With half-a-dozen laps remaining in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Max Verstappen looked on course to take his third win of the year, and draw level with title rival Lewis Hamilton on three victories so far this season.
But he was cruelly denied by a tyre failure, and left the race point-less. He didn’t even get the fastest lap bonus point, despite setting the quickest time during the race, as he didn’t finish in the top 10.As the race restarted for a two-lap sprint to the flag, Hamilton was momentarily poised to maximise the damage to the Red Bull driver’s title hopes, as he lined up to pass Sergio Perez for the lead. But the Mercedes driver slithered wide at turn one, and the entire field passed him, meaning he also ended the day without adding to his points tally.
Perez therefore claimed the second win of his career and joins the exclusive club of drivers who won more than one grand prix but have never started a race from pole position. Eddie Irvine and Bruce McLaren lead this group with four wins and zero poles, though Verstappen took five wins before he claimed his first pole position.
Only on one other occasion has Hamilton crossed the line in a lower position than he did on Sunday. He took 16th at his home race, again in 2009 with McLaren’s uncompetitive MP4-24. He was classified 19th in the 2012 European Grand Prix, but was not running at the end, having tangled with Pastor Maldonado.
With Valtteri Bottas also out of the points in 12th, Mercedes’ 55-race run of consecutive points finishes came to an end. This is the joint-fourth best in F1 history, tied with Ferrari, who also hold the record with 81 in a row over 2010 to 2014. Mercedes’ best is 62, running from Brazil 2012 until Hamilton and Nico Rosberg took each other out on the first lap in Spain in 2016.
Mercedes have scored just seven points in the last two races. This is their worst run since Hamilton signed for them following the 2012 Singapore Grand Prix, when the team went point-less for the next five races, then took six points at the season finale in Brazil.
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The Baku City Circuit cemented its reputation for variability. None of the three drivers on the rostrum had stood on the podium in any of the previous five races.
Even more remarkably, the Azerbaijan circuit has seen a different driver win, set pole position and record fastest lap in each of its five world championship rounds so far:
| Year | Event | Track | Winner | Pole Position | Fastest lap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | European Grand Prix | Baku | Nico Rosberg | Nico Rosberg | Nico Rosberg |
| 2017 | Azerbaijan Grand Prix | Baku | Daniel Ricciardo | Lewis Hamilton | Sebastian Vettel |
| 2018 | Azerbaijan Grand Prix | Baku | Lewis Hamilton | Sebastian Vettel | Valtteri Bottas |
| 2019 | Azerbaijan Grand Prix | Baku | Valtteri Bottas | Valtteri Bottas | Charles Leclerc |
| 2021 | Azerbaijan Grand Prix | Baku | Sergio Perez | Charles Leclerc | Max Verstappen |
Perez gave his former team, previously known as Racing Point, some excellent results at this track, including third places in 2016 and 2018. His replacement followed him home in second, scoring the first podium finish for the team’s new identity as Aston Martin. The brand did not score a podium during its original F1 incarnation in 1959-60.
Perez also achieved a first under the current engine rules. No other driver has won races with more than one team or engine supplier in this time. He previously won the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix in a Racing Point-Mercedes.
This was the third time in six rounds Verstappen has led more than half the race without winning. He did so in Bahrain and Spain as well. Remarkably, had he led one more lap on Sunday, he would have spent a total of three times as many laps in the lead as Hamilton has so far this year – yet the Mercedes driver still has one more victory this year. Verstappen has led two-thirds of all laps raced in 2021, yet won just one-third of the races.
Have you spotted any other interesting stats and facts from the Azerbaijan Grand Prix? Share them in the comments.
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Review the year so far in statistics here:
- 2021 F1 championship points
- 2021 F1 season records
- 2021 F1 race data
- 2021 F1 qualifying data
- 2021 F1 retirements and penalties
- 2021 F1 strategy and pit stops
Have you spotted any other interesting stats and facts from the Azerbaijan Grand Prix? Share them in the comments.
2021 Azerbaijan Grand Prix
- Aston Martin also confirms it followed Pirelli’s tyre restrictions before crash
- Pirelli confirm teams not to blame for Baku tyre failures following investigation
- “Tyres should not explode like that” says Villeneuve as Pirelli prepares to reveal findings
- Why Alonso is able to enjoy F1 more now than when he left
- Penalty for Safety Car error was just one of Latifi’s frustrations in Baku
Chaitanya
7th June 2021, 17:35
As someone posted on facebook 1st time since Japanese GP 2013 neither Hamilton or Bottas or Verstappen scored a single point in the race.
