Max Verstappen, Red Bull, Baku City Circuit, 2021

Rate the race: 2021 Azerbaijan Grand Prix

2021 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 2021 Azerbaijan Grand Prix out of 10

  • 10 (12%)
  • 9 (25%)
  • 8 (29%)
  • 7 (18%)
  • 6 (8%)
  • 5 (3%)
  • 4 (2%)
  • 3 (2%)
  • 2 (0%)
  • 1 (2%)

Total Voters: 258

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1 = ‘Terrible’, 10 = ‘Perfect’

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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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49 comments on “Rate the race: 2021 Azerbaijan Grand Prix”

  1. I almost had a heart attack.
    There was a lot happening, even if it didnt seem so…

    1. no no no no, according to BBC’S Andrew Benson the race was a snore fest.
      Now seriously even before the drama the race was pretty good, shame about the drs, not only it did not aid overtaking it caused a drs train early on.

  2. A bit late, but a somewhat mixed race. Drama and excitement, but also a static middle phase.

  3. Adam (@rocketpanda)
    6th June 2021, 18:54

    Unexpectedly good, full of highs and lows. A bit of chaos, a bit of unpredictability and lot of skill. Great podium.

  4. 10. Overtakes, crashes, unpredictability and lots of talking points. A great result for the podium and championship from a racing point of view as well.

  5. Overall worth a 6, +1 of some justice for both WDC leaders outta points.
    Discontent about late SCs, an unnecessary red flag and, of course, the Pirelli condoms (as hillariously put by @mixwell at another post, ROTFL).

    7/10

    1. I actually don’t think the red flag was unnecessary at all @niefer. Looking back, one has to wonder whether they shouldn’t have done that earlier to get everyone on new tyres.

      1. I agree with you to the extent where Stroll’s accident was the moment where a red flag should apply. The place was really dangerous, there was time to reassess strategies and, of course, plenty of time for clearing debris to prevent further incidents, @bascb. In Verstappen’s case, at about 3 laps down the end, a SC would suffice. Unfortunately, either way would still be a problem, given Masi’s lack of promptness.

  6. 7 for the race + 1 for the podium

    The race had a fun beginning and a chaotic end, but was rather boring for long stretches. Also, while I don’t mind the chaos, I feel as if it’s rare to see a race that is fun solely based on the driving (Bahrain-21 is one of the few exceptions).

  7. Miltiadis (@miltosgreekfan)
    6th June 2021, 19:25

    The race was a 6 for me, but the fact that we had 2 unacceptable tyre failures at the highest speed parts of the circuits downgraded the race rating from my side(into a 3).

    FIA has done a lot about safety and cockpit safety(proven by the fact that RoGro is alive after last year’s crash) but drivers are still in danger of getting collected by someone else at full speed due to a punchure….

    FIA,Pirelli and Baku organizers need to find a solution,as this is not the first time happening in Baku…

    1. Yeah, I felt the sense of danger when Stroll crashed as there were three cars following close. Not sure about Baku’s responsibility though, as most recent incidents occurred by things out of their control. Still, they sure are lagging about the pit entry. Maybe they could copy Interlagos.

      1. Miltiadis (@miltosgreekfan)
        6th June 2021, 20:23

        Yep, the Stroll one was pretty dangerous…

        As for Baku and their organization, with how wide the circuit is at points, + the 2 kmh straight it’s rather difficult to keep the track clean from debris. This happened in 2018 when Gasly-Magnussen touched and Bottas paid the price eventually…

      2. Yes, I saw it as well and I’m not one who normally pays attention to safety, but I saw some car going at 300 kmh not that far from stroll, that’s a deadly accident waiting to happen.

  8. I must admit, that I like Baku more than Monaco. Not so much glamour as in Monte Carlo, but a Real Racing!

  9. I didn’t really know how to rate this as while I enjoyed the race for the most part, The tyre failures & way they handled the end with the red flag & standing restart took it down a bit for me so I went with a 5/10.

    As I said in one of the other articles while i’m sure none of us like seeing a race end under a SC for me that would have been the best thing to do at that point in the race. I just don’t how I think they went with a red flag with a standing restart purely for entertainment reasons as they didn’t want the race to end behind the SC.

