However, Hamilton’s lead was quickly thrown away after Mercedes suffered a slow stop, waiting for Gasly to pass.
After Verstappen’s premature finish to the 2021 Azerbaijan GP, Hamilton was given a perfect chance to regain the lead of the race – and the championship. After the session was red flagged, to clear away Verstappen’s car and any debris, Hamilton lined up P2, next to Perez.
Despite Perez’s best efforts to block off any advance from Hamilton, into the first corner, the seven-time world champion managed to regain the lead of the race. However, the experienced Briton locked up into turn one as he had reportedly left ‘the magic [button] on.’
In the end, Hamilton went from second to P16 in a matter of seconds.
Honourable mention: Pascal Wehrlein’s brakes (2016)
In the inaugural 2016 Azerbaijan GP, known as the European Grand Prix at the time, four drivers failed to finish the race. One of these retiree’s was Manor’s Pascal Wehrlein who drove in the team’s only championship season.
On lap 39, Wehrlein was seen diving straight ahead into turn one as the German driver reported he had ‘completely broken brakes.’
Baku’s iconic circuit has one of the longest straights on the calendar, reaching 2 kilometres in length. During the 2016 Grand Prix, Hamilton topped the ‘finish line speed’ trap at 364.4 km/h, on lap 37 as he chased down Force India’s Perez.
Lacking in the ability to effectively slow down an incredibly fast race car, on a 2km straight and at speeds over 300 km/h, isn’t an ordeal anybody would like to endure frequently.
That’s it for the article: Five shocking moments from F1 Azerbaijan GP! Do you agree with our list? If you didn’t, what you moment you would include? Let us know in the comments!
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Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.
I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
Kamron Kent
Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
