{"id":4276,"date":"2018-04-29T12:37:14","date_gmt":"2018-04-29T16:37:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/?p=4276"},"modified":"2018-04-30T01:23:51","modified_gmt":"2018-04-30T05:23:51","slug":"azerbaijan-gp-lewis-hamilton-wins-as-madness-reigns-in-baku","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2018\/04\/29\/azerbaijan-gp-lewis-hamilton-wins-as-madness-reigns-in-baku\/","title":{"rendered":"Azerbaijan GP \u2013 Lewis Hamilton Wins As Madness Reigns in Baku"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lewis Hamilton<\/strong> scored an unlikely win in the fourth race of the Formula 1<\/strong> 2018 season at the Azerbaijan GP<\/strong>. In another chaotic race with Safety Car (SC<\/strong>) periods, Hamilton was handed the win as the two frontrunners hit trouble in the last laps. Kimi Raikkonen,<\/strong> after he suffered damage and pitted on lap 1, came back to claim second spot. Sergio Perez<\/strong> was third, again coming from behind.<\/p>\n

Sebastian Vettel,<\/strong> who looked like the most likely winner, ended up fourth after an overtake that went wrong in the last laps. Carlos Sainz<\/strong> completed the top 5. Charles Leclerc, Fernando Alonso, Lance Stroll, Stoffel Vandoorne and Brendon Hartley rounded out the top 10 positions.<\/p>\n

Lewis Hamilton Wins As Madness Reigns in Baku<\/h1>\n

The race started in cool conditions at the Baku City Circuit<\/strong> in Baku. The air temperatures were at 16 degrees C and track temperatures at 23 degrees C. The wind was gusting across the track in the \u201cCity of Winds\u201d<\/strong>. Vettel was on pole for the third consecutive race. Title-rival Hamilton joined the German on the front row. Bottas and Daniel Ricciardo were on the second row. Max Verstappen and Raikkonen lined up on the third row. The top five drivers started on the supersoft tyres. Only Raikkonen was on the ultrasoft tyres.<\/p>\n

The Chaotic Start<\/h2>\n

Vettel made a clean start. Hamilton and Bottas followed him into Turn 1. Ricciardo and Verstappen were behind them. But then chaos unfolded behind them. Esteban Ocon<\/strong> collided with Raikkonen and retired. Sergey Sirotkin<\/strong> retired after he was involved in an incident with the other Force India car of Perez, Alonso and Nico Hulkenberg.<\/p>\n

The Safety Car was deployed. Raikkonen pitted for a change of front wing and put on the soft tyres. Alonso limped back to the pits with two punctures and managed to rejoin the race. Perez suffered damage after Sirotkin hit him and pitted under the SC also.<\/p>\n

On the SC restart, Vettel led Hamilton, Bottas, Ricciardo, Verstappen, Sainz, Lance Stroll, Hulkenberg and Pierre Gasly. Both Hulkenberg and Gasly were the big gainers climbing up eight spots.<\/p>\n

Renault Drivers Move Up<\/h2>\n

Even as Verstappen and Ricciardo struggled to warm up their tyres and deploying their battery power on the long straights, the two Renault drivers Sainz and Hulkenberg overtook them. So Sainz was in fourth position, with Verstappen, Hulkenberg and Ricciardo behind him. Gasly was upto P7 behind them.<\/p>\n

On lap 11, Hulkenberg had an unforced error as he hit the wall and retired. This brought Verstappen and Ricciardo in close proximity and the two Red Bull drivers were allowed to race. Meanwhile, Raikkonen was moving up the field after his first lap pitstop.<\/p>\n

First Pitstops<\/h2>\n

The feisty Verstappen and the \u2018master of overtakes\u2019 Ricciardo were engaged in continuous battle lap after lap. As the two were hustling through the narrow circuit wheel-to-wheel, it was exciting for the fans. But the Red Bull pitwall watched on nervously.<\/p>\n

Among the frontrunners Hamilton was the first driver to pit. On lap 23, Hamilton pitted for soft tyres and rejoined third behind Vettel and Bottas. On lap 30, Vettel pitted and rejoined behind Bottas and ahead of Hamilton in P2.<\/p>\n

Bottas led the race and stayed out with the Red Bull drivers on the old tyres. Finally, Ricciardo, who was now ahead of Verstappen, pitted on lap 38 and was now on the fast ultrasoft tyres. On the next lap, his teammate Verstappen pitted and managed to come out ahead of Ricciardo.<\/p>\n

Verstappen and Ricciardo Duel Ends In Tears<\/h2>\n

On lap 40, the exciting duel between Verstappen and Ricciardo reached its climax. Ricciardo went for an overtake move on the inside and Verstappen held position and the two drivers crashed spectacularly into each other. For the whole race, this outcome seemed on the cards. Sadly for Red Bull, it ended with both drivers out of the race.<\/p>\n

With the SC deployed with only 11 laps to go, Bottas who had gambled by staying out pitted and emerged in the lead again. Vettel, Hamilton and Raikkonen also pitted for ultrasoft tyres and came out behind him.<\/p>\n

There was lots of debris that had to be removed from the track. Bottas led Vettel, Hamilton, Raikkonen, Perez, Grosjean, Sainz, Leclerc, Stroll and Alonso behind the SC.<\/p>\n

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Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen have both received a reprimand from the stewards for their collision in Baku#AzerbaijanGP<\/a> \ud83c\udde6\ud83c\uddff\u00a0#F1<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/seICjcueym<\/a><\/p>\n

— Formula 1 (@F1) April 29, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n