Start, Baku City Circuit, 2018

Rate the race: 2018 Azerbaijan Grand Prix

2018 Azerbaijan Grand Prix

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What did you think of today’s race? Share your verdict on the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

RaceFans has held polls on every F1 race since 2008 to find out which fans thought of each round of the season.

Join in the latest poll and give your verdict on the race: 10 being the highest and 1 the lowest. Please vote based on how entertaining and exciting you thought the race was, not on how your preferred driver or team performed.

What were the best and worst moments of the race? What was the main thing you’ll remember about it? Rate the race out of ten and leave a comment below:

Rate the 2018 Azerbaijan Grand Prix out of 10

  • 10 (18%)
  • 9 (41%)
  • 8 (28%)
  • 7 (8%)
  • 6 (3%)
  • 5 (2%)
  • 4 (0%)
  • 3 (0%)
  • 2 (0%)
  • 1 (0%)

Total Voters: 373

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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105 comments on “Rate the race: 2018 Azerbaijan Grand Prix”

  1. 9 – great stuff

    1. 9 – You could not make this stuff up – there’s something about this track

      1. I did go for 9 as well.
        A lot of action and all teams into the (part of the) mix.
        The straight is still a bit long and overtakes seem easy with DRS, but we saw some really good defending and re-attacking as well.

        1. Yeah, fixing the length of the DRS is an obvious issue that should be addressed. I would argue you don’t even need a DRS zone on the longest straight in F1 but i would be happy if they shortened it by 100-200 yards. Doubt it will ever happen though.

          1. @racectrl – agree that this is probably one stretch they can do away with the DRS entirely.

            It seems like the sensors had a similar opinion, as the FIA’s DRS trigger failed partway through the race!

  2. What a tumultous race! Merc finally break their 2018 funk, and fittingly, with a dose of safety car to help them!

    1. I see this as an 8, could have been higher until the Red Bull wipeout and Grosjean being attacked by invisible space aliens extended the SC for far too long. The restart was fun, but man, Bottas lucked out.

  3. It seems like most drivers forget how to drive when they come here.

    Anyway it makes for a lot of spectacle

    8/10

    1. Excluding Ricciardo and Grosjean I think most of the errors are just the lack of run off. When you think how many races see drivers cutting curbs or being pushed wide on corners that just isn’t an option here (I mean that in a positive way).

      1. Don’t forget Vettel’s lockup as well.

      2. @glynh
        Excluding Ricciardo – but Ricciardo didn’t do anything wrong. There was no mistake on his side.

    2. I have mixed feelings about this Baku, so it’s an 8 from me.
      No doubt it’s been a great spectacle on the calendar and brings surprising results on a city track (Something F1 will be interested in adding more of in the calendar I’m sure) but the quality of marshalling which led to Bottas’ retirement and the extended safety car period after Grosjean dropped it was disappointing. I then agree with Hamilton’s comment on the radio that a red flag should have been flown with the recovery vehicle and incident blocking two thirds of the track. This could have added a restart into the race with more laps available.
      Not to mention the less talked about politics of the area. Remember, F1 has “nothing to do with politics”.

    3. Yeah, I’m here for the show, so I also gave it 8/10 because it was a very exciting show, but as far as racing goes, it was pretty bad. The only real racing I saw in the whole race was VER vs. RIC, and even that ended in a very stupid way.

  4. Great race … would have been good to see Red Bulls in the mix at the end.

    1. If the RedBulls hadn’t crashed, the end wouldn’t have happened

  5. A rather exciting race overall, after all. Not as great as last season’s edition, but definitely better than the inaugural race.

  6. 10. Despite a slow middle Baku has delivered another brilliantly unpredictable race. Excellent drives from leclerc, perez and sainz and lots to talk about.

  7. I’ll give it an 8. Full of drama from start to finish. Only Bottas’s puncture spoiled it for me; he didn’t put a foot wrong, drove a better race than Hamilton and didn’t deserve to lose it like that.

    1. Do you suppose it was track debris?

      1. There was a replay of him running over it just bevor his tire let go though.

      2. It was. Out on the pit straight.

      3. Yes. It surprises me that there was still such a large piece of debris on the track – visible from some distance away on the camera – given how long the safety car was out for. But it’s easy for me to say that from behind my computer screen, I suppose.

        1. But it’s easy for me to say that from behind my computer screen, I suppose.

          @estesark – No, you’re not being harsh – I agree that given that the SC was kept out to allow Grosjean’s car to be cleared off, there must definitely have been the time and opportunity to clear that debris from the start/finish straight.

