The F1 Azerbaijan GP did not end up being as chaotic as it has been in the past few seasons but there were plenty of records still set or broken.
It ended up being all-Mercedes show yet again with Valtteri Bottas not only claiming pole but also winning the F1 Azerbaijan GP at Baku City Ciricuit with Lewis Hamilton having to settle for second from Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel.
Ferrari once again seemed to be robbed of what could have been their weekend but instead they had to settle for third and fifth with Charles Leclerc also getting an extra point for fastest lap. Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen did well to be fourth.
It looked like Pierre Gasly will be sixth but it eventually went to Racing Point’s Sergio Perez, who was the best of the rest leader from McLaren’s Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris with Lance Stroll and Alfa Romeo Racing’s Kimi Raikkonen completing the Top 10.
Here’s some key statistics and information from the Azerbaijan GP weekend:
- Bottas scored his fifth career win, his first in Azerbaijan as he now leads the 2019 points standings by one point – thanks to the fastest lap point in Australia.
- Bottas scored his eighth career pole as he became the first repeat pole-sitter of 2019. He is also the first driver to win from pole in the four races of 2019.
- Mercedes took their 91st win, third in Azerbaijan (including the 2016 European GP). It was their 48th 1-2 finish and the fourth consecutive 1-2 finish in 2019 – which is now a new F1 record.
- Hamilton scored his career’s 138th F1 podium with Vettel his 113th and Bottas his 34th.
- The Top 4 in Azerbaijan GP finished in same order as they started.
- Leclerc scored his career’s second fastest F1 lap.
- After not much pre-race penalties in the first three races, Azerbaijan GP saw Gasly, Kimi Raikkonen and Robert Kubica, all start from the pitlane for various reasons.
- Raikkonen gained the most places to be 10th after starting from the pitlane. He is the only driver outside the Top 5 to score in every grand prix so far.
- Sainz scored his first points for McLaren and jumped from 18th to 12th in the standings. McLaren also registered its first double points since last year’s Azerbaijan GP.
- Stroll scored his second points finish of 2019 but he is yet to qualify beyond Q1 so far.
- Despite the pace shortcomings, Williams has a 100 percent finish record in 2019 so far along with Mercedes, Ferrari, Racing Point and Alfa Romeo Racing. In terms of points finishes, it is only Mercedes, Ferrari, Racing and Alfa Romeo with points in all four races.
- Four drivers retired from the race, all within 10 laps of the first retirement. Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat started it with Romain Grosjean and Gasly following up.
- Antonio Giovinazzi, Grosjean, George Russell and Robert Kubica are the only drivers yet to score any points.
- Grosjean maintained his record of no points finishes in Baku while Kvyat is yet to see the chequered flag in Baku.
- With another no points finish, Haas is amid its worst start to a F1 season. Even in their inaugural year, they managed to score more points in the first four races.
- History almost repeated with Ricciardo as in his second year with Toro Rosso in 2013, the Australian had a DNF, classified 18th and a seventh place finish in the first three races with a 16th in fourth. Fast forward to 2019, his first year with Renault, he has similar results in the first three races but in the fourth one, he registered a DNF.
- Verstappen now has three consecutive fourth place finishes in 2019 so far, while Kevin Magnussen has three consecutive 13th place finishes.
- Perez and Russell are the only drivers to have out-qualified their teammate at every race so far in F1 2019.
- Ricciardo was given two penalty points for reversing into Kvyat during the race.
https://twitter.com/F1/status/1122597603613392896
The stats were compiled by Jack Elleker and Darshan Chokhani
Check out the stats from Chinese GP