All the highlighted events of recent years during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix

The Azerbaijan Grand Prix is relatively new in the long history of Formula 1, as it only made its debut on the calendar in 2017. Outside of the COVID period, this is therefore the 6th time that F1 has visited the Caspian lands. But in just a few years, the urban circuit of Baku has managed to stand out with several memorable events during the races.

The terrible mistake of Red Bull in 2018

The Grand Prix of Azerbaijan 2018 undoubtedly left indelible marks on Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull’s second driver at the time. The tension between the two men, which had been palpable up until then, reached its climax and literally erupted in Baku. While both cars were fiercely battling on the track, with Ricciardo directly chasing his teammate, the Australian crashed into the back of the Dutchman’s car. Both cars were destroyed and the drivers were forced to retire – and later apologize to the team members.

The following year, Daniel Ricciardo admitted that Red Bull’s handling of the collision with Max Verstappen in Baku had influenced his decision to leave the team for Renault. The team treated us as if we were both equally responsible in this situation, when deep down, they knew it was their mistake and Max’s. Many things didn’t sit well with me, said the Australian.

Since then, they have made peace, as the Australian has regained his smile as a reserve driver for the Austrian team thanks to his return to Red Bull.

That year, Sergio Perez will benefit from the crash of the two Red Bulls to climb onto a surprise podium with Racing Point. The podium will be completed by Kimi Räikkönen and the race will be won by Lewis Hamilton.

Chaotic qualifications and race surprises in 2021

The year 2021 saw the qualifying sessions in Baku turning into chaos, interrupted four times by red flags. These incidents involved Lance Stroll and Antonio Giovinazzi at Turn 15 during Q1, followed by Daniel Ricciardo at Turn 3 during Q2, as well as Yuki Tsunoda and Carlos Sainz, who was caught off guard and locked his wheels at the same spot in the final moments of Q3. These are places to keep an eye on this year.

During the race, we then witnessed an exciting battle between the two leaders of the championship, Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton. Things took a turn after the first pit stops, as Hamilton, who was the first to stop on the twelfth lap, was overtaken by Verstappen, who stopped a lap later. On the following lap, the seven-time world champion suffered the same fate when Pérez overtook him upon exiting the pit lane.

New twist during the restart, for two standing starts: Hamilton, behind the leader Pérez, gets a better start but inadvertently presses a button that disables his rear brakes, sending him straight into the run-off area. By the time he rejoins the track, he finishes fifteenth. An incident that will benefit, among others, Sebastian Vettel, who finishes second on the podium, officially marking his last career podium, although he climbed onto the podium in Hungary earlier that year before being disqualified by the FIA for a non-compliant car.

The extreme dolphin-ing of the W13

In 2022, Mercedes’ race car fell victim to a process called porpoising during winter testing, a problem that persisted for a good part of the year before easing off in the second half of the season. However, it was in Baku that the drivers suffered the most due to the long straights of this ultra-fast urban circuit. Lewis Hamilton seemed to be the most affected, even leaving his Mercedes while clutching his lower back. Later, he stated that he experienced a force of up to 10G in the vertical direction, which was truly agonizing.

The one who was then the strategy director at Mercedes, James Vowles, will admit that Mercedes went too far with the setup in Azerbaijan.

“The team had pushed the setup of the W13 “too far” in Baku, which caused the aquaplaning issues.”