  8. 10/10. It was a brilliant race. Well done Baku! I feel for Bottas, he deserved the race. Hamilton was probably the least deserving winner of the top 3, but you have lucky days I suppose. Great races from Leclerc, Alonso (7th with a damaged car is great) and Perez.

    Also, I truly believe that Verstappen should be given a race ban.

    1. If my (admittedly poor) mental math is correct, Bottas would’ve been just 1 point behind Vettel with a 65 v/s a 66?

      1. Correction, Perez would’ve overtaken Vettel anyway, so it would’ve been Bottas in the championship lead with 65 vs 64 for Vettel and Hamilton, tied. Hamilton ahead of Vettel by countback method.

        GOD DAMN!

    2. That’s harsh. Until lap 22, Hamilton and vettel were in a race on their own.

      1. A good one i ahould say. It was quite tense between Lewis and Sebastian

  9. 10- bcoz Hamilton won

  10. So Ferrari, despite having a brilliant car, still trail in the championship. They should really get their act together, as if they lose THIS championship, there will be big questions to answer. They might want to get Ricciardo in if they don’t think Vettel can deliver despite having the best car (not saying Vettel is bad, just that he sometimes doesn’t maximize points like in 2017).

    1. So Ferrari, despite having a brilliant car, still trail in the championship.

      They don’t. Of course it’s just Vettel trailing Hamilton in the Drivers’ standings.

      1. @sravan-pe In Ferrari’s eyes, there is only one championship to fight for. They won the 2008 and 1999 constructor’s titles, and I didn’t see anyone from the Ferrari camp celebrate at all.

    2. @mashiat Is there a special class you have to take to twist the facts so hard?

      1. @flatsix No, it comes naturally.

    3. @mashiat Last year I think Vettel and Ferrari did contrive to lose a championship with some mistakes. However Vettel is a proven winner when he has the fastest car, both in qualifying and in holding the front. If Ferrari indeed have the fastest car this season, which right now they definitely have, then he should win this year.

      However where I think Ferrari could lose it is Raikkonen, both because of his own poorer performances and the way the team has opted to use him to further Vettel’s chances whenever possible. Bottas has been far stronger as a supposed number two and his drive today was crucial for Hamilton: had Bottas not been there in first place, through various factors, true, but because he kept pace, then Vettel wouldn’t have had to risk the overtake and end up far worse. Those kind of incidents over the season could well add up giving the advantage to Hamilton (or even Bottas).

  11. 6. Some average driving resulting in too much safety car time, compounded once again by an average street circuit with too many 90 degree turns.

  12. petebaldwin (@)
    29th April 2018, 15:06

    Really enjoyable. The camera angles seemed better this year so you could see the speed differences between the cars on the home straight. It was great to see them slipstreaming each other – it was like watching oval racing!

    Great drives by Perez, Sainz and Leclerc!

  13. 9 out of 10 for last 11 laps. Else it was a snoozefest after 2nd lap.

  14. Solid 9/10; Vettel got done in by a smart strategy again, tried to pull a Ricciardo and failed (probably should have waited, in hindsight). Excellent drives from Perez and LeClerc!

    Seriously, though, can someone provide a bit more insight on the Red Bull incident? If the little I saw of it holds true, it seems (as sad as I am to say this) that the only thing preventing Max from being Kvyat-ted out of Red Bull is the fact that Carlos Sainz doesn’t want to come back to RB, and everyone else is too raw.

    1. We’ll have to wait for the race metrics, but its either late breaking by Ric, or early braking by Vest, or weaving on track, or the wrong racing line… or all of the above.

      The contributing factor was the tires being so unusually slow on Ric’s the out lap, the much greater pace of the car coming in. The combination factors, lead to the ‘over-cut’ which would have really %£^-off Riccardo. Now if only Redbull had kept Vest a second longer in the pits.

      1. I think it is a mix of all the above indeed @Ajaxn, @pratyushp, from the times I’ve now seen the fragment, what the drivers themselves say, and from FIA stewarding giving both a reprimand. But, it’s a bit like with the Force India guys earlier last year: you could smell a big crash coming there. So, I think maybe the team could have done better in keeping their drivers cool and focussed on finishing as far forward as possible, as a team. Still, I guess Verstappen does need to consider the points gap to Ricciardo at some point, and go for the longer game at times, if he wants to move forward.

