Azerbaijan GP Race Report

I started watching this race knowing who won but not how or why.  So after the start, where Perez had a strong lead over pole-sitter LeClerc, I began to worry that Red Bull are killing the sport in F1 by denying Perez victory.

Obviously Williams are killing themselves in the sport by hanging about on the grid for too long and then taking their stop and go penalty without also changing the tires.

First scalp of the race was Sainz as something failed on his car and he pulled to the side of the track.  This brought out a Virtual Safety Car call, LeClerc pitted immediately and the Red Bulls did not.  It was not the perfect pit for Ferrari, loading the pressure on their one remaining driver.

Lap 15 and it did appear that Verstappen took Perez in a clean overtake with no team orders.  Then we heard the radio and Perez had been told not to "fight".

Next clue as to how he won it; LeClerc's engine blew as he was going down the straight in the middle of the race.

A further clue, being told to slow down by his team with a strong warning that "you know what can happen here..."

The Ferrari-powered cars continued to drop like lead balloons: Zhou then Magnussen.  The latter needed another Virtual Safety Car to clear the car.  The cars flew in to the pits for a "free" stop.

After all the engine failures, the next part to fail was the DRS wing.  Firstly, Tsunoda's split in two and had to be fixed with gaffa tape in the pit, next Verstappen was told not to use his for the rest of the race.  Not to worry as he was out ahead with his wingman Perez behind him.

Further back the McLarens were having a spat over who got to be the first one to cross the line and the Mercedes drivers were being bounced to pieces by their car.  Next thing we know, Hamilton takes Gasly for 4th, which means that they are 3rd and 4th.  Still it's better than Ferrari.  And Latifi gets into trouble for ignoring blue flags.

Russell took a strong third (Mr Consistency, as his team called him, sexy).  Alonso had a strong race but we didn't see anything of him.  Ricciardo finished ahead of his team mate but I'm sure the media will say Norris was told to stay behind him.  The Big Question as we leave the street tracks behind was whether team orders were at play at Red Bull, Perez did take the point for fastest lap.  Also why was Hamilton voted Driver of the Day?  Lots of overtaking I suppose and he could barely get out of the car for back pain.

I'm really enjoyed the return of the televised cool room, especially with the screen warning the drivers not to swear.  They decided not to say anything just in case.  Not long to wait to see if the tension in the teams boils over, next week Canada.