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Event: Azerbaijan F1 Grand Prix
Track: Baku Street Circuit

The restart after a yellow flag period during the F1 Grand Prix of Azerbaijan at Baku City Circuit

Weather: dry  24.5°C
Tarmac: dry  39.6°C
Humidity : 51.1%
Wind : 0.1 m/s NE
Pressure: 1015.2 bar

Sergio Perez won his 2nd F1 race at the 2021 Azerbaijan F1 GP today. He started from P6 and won on the Baku City circuit for the first time. It also was his first Red Bull win and his first win of the 2021 season and also his 4th podium in Azerbaijan. The Red Bull Racing team scored their 67th race win and their 5th victory in Baku.

The weather was a lot cooler on racedays than previous 2 days. All cars got away clean at the start. Red Bull driver Sergio Perez had a good first lap and won 2 places to cross the start the second lap as 4th. Lance Stroll was the only one who started on the hard tyres and the Canadian even won 4 positions in the first lap against his rivals who started on the much quicker soft tyres.

At the end of the second lap Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton on P2 overtook Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari for the lead. In lap 4 Alpine driver Esteban Ocon was the first to retire with an engine problem.

After Hamilton had passed Leclerc, now Max Verstappen was trying to overtake Leclerc for P2. The Red Bull driver used DRS a couple of times but had to wait until lap 6 before he got enough speed to overtake the Ferrari on the main straight. One lap later Verstappen's Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez did the same and got P3 from Leclerc who now was demoted from race leader to P4 in just 8 laps.

Lando Norris made the first regular pitstop in lap 8 to switch to the white hard tyres. Leclerc also pitted quite early and switched to the hard tyres after just 9 laps. One lap later Leclerc's Ferrari teammate Sainz did the same.

Hamilton stopped for new hard tyres at the end of lap 11. His pitstop took 4.6s because the team had to wait for traffic. Verstappen now was leading the race. At the same time Sainz caused the first yellow flag in sector 2, because he out-braked himself at the slowest point at turn 8 on cold tyres.

At the end of the next lap (12) Verstappen pitted for the hard tyres and the Red Bull Racing team pushed out a great stop that took only 1.9s. The Dutchman returned to the track as 3rd leading Hamilton with quite a big margin. Perez pitted one lap later. His pitstop wasn't that quick, but also came back on the track 1.5s in front of Hamilton.

Hamilton now was 4th, because Sebastian Vettel did not do his pitstop yet in the Aston Martin and was even leading the race. It was a long ago we saw his name on top of the leaderboard during a grand prix. His teammate Lance Stroll who started on the hard compound now even was 5th. Vettel pitted at the end of lap 18 and came out of the pits on P7, two seconds in front of Yuki Tsunoda's AlphaTauri. Stroll now even moved up to P4.

Restart at the 2021 Azerbaijan GP where Hamilton out-brakes himself

Although Hamilton was only 1.5s behind Perez he wasn't able to get into the 1 second DRS zone and overtake the Red Bull on the long main straight for P2. The Mexican driver was able to drive away in sector 2 and keep the seven times world champion out of the 1 second range he needed to use DRS. In lap 24 Hamilton told his team that he was losing ground.

Almost at the end of lap 29 the left-rear tyres on the Aston Martin of Stroll blew up at a speed around 280 km/h. There was nothing the Canadian driver could do to prevent the car smashing into the concrete wall. The car was wrecked and Stroll was able to walk away unharmed. A safety car period was needed to clean up the debris.

After 5 laps behind the safety car the race was restarted at the end of lap 35. Vettel had terrific restart and won 3 places to end up as 3th before lap 47...

In lap 47 race leader Verstappen also got a puncture on the main straight and also crashed into the barrier on maximum speed with only 4 laps to go. The safety car deployed for the second time to recover the Red Bull and the debris on the track which resulted in a red flag. All cars had to return to the pits.

Perez now was leading the race for Red Bull. It would be the first time for him he would score a podium and victory for his new team. At 18:10 local time all cars were allowed to go to the grid for a standing restart. The top 10 order started as: 1. Perez, 2. Hamilton, 3. Vettel, 4. Gasly, 5. Leclerc, 6. Tsunoda, 7. Norris, 8. Sainz, 9. Ricciardo and 10. Alonso.

At the restart Hamilton had the best start but out-braked himself and had to return to the track as dead last. A lot of pushing and shoving was going on in the last 2 laps and Perez won the race. Vettel won his first podium for Aston Martin. It was his first 2nd place since Mexico 2019. Gasly had to fight hard with Leclerc and Norris for P3. It was his 3rd F1 career podium.