  15. 9, exciting throughout, some great battles between Ricciardo and Verstappen, Bottas excellent and deserving of the win, Vettel likewise until that final misjudgment.

  16. I’d say 9 at least, and Leclerc might earn “driver o/t day”

    1. +1 to LeClerc for putting that Sauber far ahead of where it belongs.

  17. This is turning out to be a cracker of a season.

  18. Alex McFarlane
    29th April 2018, 15:19

    Thought the race was an utter snoozefest, until the wacky races at the end. Grosjean must’ve felt the same falling asleep under the safety car like that.

    Like last year 10/10 again for drama, as a race overall probably no more than a 3/10, mostly for the Red Bull fight until it went pear-shaped.

    1. I see the track as a vastly improved Monaco, to be honest.

  19. Definitely an exciting race and an unexpected winner. I hope the next race will be as good.

  20. 8.
    One point deducted from Max double move taking both RB out
    One point deducted from debris that took Bottas out.

    1. @blackbox
      +1 I also gave it an 8 & had very similar thoughts to yours about the race rating.

      Some good, close battles between the Red Bull lads, keeping me entertained & on the edge of my seat, even shouting at the TV at times. Then, unbelievably, they made contact… -1.
      After Grosjean’s “moment of madness” the safety car period was extended to allow them time to clear the track yet the marshals still managed to miss a piece of debris, ruining Bottas’s (likely) race (win) as a consequence… -1
      After the somewhat surprising (but not in a bad way) results of the first 3 rounds, Baku gave us yet another drama filled race to enjoy this year. With Hamilton taking the victory things should hopefully remain interesting at the sharp end of the world championships.
      Roll on Barcelona… :-)

  21. really enjoyable. i think it was a somewhat unsatisfying end given that vettel had it wrapped up, and then bottas had it wrapped up. hamilton was not a deserving winner, but he deserves a lot of credit for being in the right place and not stuffing it into a wall. also feel like a red flag would have been validated because of the truck on the track and the fact grosjean lost it – i know he didn’t lose it next to the truck but it would have been awful had anything happened.

    1. The truck was recovering his car but yes, strong argument for a red flag imo.

  22. A little too much randomness, no?

    1. @magon4 – very true. And that was caused by not enough laps at the end (i.e. after the SC) to allow things to settle into a rhythm.

      It’s sort of like calling the championship complete after just 2 races – at that point teams haven’t smoothed out streaks/ups/downs so you might end up with McLaren beating Red Bull (for example, not sure if that really was the position!)

      1. Really they need to address the long safety car periods. The deiver’s a lap down should just back off and join the end of the queue. They’re behind so it’s ok to gift them a lap in tyres and petrol.

      2. Yes, mclaren was indeed ahead of red bull.

        On that note, red bull had some battery issues which made them incredibly slow early on, then got on the same pace as ferrari and mercedes, but even without the accident it was probably too late, they needed to lap 1,5 sec a lap quicker than hamilton for the rest of the race to catch him.

        So basically red bull is out of the championship hopes already, and given the use ferrari makes of raikkonen, it’s almost surely a vettel vs hamilton already, boring.

        1. And bottas doesn’t seem fast enough in general to compete, even if he had some good races lately.

  23. What a nice race this was. Gave it a 10. Hamilton was due some luck. But it just shows how exposed Ferrari is with underperforming #2 driver.

    Bottas had it in a bag, flying it home… Then Vettel tried to steal it on laguage checkout, throwing most of it away. Real banzai, racy move…

    And Max again, and oh so many honest overtakes…. Perez showing again why he needs to be #2 at Ferrari.

    1. I guess now we should appreciate more RIC’s dive bombs. VET messed up big time trying to do it this time. It looked like a bad move if you ask me, tyres a little too cold for such move, then he was too much behind… because he messed up the restart too. I mean VET was still warming up his tyres when they were about to restart. It’s really ridiculous indeed, it’s not first time he messes up the restart, one would think he would be a lot more careful when he’s 2sec away from the restart.