Jere (@jerejj)
7th June 2021, 17:45
@Chaitanya The last of these three didn’t compete in F1 until the 2015 season began, so how could he be in the mix?
minnis (@minnis)
7th June 2021, 22:37
@jerejj well, quite obviously, Verstappen wasn’t racing in F1 in 2013 so obviously couldn’t have scored a point.
Dave
9th June 2021, 8:36
Enemy warning: An enemy has been detected.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
11th June 2021, 16:36
Still an interesting stat.
Dave
17th June 2021, 14:17
AS SomeONe pOSTEd ON FAcEBOoK 1st TimE sInCe jaPanEsE Gp 2013 NEitHer haMIlTon Or BOTTAs OR vERsTaPpEN ScOREd A sInGLE PoINt IN tHE RaCE.
Doing this because I saw what you said on another thread…You can’t hide.
F1 frog (@f1frog)
7th June 2021, 17:35
Total points in Baku (no real significance, just not really an order you might expect):
1. Vettel 75
2. Hamilton 63
3. Perez 63
4. Bottas 51
5. Ricciardo 33
6. Raikkonen 32
7. Leclerc 31
8. Rosberg 25
9. Sainz 24
10. Stroll 21
11. Verstappen 16
12. Alonso 16
13. Gasly 15
14. Norris 14
15. Ocon 8
16. Magnussen 6
17. Tsunoda 6
18. Hulkenberg 2
19. Vandoorne 2
20. Massa 1
21. Wehrlein 1
22. Hartley 1
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
7th June 2021, 18:45
That’s indeed a surprise, thought vettel would be further down, considering the points thrown away in recent years here.
Broderick Harper (@banbrorace)
8th June 2021, 9:37
Nice work.
And if it wasn’t for Bottas’s 2018 puncture, he’d have more points than Hamilton and Lewis would be 4th.
Lewis’s results at some of the street circuits, i.e. Australia, Monaco and Baku are actually poor compared to his average overall.
I haven’t checked, but wouldn’t be surprised if he’s won more at Silverstone or Hungary than he has at all of these tracks!!
Fascinating. Just have all the races at street circuit and Lewis is toast. LOL!!
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
11th June 2021, 16:39
As far as I see it, bottas would be leading this stat, 25 points lost = ahead of vettel.
dusty
7th June 2021, 17:37
Should we count Max for RBR Renault and then RBR Honda?
sato113 (@sato113)
7th June 2021, 19:04
Nah. Same team. Different engine supplier.
someone or something
7th June 2021, 22:57
@sato113
In that case, saying anything about the engine supplier makes no sense.
David BR (@david-br)
7th June 2021, 17:39
Seems a remarkably trivial way to throw away 26 points when spending millions to get an extra tenth lap time.
Jere (@jerejj)
7th June 2021, 17:44
Perez has more podium finishes in Baku than anywhere else.
The first non-Max RBR winner since Ricciardo’s most recent F1 race win three years ago in Monaco.
Seven out of Baku’s fifteen podium finishers have come from a starting position lower than fifth.
The first time Seb led a race since the 2019 Brazilian GP. Furthermore, via Leclerc, Ferrari led for the first time also since 2019.
Overall, five different drivers led this Azerbaijan GP at some point, the most in any 2021 race thus far.
The 2nd consecutive DNF for Ocon in Baku as he also DNF’d in his previous outing back in 2018.
No FLAP bonus point for only the 3rd time since the 2019 season began.
In addition to Mercedes’ 55-race scoring streak ending, Hamilton’s record point-scoring streak of 54 (2020 Sakhir GP excluded) ended.
Alonso’s best result since the 2018 season-opening Australian GP.
Tsunoda’s career-best 7th is the highest for a Japanese driver since Kobayashi’s 6th in the 2012 Abu Dhabi GP.
Abe
8th June 2021, 3:03
@jerejj
Kobayashi finished higher as 3rd in the 2012 Japanese GP.