 

2021 Azerbaijan F1 GP Results
FP1 2021 Azerbaijan F1 GP
FP2 2021 Azerbaijan F1 GP
FP3 2021 Azerbaijan F1 GP
Quali 2021 Azerbaijan F1 GP
Start grid 2021 Azerbaijan GP

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Classification 2021 Azerbaijan F1 GP

Pos#DriverConstructorCar & EngineGridLapsLedTimePts
111Sergio PérezSergioPérezRed BullRed Bull RB16BHonda RA621H65182:13:36.41025
25Sebastian VettelSebastianVettelAston MartinAston Martin AMR21Mercedes M12 E…115142:13:37.795+1.385s18
310Pierre GaslyPierreGaslyAlphaTauriAlphaTauri AT02Honda RA621H4512:13:39.172+2.762s15
416Charles LeclercCharlesLeclercFerrariFerrari SF21Ferrari 065/615112:13:40.238+3.828s12
54Lando NorrisLandoNorrisMcLarenMcLaren MCL35MMercedes M12 E…9512:13:41.164+4.754s10
614Fernando AlonsoFernandoAlonsoAlpineAlpine A521Renault E-Tech 20B8512:13:42.792+6.382s8
722Yuki TsunodaYukiTsunodaAlphaTauriAlphaTauri AT02Honda RA621H7512:13:43.034+6.624s6
855Carlos SainzCarlosSainzFerrariFerrari SF21Ferrari 065/65512:13:44.119+7.709s4
93Daniel RicciardoDanielRicciardoMcLarenMcLaren MCL35MMercedes M12 E…13512:13:45.284+8.874s2
107Kimi RäikkönenKimiRäikkönenAlfa RomeoAlfa Romeo C41Ferrari 065/614512:13:45.986+9.576s1
1199ItalyAntonioGiovinazziAlfa RomeoAlfa Romeo C41Ferrari 065/620512:13:46.664+10.254s
1277Valtteri BottasValtteriBottasMercedesMercedes W12Mercedes M12 E…10512:13:47.674+11.264s
1347GermanyMickSchumacherHaasHaas VF-21Ferrari 065/617512:13:50.651+14.241s
149Russian FederationNikitaMazepinHaasHaas VF-21Ferrari 065/618512:13:50.725+14.315s
1544Lewis HamiltonLewisHamiltonMercedesMercedes W12Mercedes M12 E…25192:13:54.078+17.668s
166CanadaNicholasLatifiWilliamsWilliams FW43BMercedes M12 E…16512:14:18.789+42.379s
DNF63George RussellGeorgeRussellWilliamsWilliams FW43BMercedes M12 E…1548Technical
DNF33Max VerstappenMaxVerstappenRed BullRed Bull RB16BHonda RA621H34529Puncture
DNF18Lance StrollLanceStrollAston MartinAston Martin AMR21Mercedes M12 E…1929Puncture
DNF31Esteban OconEstebanOconAlpineAlpine A521Renault E-Tech 20B123Turbo

Fastest lap: 1:44.481 min by Max Verstappen in the Red Bull RB16 no. 33 in lap 44

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24 F1 Fan comments on “2021 Azerbaijan Grand Prix Race Results”

  1. Jax

    Really unfortunate for Max. He earned and deserved a victory today, but that's racing for ya.
    On Lewis......absolutely stupid mistake!
    Congrats to the podium finishers.

    • madra mor

      where ya going lewis its left ,left ,left ya gomme

      • madra mor

        lewis could consider drag racing.straight on start to finish

  2. True Post

    I’ve lost track of how many time race Managers have made decisions that favor Lewis. Today he got a free standing start and all he could do with it was get his brakes on fire on the formation lap and then almost take Perez out with him.

    Pretty bad mistake for a seven times world champion.

    All he had to do was stay on the track and pick up whatever valuable points that would get him ahead of Max. Basically he had nothing to lose, but he managed to lose everything.

    Lot’s of Lewis’ points to date this year are a little suspicious. Max is clearly starting to out perform him… Then there is another star rising….Lando….

    • f1award

      It was RB that wanted the race red flagged you idiot. LH probably would have preferred a definate 2nd place rather than the lottery of a restart

      • shroppyfly

        Except he went for the win like a plank....,, if anyone made a fool of himself it was Lulu and sill his silly prerace comments and schoolboy mistake about the switch

        • f1award

          Win, second or third place it wouldn't of made a difference once the rear brakes are disabled, is Lulu meant to be some kind of schoolboy insult?

          • shroppyfly

            As your posts don't make sense most of the time , i shall no longer be replying to them, i cant deal with idiots

      • True Post

        Right, right, Mr Know It All... Why, praytell, would RB push for a rolling re-start when they are seconds ahead of Merc?