  24. 8/10. Lot of action and drama, but it’s more showing of blunders instead of exceptional racing. Let’s see:
    – Ocon: Why you don’t leave enough space? It’s not a matter of closing the door anymore, Raikkonen is already substantially beside halfway to the corner, he can’t just disappear.
    – Hulk: Really quick in opening stages then destroy his own race. A pure driver error or sudden gust wind? The obvious thing is he throwing away another good chance to get that elusive first F1 podium. Not to mention he might be the one to blame for Sirotkin-Alonso contact.
    – Vandoorne and Magnussen: Quietly making enough mistake to put them behind people who actually involved in first lap incident and had to pit behind first SC.
    – Ricciardo: I gotta admit I’m not impressed on how Max defends on early part of the race. I was kept thinking they gonna crash and it’d all Max’s fault. But it really happens and Ricciardo is 100% to blame. This is a replay of what could happen in China if Bottas does not leave enough space. You got away with it once and it’s great, but don’t double dare lady luck.
    – Grosjean: Just what the….

    Good thing that drivers that stay out of trouble (or innocent in their accident) actually pretty well rewarded and get points. Except for Bottas, the one who truly deserved the win.

    1. Ha ha, nice summary, @sonicslv

      The “What the” is applicable not only for Grosjean’s crash, but also the attempt to blame Ericsson for hitting him!

    2. Still a 9 from me. Grosjean blaming Ericsson was hilarius epic!

    3. Disagree with the part that is RIC’s fault 100%. I do not think it had much to do with the move against BOT in China, but more like with the move VER vs RAI in Belgium 2016. RIC tried to keep in VER slipstream and was a little too busy doing that he got surprised when VER braked. I think we got a glimpse, to say the least, what would have happened in 2016 Belgium. Anyway, I still think it was VER’s fault mostly, it seemed to me he braked earlier that should have done and that took RIC by surprise. Too much speed to be able to avoid something like that.

    4. What race did you watch? Max was at fault for the incident, you can’t block twice.

      1. Mike and @mg1982, Ricciardo’s special is his ability to lunge from far behind and somehow still makes it into the corner, which is great and always great to watch too. But in order for that to happens, physics demands 2 things: available space and much higher velocity in the braking zone. Max is there so he obviously don’t have the space and with great different of speed the driver behind (whose actually a lot behind in F1 case of attempting overtaking) should know better to pick another line that doesn’t actually in collision path. Vettel, Kimi, and Hamilton has tasted the Max sudden move much closer and they can avoid contact, why Ricciardo can’t?

        For the record, what Max did is wrong but is not as drastic as what he infamous for in previous years. And his defending in early part of the race is too “aggressive” for a team mate and maybe that got in Ricciardo head, but I still blaming Ricciardo more for the contact.

    5. @sonicslv Very accurate summary indeed.

  25. It wasn’t a great display of racing, but it was spectacular. 9.

  26. GtisBetter (@)
    29th April 2018, 15:55

    6. Crashes the the start and some good stuff, then a very boring part where nothing happened and it would have been a dreadfull race, but for the red bulls.

  27. A cracker!!! Had everything that is F1

  28. Vettel fan 17 (@)
    29th April 2018, 16:05

    9. Disappointed from a personal view, but from an unbiased side, excellent. Interesting strategy part st the start with some action, then the Red Bull crash, then the whole restart shamble. The last three races have been absolutely brilliant.

  29. So I was sitting with my girlfriend who wasn’t interested in watching the whole GP and was just there to give me company while lost in her phone, just looked up a bit during first lap clashes as she likes Ocon ( for his cute looks) and then went back to her phone. Come lap 50 and she was closer to the screen than me and as glued as an avid F1 fan would be. This race was class and hence 10/10 ( For making my girl understand finally how uncertain F1 could be and what the stakes are).

    1. @nimba
      Always good to hear about a new fan of F1 after an exciting race has drawn them in & won them over. Hopefully you’ll be shouting at the TV together whilst watching the races from now on, happy days!
      I’m the full on F1 fanatic in our house & the original scene you described is familiar to me. More often than not I’ll be jumping up from my seat or shouting at the TV with my hubby beside me, engrossed in his laptop. He does throw an exasperated “are you mad?” look in my direction from time to time, but my enthusiasm & excitement have yet to encourage anything more than a passing interest in my beloved F1.
      Your story, however, has given me renewed hope. Roll on Barcelona!

      1. Good luck for that. Maybe Monaco gives you the right recipe. fingers crossed.

  30. 5… Apart from the opening lap action the rest was really very processional with the exception of the Ver and Ric having their occasional battles… Even the final 4 lap sprint (after 9 laps behind the safety car) was very much an anti climax after the first few corners…

    If it wasn’t for the final sprint, 4!

    1. So, you weren’t impressed by Renault vs RBR battle, but were impressed by the final laps sprint… which was processional indeed?!