Fixy
8th June 2021, 11:12
The last time a Japanese driver finished higher than seventh was in 2012 Abu Dhabi, which indeed happened after the Japanese GP
AJ (@asleepatthewheel)
7th June 2021, 17:57
Whenever Perez has won, Hamilton has not scored a point ;P
Le Jimster (@lejimster82)
7th June 2021, 18:50
I’d be more than happy with that to continue some more 😜
erikje
7th June 2021, 17:58
Some mazespin statistics then
1. His first victory over Lewis Hamilton.
2. He finished more races then Bottas.
3. He is the last one still under investigation.
Dave
7th June 2021, 23:08
Mazepin is noob. He’s a Silver 1!
Adam (@rocketpanda)
7th June 2021, 18:06
That Brawn GP car in the main picture. Still my favourite F1 car.
sumedh
7th June 2021, 18:22
1) If I remember correctly, this is only the 2nd race where the fastest lap point was not awarded to any driver since the rule came in place 2.5 year ago. The previous instance was 2019 Singapore where a late safety car meant no one who was in the points had a sufficient gap to pit and take on new tyres. Magnussen took the fastest lap then in 17th place
2) Vettel and Perez both have now scored podiums with 4 teams (highest among anyone on the current grid). However, Perez’s 4 teams are actually just 3 factories – Sauber, Force India, Racing Point, Red Bull. The previous driver to have obtained podiums with 4 ‘factories’ was Rubens Barrichello who got podiums with 5 teams / 4 ‘factories’ – Jordan, Stewart, Ferrari, Honda, Brawn. The last time the grid had more than 1 driver who had obtained podiums with as many as 4 teams was back in 2011 Malaysia GP. In fact, at that time, we had 3 drivers who had got podiums with at least 4 teams each. Barrichello – as mentioned above, Button (BAR, Honda, Brawn, Mclaren; 2 ‘factories’), Heidfeld (Sauber, BMW Sauber, Williams, Lotus-Renault; 3 factories).
3) Yesterday’s podium was the first podium of the year for all the 3 podium occupants. It is fairly rare that one gets to as late as the 6th round in the championship and finds a podium full of new occupants. If one were to look at since 2000, there have been only 4 races (not counting race 1 of the season) which had first-time occupants on all 3 podiums positions.
a) 2008 Malaysia (2nd race of the season) – Raikkonen, Kubica, Kovalainen’s 1st podiums of the season
b) 2010 Malaysia (3rd race of the season) – Vettel, Webber, Rosberg’s 1st podium of the season
c) 2020 Italy (8th race of the season) – Gasly, Sainz, Stroll’s 1st podium of the season
d) 2021 Baku (6th race of the season) – Perez, Vettel, Gasly’s 1st podium of the season
Honorable mention to 2006 Hungary for this obscure statistic. It was the 13th race of the season with Button, De La Rosa and Heidfeld on the podium. De La Rosa and Heidfeld were celebrating their 1st podium while it was Button’s only 2nd podium of the season
Jere (@jerejj)
7th June 2021, 19:26
@sumedh No, 3rd. Also, the Brazilian GP in 2019, in which Bottas DNF’d after setting a lap time, no one eventually bettered.
Mashiat (@mashiat)
7th June 2021, 20:29
The first race of the season usually has all occupants getting their first podium of the season too ;)
Klon (@)
8th June 2021, 1:32
In total across F1 history, Vettel and Pérez become the 17th and 18th driver to score podiums with at least four different constructors.
BasCB (@bascb)
8th June 2021, 14:27
Sumedh, I Tihink you forgot to include Perez’ time at McLaren (2013, 49 points) in that second stat, so he indeed did score with 4 teams under 5 team names.
Mr Fabulous (@mrfabulous)
7th June 2021, 18:29
Nikita Mazepin is still in with a mathematical chance of becoming World Drivers Champion…..
Jonathan Parkin
7th June 2021, 18:58
His team-mate has exceeded the performance of Nicolas Kiesa by finishing his first six GP’s. He cannot get a podium before his father now though as Michael’s first was in his seventh race
Also from Mazepin’s point of view the red flag saved his blushes a bit. Before it Mick was 30 seconds or so ahead of him
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
7th June 2021, 19:42
Although I think merc will get back to being the best car in the next races, given they’re not street circuits.