    It just felt a bit artificial & made those last 2 laps & some of the result feel a bit too much of a lottery & that takes my score down a bit.

  10. 4/10 from me.

    the awful pirelli comedy tires proving to once again be unsuitable for f1 leading to the failures and the obvious nascar-esque red flag/restart purely done to try and spice things up and have a green finish been why i went with a lower score than i otherwise may have done.

    a red flag for the stroll crash i would have been behind but the one with only 2 laps left when it woudl have been just as safe to end it under the safety car was obviously pure nascar and did nothing but create a lottery at the end.

    #Libertyout #PirelliOut!

    1. Domenicalli leads F1 and Michlein was worse than Pirelli but interesting opinion

  11. Standing starts after red flags annoy me to no end, the race should have ended after Verstappen’s tire failure, no question.

    1. Just wait until you get the sprint races on Saturday..it won’t be fun to watch F1 destroy itself.

    2. I have no issue with standing starts itself except I think f1 should follow motogp and not restart races over 75% done.

  12. 10

    – Hamilton and Verstappen didn’t get points
    – Another Pirelli drama
    – Perez won
    – Vettel finally found his old spirit
    – Gasly and Leclerc had a good fight
    – Stroll’s strategy
    – Dramatic af
    – Alonso and Tsunoda have a good race
    – Alfa Romeo got an another one point
    – Strategy fight was amazing
    – Close fights
    – Intesive qualifying session
    – Schumacher overtook Mazepin in the last second
    – Sainz saved his day
    – DRS was overpowered but the rest of the track makes gap between drivers

    1. Ok, but what are the + points then?

      … sorry I’ll get my coat :-S

    2. Thanks for your comment! So much misery amongst these commenters makes me wonder why they show up.

      Glad to encounter a true enthusiast!

  13. A bit underwhelming for me. Qualy was already a bit of a lottery but that was at least to drivers making mistakes. Today was again a lottery but with random tyre failures.

    Sure a lot happened l but it had nothing to do with driver skill.

    6/10

  14. Bottas finishing higher then Lewis a first this season and even Mazepin succeeded in beating lewis.. and finished more races than Bottas.
    It must have been a great show……

  15. 8 for me. The top 3 cars more or less even the whole race. That’s extremely rare. Close battles down the field as well.

    I really like that you can both attack and defend here.

    The tyre failures, safety car and red flags killed what could have been a proper pure race from start to finish.

    1. @balue I agree. No need for any drs worst of all the drs trains were frustrating.
      Fights like Leclerc and Gasly showed f1 cars can race back and forth, it puts the onus on good driving and the drivers rather than how overpowered their respective cars are, akin to bike racing.

  16. Whoever decided to continue the race should be dismissed.

    1. I like that decision instead, brought some justice to verstappen.

  17. Hard to reward a race where the tires were unsafe and drivers’ lives were at risk. Sure it was exciting but the fear in Stroll’s voice chilled me to my bones.

  18. Pirelli and Masi at their best… terrible race with fake Hollywood drama at the end

  19. Incredible race! They need to do two races here instead of Austria. Come back here for the Singapore date.

  20. 8 for me. Interesting start and first few laps. Thereafter the middle section of the race was fairly routine. Then we had the chaos of the final five laps and the totally unpredictable podium.

    Pirelli tyre failures, if this is what they are, are unacceptable. Like many I think the race should have ended under the safety car. Thought the red flag and restart seemed a bit contrived. It did provide an existing ending though.

    Great drives by Perez and Vettel. I hope those writing him off completely last year are eating humble pie.

    1. Exciting not existing!

  21. A solid 8 based on unpredictability, some very fine drives (Vettel, Perez and others) and a some drama.
    Tire failures are very concerning, and I’m relieved there were no injuries, or worse.