      1. I was impressed by the Renault RBR battle, but, that was over by lap 7 or 8, nothing exactly stand out about this race at all…

  31. 8/10.

    Pretty much a great race until the SC period. Do not know, but it seemed to me that the SC wasn’t really necessary, but only a VSC. I think the stewards could have pushed the cars behind the walls protecting that run-off area where the RBR stopped. Then, it seemed like the stewards didn’t hurry too much to clear the track. They sent the medical car although it was an easy crash, it took another 3-4 laps to clear GRO car etc.

    Really disappointed by VET. He had his share of bad luck with the SC, but he messed up a little the restart again – he was still warming up the tyres when BOT started to accelerate and because of that BOT managed to create a little gap and HAM almost had the best of him until 1st corner. Then, he messed up completely with that hard braking moment that was followed by a loss of positions, also destroying his tyres which basically cancelled any overtaking chances for the remaining laps. This race was his race, he should have waited some more time before attacking BOT. Just like last year, it seems that God kept the victory for him again, only that he messed up again and threw it away. Maybe he’ll think twice next year.

    RAI pretty weak again. He messed up his race with that crash, then had no real pace, after the SC period he was nowhere against HAM again. He was really lucky this time to finish 2nd.

    VER… ridiculous again.

    1. @mg1982 SC is a necessity so the field will bunched up and the marshals has couple minutes each lap to work at the track without the distractions of cars passing them. VSC is more appropriate if the marshals doesn’t need to work inside the track.

      I don’t see Raikkonen why is at fault for the contact and maybe he got damage from that. Judging from his FP and qualy performance I think we can safely assume he capable for more pace than shown in the race.

  32. BTW, what happened to Hulk? Had to go away few minutes and when came back he was listed as a DNF already.

    1. Vettel fan 17 (@)
      29th April 2018, 19:53

      @mg1982 He hit the wall on the outside of turn four and got a puncture.

    2. Unforced error, stuck his car in the wall. Given that he was ahead of PER when he did it there’s an argument to be made that he threw away a podium.

  33. I got the ironing boars out on lap 20 but didn’t get very far before turning the iron off and getting back on the setty by lap 40. Then last 5 laps all the family (wife and kids) in front off tv. A solid 8.

  34. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
    29th April 2018, 17:23

    Tough one really – the racing between Daniel and Max was awesome as was the racing between Renault and Red Bull.

    However, this is the 3rd race out of 4 decided by the SC. Too much safety? Probably so.

    1. @freelittlebirds
      Can’t really argue about the safety car deployment this time though, as Hamilton said it probably should have been red flagged for the Grosjean crash.

      1. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
        29th April 2018, 21:45

        @George I agree 100% about today – I can’t believe there was a truck there… They really haven’t learnt much from the Bianchi incident or Grosjean’s incident today. The drivers can lose control of these cars especially while they are behind the safety car.

  35. Insanity.

  36. F1 fanatics race fans love a wacky race, this will be a 12.

  37. Well done Baku.

  38. John Toad (@)
    29th April 2018, 19:10

    Didn’t know quite how to rate this one.
    Some of the best drivers in the World making error after error.
    From the crash-fest on the first lap, to drivers out-braking themselves, to team mates running into each other, to crashes under the safety car.
    It did make for an exciting race but I’m not sure I want my excitement to be at the cost of poor driving standards.
    We ended up with an unexpected winner, (I can’t believe I’m calling LH an unexpected winner) and an odd pair of drivers on the other podium places.
    I ended up rating it a 7 and it was low because of the poor driving by most of the field.

    1. From all of the comments so far including yours, I gather that everyone forgot what all of the drivers and teams were saying about the windy conditions expected for the race. In the end the wind was a factor in the spectacle but because its not visible as say rain, many attribute the outcome to poor driving. Drivers don’t just suddenly forget to race. Conditions were very tricky so I actually admire what the drivers did during the race.

      1. John Toad (@)
        1st May 2018, 1:46

        Some of the errors were down the conditions with the wind varying in strength and direction and tyres that took longer than expected to ‘switch-on’ didn’t help but as I say a lot of the errors were simply poor driving.
        I’m not sure you can use that excuse for all the collisions on the opening lap, the Red Bull’s multiple comings together, Vettel’s overshoot, Grosjeans hitting the wall under safety car.
        Yes the conditions were difficult but as I say a lot of the errors were simply poor driving.