        Lewis got yet another favourable decision, and screwed it up. That's just the way it is man. Your need to console him won't changed that, calling others idiots either.

        Have a lovely day.

      • ReallyOldRacer

        Awardguy, you are becoming tiresome. What about the True Post comment is idiotic? HAM made a mess of the restart and admitted it after the race. And how, exactly, would RB have an influence on the red flag call? Take your med's and come back when you become coherent.

  3. shroppyfly

    Less of a case of " get in there Lewis " and more a case of "F...ed up there Lewis "
    Merc and Lewis under pressure today, poor VB , bad pitstop and Lulus balls up.

    Email to Merc engineers,
    Please move that switch because Lulu is new to the car and he might unintentionally switch it off, Im not buying this one , he just was so desparate he overcooked it.

    Feel for Max , but hes still leading and RB are obviously getting to MB+ Bigger lead in constructors which for the teams is the main prize

    • True Post

      Ah, yes... The old "I tripped the wrong switch excuse, so I had no brakes but I managed to lock up and darted forward, then the brakes came on by magic, and I picked up five positions in two laps... I worked hard all day, I'm great..."

      Give me a break!!!

      Maybe it's Valteri's fault.....................

      • f1award

        True Post, you obviously know nothing, therefore you really shouldn't comment on things you don't know about. Here's your home work, read up on brake warming devices in F1. Nothing to do with VB, he is as clueless as you.

        • True Post

          My my f1 award, I did not mean to get you in such tizzy. Slacken your shorts...The Bottas thing was a bit of satire. It looks like your obvious dislike of him made you miss it.

          Thank you for all that information on brake warming devices in F1. Now tell us exactly why Lewis was the only one to get it wrong.

    • madra mor

      great race today you couldnt make it up could you.honda have come a long way

    • Setzer

      Max is setting the standard out there f*k the begrudgers.plenty on here

  4. shroppyfly

    bbc f1 page
    Hamilton had turned it off, as he should, before the start. But in jinking to avoid Perez as the Mexican tried to defend off the line, he had caught the switch again.

    "Checo pulled to the left and I moved to the left and I hit a switch unknowingly and it basically just switched off the rear brakes and only the fronts were working," Hamilton said.

    "It's really painful but I am really sorry to the team for this day. All I can do is try to rebuild."

    Had that not happened, Hamilton would have won the race and turned his four-point deficit in the championship into a 21-point lead.

    Deep down, though, the message of the weekend was not lost on him: "Second to last lap to lose out [is tough], but Max had bad luck also today. There is a long way to go."

    Wolff said: "I have a four-hour flight with Lewis now and(( I just need to let him know that this wasn't because of a mistake by him.""" He doesn't make mistakes"")) and I wouldn't have anybody else in that car."

    Whose fault was it then tonto, ah yes Bottas nodoubt, this is either poor reporting or Tontos is talking bull again

    • True Post

      There you go, told you................

    • Swede

      Lewis forgot to turn the Majic switch OFF after the formation lap (which had his front brakes on fire b/c it disables the rears)
      Dr. DimenToto's silly coverup is simply BS. Pirelli's coverup is BS as well.

      • shroppyfly

        yes i thought that was odd at the time , was only once he tried to brake , you knew what caused it possibly, so it looks like he just forgot to switch it on for the restart, , could blame the mechanics a bit i suppose they should have maybe seen it was still on thru sensors , either way, Hamster under pressure making silly mistakes, i can see Tonto at his desk, thinking should i get the contracts out now orrrrrr leave it for a bit lol, i mean ""theyll regroup and come back stronger"", yawn yawn, getting a bit bored with standard B...shite answer.

        Im getting my Lucy+Tonto excuse in quickly before France , Im guessing theyll say , The Run Off areas are the wrong colour or something lol

  5. True Post

    Guess what, soon you will be told that the little Lewis/brake switch incident was Checo's fault!!! Apparently Checo defended his position (how dare he, you are supposed to wave Sir Lewis by) and that is what caused Lewis to switch off the brakes!!!!

    The next thing that you will be told is "that if that had not happened, Lewis would have won!!!!", and he would be ahead in points.

    Personally, I'm not a fan of re-writing outcomes. I will just point out that if Max had not suffered tire failure none of this brake switch would have happened and Max would have won.

    Damn you Checo!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  6. f1award

    Bottas, what a joke. Still beat the Hass's

  7. Nobodysperfect

    Does any one know why Verstappen retired the red bull after his crash? From my point of view he might could have make it back to the pits to get a new front wing and tyres...

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