  22. 1 (2%)
    2 (0%)
    3 (1%)
    4 (2%)
    5 (2%)
    6 (7%)
    7 (19%)
    8 (33%)
    9 (22%)
    10 (11%)
    Total Voters: 166

    Went with 8, disappointed by verstappen’s tyre failure, very deserving winner, it was a quite interesting race all the way, even the first few laps with leclerc in the mix battling ahead, and the pit stop battles as well as perez defending from hamilton almost all race long.

    Given what happened to verstappen, I’m glad hamilton made that mistake, and that’s still not enough compensation to verstappen, however the incident taken by itself from hamilton made me feel sorry also cause when one has a great race weekend with the 3rd best car in qualifying and 2nd in the race it’s a shame to lose all with 1 mistake.

    I’m docking 1 point for this, probably 80% because of verstappen; that aside it was a very exciting last few laps.

    1. Ah, also, shame to lose a well deserved red bull 1-2, last good missed chance was due to ricciardo’s engine failure while running 2nd in monaco 2018, or it was a mechanical dnf in any case, last one was in malaysia 2016, which wasn’t even on merit, need to go back to 2013 for on-merit ones.

      1. RandomMallard (@)
        7th June 2021, 8:00

        @esploratore Ricciardo won Monaco in 2018. I think the race you are on about was Mexico that year!

  23. Gave the race a 9. The entire weekend was quite exciting.. and with Leclerc on pole, followed by Lewis and then Max, we actually saw an epic battle for the race win. There was plenty of action throughout the field, with the constant Red Bull vs. Lewis battle upfront and the Leclerc, Gasly, Vettel battle for best of the rest. It’s actually a shame that Bottas wasn’t in the top 4 fight in in this race, it could have made strategy a whole lot more interesting.

    Plenty of close racing, drama and surprise podium.

    1. Same here 9.

  24. I Found it quite dull with the exception of the tyre failures causing the artificial bunching. Since those shouldn’t have happened, I went for a 5.

  25. I have to confess that I detest all street circuits. These are F1 cars and should be confined to F1 tracks. It is creating needless danger by using city streets.

  26. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
    7th June 2021, 11:52

    The race was quite a bit boring at some points but it delivered a lot of suspense at the end with 2 retirements in the podium spots and a few other overtakes on the restart.

    It’s nice to see that Red Bull’s advice to race direction to red flag a race their driver was leading at the time, didn’t cost them the WCC or WDC. Had Hamilton won the race, Max’s retirement would have cause a 36 point swing in his favor which may have defined both championships.

    1. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
      7th June 2021, 16:45

      However, I do have to say that the excitement came at the expense of safety and that’s something we never want to see.

  27. Good race & excitement, especially last 2 laps!
    Always nice to to see different drivers & cars on the podium

  28. 4 for me – most of it was dull, strategy was basically non-existent as usual and DRS was typically terrible.
    Saved by the restart and the tyre failures.

  29. The race was interesting, I watched the entire thing–which is not always the case. But think about what it took to make it interesting (at least to me).
    –Unknown/unexplained Merc issues on a relatively high speed track. (which they still almost got around)
    –Multiple crashes and red flags in qualifying that further mixed up the order.
    –A delay for HAM exiting the pits which mixed up the order.
    –A safety car and a red flag which bunched up the pack, one of which was because the race leader crashed out.
    –HAM overcooking his brakes and almost taking out himself and the race leader.

    I don’t expect every race to be this interesting. But there weren’t a ton of passes once the order was sorted from the odd qualifying. I don’t need passes, but it was nice that cars could follow and make pass attempts. But it took all of that to make this not a standard procession. So, only a 6.

  30. If you are a Vettel fan, you could only rate it 9 or 10 (perhaps a 10 if he had won the race).

    I started watching the races with the main feed on TV and Vettel’s onboard on the computer. And it was very entertaining to watch it. So for me this race was great, very happy all the drivers are ok after the huge crashes and of course, 0 points for Hamilton after Max’ crash. It’s just fair that way I think.

  31. In the end it was a 7/10 to me. The racing was OK until the flat tyres mixed things up. the final two laps were fantastic to see, bit It feels totally unfair to finish a race with a standing start so close to the finish. It degredaded 95% of the race to a long stretched qualifying.

Comments are closed.