  39. Why do racefans never reveal the rate the race result anymore?

    1. @ben1234 They don’t get their own articles any more but the plan is to have them in the talking points preview for future races – look out for them in the Spain article.

      1. @keithcollantine Just a suggestion, can you put DOTW and rate the race results in Star Performers article? You can call them something like “what race fans says…” (see what I did there?). I always see those and stats and facts article as the proper closure of F1 race weekend.

  40. This race was nuts. Baku delivering the madness once again. 9/10

  41. It had a exciting finish…although it came close to finishing under the safety car….and a interesting first few laps…and apart from Red Bull drivers trying to crash into each other, it was fairly average racing, and it looked like Seb was going to win flag to flag, probably by 10 seconds, so just a 6 from me….We need fights for the lead throughout the race….fortunately the safety car provided that, but if it was Monaco, their would have been no lead change at all…..
    How did Alonso get that car back with 2 flat tyres and still get into the points?? and congrats to Sauber, that should generate some income

  42. Antonio (@frosty-jacks-racing-team)
    29th April 2018, 20:45

    Entertaining, and some ballsy driving so I put a 7… although the drivers lack of spatial awareness and level of skill generally was crap! Come on guys we can watch Nascar for pileups…

  43. 8/10 for me, started and finished strongly and the middle wasn’t too bad thanks to the Red Bull drivers. I also had a good guffaw at Alonso bringing his car in in bicycle mode. The best race of the year so far in my opinion.

  44. Duncan Snowden
    29th April 2018, 21:41

    Another good one. Crikey. Maybe not quite up to the standard of the last two – I actually found my attention wandering a bit in the middle, and if it hadn’t been for the Red Bull guys it could have been properly boring for quite a while – but what a finish.

  45. 42% of you yave it a 9. Races this year have been given high rates, if it keeps on going I don know what we will complain about come the end of the season

    I gave it a solid 5/7

  46. 9/10 Great race, plenty of action. Bottas deserves the win. Hamilton was very lucky (yes, he is a great champion, I know, but this time was lucky), as were very lucky Raikonen and Crybaby Alonso.
    Good race by Perez, Leclerc and Sainz.
    Crash Max deserves a race ban. Now.

  47. 8, -1 for no Podium interview (the post race interview was bad, like the post quali interviews)

  48. 9/10 again. That’s been my mark 3 races in a row this year. I did over mark the Bahrain race though but giving this a 10 would be highly exceptional.

    I still think there is room for improvement ;-)

  49. I gave it an 8 even though or actually BECAUSE I’m a Hamilton fan. The race was great and Lewis is the driver I support, but he didn’t deserve this one. If Bottas had won, I would have given it a 9 or even a 10.

    I did respect that Lewis had the decency to say it was not a great race for him and he didn’t claim he’d done some miracle from a gift as other drivers do occasionally. I guess at the end of the day, it all balances out as he had a victory stolen from him in the first race by safety car bad luck so he was due a gift at some point.

  50. It was a crazy race and I rated it a 7.5.

    A number of incidents on the opening lap brought the safety car out then after the restart there were quite a few good battles, mostly involving the Red Bulls, firstly they lost some places to the Renaults when the Red Bulls initially seemed to struggle with getting the tyres working and then between the two Red Bull drivers themselves.

    During the middle section of the race it quietened down and it if it had continued like that until the end I probably would have only rated it about a 6.5 at most.

    However that all changed when the two Red Bulls dramatically collided and brought out another safety car. Most of the drivers took the opportunity to come and change to the ultra softs, this benefited Bottas who had delayed his stop hoping for another safety car, and in a reversal of the Australian Grand Prix Vettel lost the lead due to the timing of the safety car.

    The safety car period was extended when Grosjean embarrassingly crashed in the queue behind the safety car, and at one point I wondered if the race would even be restarted or if it would finish behind the safety car, but it did restart and with all the field bunched up it was almost guaranteed there would be more drama and that is just what we got.

    Hamilton seemed to have a good slipstream from Vettel and it looked like he would attempt get past make but as Vettel was also getting a tow from Bottas Hamilton couldn’t manage it and it was Vettel who was the one to make a move but he misjudged his braking, badly flat spotting his tyres and it eventually ended up with him dropping down behind Perez.

    The race still had another twist in the plot to deliver and on the next lap Bottas ran over some debris causing a puncture and forcing him to retire.

    That meant Hamilton inherited the victory, as he said afterwards it was a win which Bottas deserved more.

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