AndrewT (@andrewt)
7th June 2021, 20:04
Not so significant, but the three podium finishers in Baku finished the last race in Monaco behind each other as well in P4-P5-P6.
Jonathan Parkin
7th June 2021, 20:59
Bruce McLaren didn’t even start on the front row for his four wins. Eddie started second on the grid for his fourth and final win, his previous three wins he started off the front row
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
7th June 2021, 21:22
Blimey I hadn’t realised that. All the more remarkable given this would have been in the days of more than two cars on the front row.
Jonathan Parkin
8th June 2021, 4:51
I didn’t know there were four cars on the front row back then. Might need to recheck that
Kaysee
8th June 2021, 11:51
https://www.statsf1.com/en/1959/etats-unis/grille.aspx
3 cars on starting grid according to stats f1.
Jonathan Parkin
8th June 2021, 15:07
I was wrong sadly. His Monaco win he started third, in those days that was the front row
GeeMac (@geemac)
9th June 2021, 11:48
As far as I can recall Eddie Irvine only won 1 race on merit in his career (the 1999 Austrian GP). The Australian GP was handed to him after the McLaren’s had technical issues and the wins in Germany and Malaysia were handed to him by Salo and Schumacher respectively.
Bleu (@bleu)
7th June 2021, 21:26
Red Bull team-mates won consecutive races for the first time since European and British Grands Prix in 2010.
erikje
7th June 2021, 21:35
But really.. FIA must be happy with Lewis.
He tried sprint race and reverse grid in one go.
Who other then Lewis is able to do that..
French Steve (@french-steve)
7th June 2021, 21:35
It was round number 6, on the 06/06 date, and the race winner started… P6.
And 6 different constructors occupied the top 6 at the end of the race. Pretty rare occurence I think ?
F1.Fan (@f1-fan)
7th June 2021, 23:39
@french-steve Regarding PER, there is a whole fun fact series with number 6.
He won on his 6th race for this team, starting from P6, on round 6 and date 06/06, and his previous victory was exactly 6 months ago on December 6!
BasCB (@bascb)
8th June 2021, 14:29
You guys are onto something here!
paulgilb (@paulgilb)
7th June 2021, 23:03
First time since Hungary 2016 that qualifying saw 4 red flag periods.
3rd time in a row that Hamilton has started 2nd in Baku.
Perez is currently the 5th driver to have taken more than 1 F1 victory without taking more than 1 win for any constructor – the others being Maurice Trintignant, Pedro Rodriguez, Jo Siffert, and Patrick Depailler (all scored exactly 2 wins).
Both of AlphaTauri’s podiums have come in races where the pit-lane was closed for part of the race.
Each of 2019, 2020, and 2021 (to date) have seen Gasly start 4th on 1 occasion (without starting higher) and score 1 podium.
With Bottas, Alonso, Perez and Latifi all beating their team-mates, every driver has beaten their team-mate at least once in 2021 (including races where one driver did not finish).
McLaren are the only team without a DNF in 2021 (although Red Bull have had both cars classified in all races). They also have the longest unbroken points-scoring streak with 13 (last no-score was Russia 2020).
Thanks to statsf1 for some of these.
roodda (@roodda)
8th June 2021, 0:34
Perez’s two victories have seen Hamilton and Verstappen fail to score (although Ham was a non-starter in Sakhir), a frenchman and a Racing Point-Aston Martin car join in on the podium (Ocon + Gasly, Stroll + Vettel)
Klon (@)
8th June 2021, 1:37
Sebastian Vettel achieved the best world championship finish for an Aston Martin F1 car, having bettered the fifth place from Monaco 2021. This is also equaling the best F1 finish for an Aston Martin F1 car period, joining Roy Salvadori’s second place at the 1959 BRDC International Trophy.
This is also his fourteenth consecutive season with at least one podium finish, which is second only to MSC/Hamilton. In every full season of his career, Vettel has had a podium finish.
JMDan (@danmar)
8th June 2021, 4:11
What a sportsman! Making sure he didn’t pass Max in the standings!! Who knew he was capable of that? Must be getting old. :-)
Mayrton
8th June 2021, 8:22
Well, it was very kind of him to not already decide the championship
Jay Menon (@jaymenon10)
8th June 2021, 4:27
“this was the second race in a row in which no works Mercedes driver finished on the podium. That has never previously happened in the V6 hybrid turbo era; you have to go back to the final two races with V8s at the end of 2013 for the last such occasion”
Domination? What domination? Nothing to see here folks, move along.
Wayne
8th June 2021, 5:24
@Erikje i almost spat my breakfast out laughing soo hard!!! Sprint race and reverse grid all at once…
hahostolze (@hahostolze)
8th June 2021, 7:58
How about a stat seeing if Verstappen’s laps led to races won / points scored ratio is the worst ever?
CashNotClass (@cashnotclass)
8th June 2021, 9:55
Looking at current F1 drivers only, this is the number of laps led for each race win (ratio).
Leclerc 124 laps
Bottas 74 laps
Verstappen 70 laps
Vettel 66 laps
Räikkönen 62 laps
Alonso 55 laps
Hamilton 55 laps
Ricciardo 42 laps
Pérez 35 laps
Gasly 26 laps
Mayrton
8th June 2021, 8:31
Worst finish in 12 years. What a difference a dominant (and reliable!) car makes. Incredible achievement by Mercedes. Not good for the sport, but an achievement nevertheless
CashNotClass (@cashnotclass)
8th June 2021, 9:49
Pérez’ win, and first podium, means he briefly took the top spot among current F1 drivers as far as podiums for different teams go: he has scored podiums with Sauber, Force India, Racing Point and Red Bull (4). Briefly, because Vettel’s podium means he’s now on four as well: Toro Rosso, Red Bull, Ferrari and Aston Martin. The all-time leaders are John Surtees and Stirling Moss, both scored podiums with six teams.
It was also Pérez and Vettel’s first podium with their respective engine suppliers. Pérez previous scored podiums with Ferrari and Mercedes power, and Vettel with Renault and Ferrari power. They join Alonso and Räikkonen, who both also scored podiums with Ferrari, Mercedes and Renault engines. The all-time leader is Rubens Barrichello, who is the only F1 driver to score a podium with six different engines.
Pérez win also means he is now the only driver to win races at two different teams in the V6 era.
sbewers (@sbewers)
8th June 2021, 15:41
We’ve now seen 6 red flag periods in races within the past year:
2020 Italian GP – Lap 27 – Leclerc crash
2020 Tuscan GP – Lap 9 – Restart pile-up
2020 Tuscan GP – Lap 46 – Stroll crash
2020 Bahrain GP – Lap 1 – Grosjean crash
2021 Emilia Romagna GP – Lap 33 – Bottas/Russell crash
2021 Azerbaijan GP – Lap 48 – Verstappen crash
Which is as many as we saw in the whole decade of 2000-2009:
2000 Monaco GP – Lap 1 – Computer fault
2001 German GP – Lap 2 – Burti/Schumacher crash
2001 Belgian GP – Lap 5 – Burti/Irvine crash
2003 Brazilian GP – Lap 56 – Webber and Alonso crashes
2007 European GP – Lap 5 – Rain and six cars off at turn 1
2009 Malaysian GP – Lap 33 – Rain and multiple spinners
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
11th June 2021, 16:49
Crazy difference, also 4 red flags this qualifying wasn’t a joke!
X1Znet (@x1znet)
8th June 2021, 19:12
Number of times the words track limits were heard: 0
Win5
9th June 2021, 13:40
When was the last time the first 2 championship contenders fail to score in a grand prix?
Win5
9th June 2021, 14:42
Other than 2016 Spanish Grand Prix. When was the last time first 2 failed to score?
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
11th June 2021, 16:55
Interesting question, mmmm, we need to go back to 2018 at least cause there wasn’t a title contention after that, in 2018 hamilton had a mechanical problem in austria but vettel scored, don’t think there’s more, in 2017 hamilton didn’t get any no-score races, so yes, I think we need to go back to 2016 spain indeed.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
11th June 2021, 17:01
Ahh, ofc, would be useful to know even before 2016 when was the last no-score for 2 title contenders, I know there’s spa 1998 with hakkinen and schumacher, but that’s so far back, there could be more recent ones…
I checked and interesting! Always in spa, 12 years later, so 2010, alonso retired and vettel had a puncture and ended up outside the points, they ended the season 4 points apart, so that was definitely considered championship contention.