Daniel Ricciardo climbs from 17th place to win
After a mistake in Q3 and a 10th-place finish on the grid, followed by a stop on lap 6, Daniel Ricciardo ended up winning in Baku. Max Verstappen was once again betrayed by his mechanics and retired.
A winner was needed in Baku, and it was Daniel Ricciardo. However, the Red Bull driver was far from the bookmakers’ favorite after his mistake in qualifying, which relegated him to 10th position. He was even less favored when, on the sixth lap, he was forced to pit again to remove debris that had lodged on his brakes. At that moment, even he wasn’t optimistic about his chances: « The odds of a podium or winning dropped even further when we had to make that unscheduled stop. I think I rejoined in 17th. »
But the Australian was able to perfectly take advantage of the race circumstances, starting with the safety cars, then the red flag. Each time, he was able to come out on top: « Things then fell into place. At every restart, I was able to regain positions to make it happen. »
But everything was decided when he attempted and succeeded in a maneuver with four cars abreast: « The last restart was the most important. I think there was Stroll, Hülkenberg, Massa, and me four abreast. I managed to move up to third. I think that was the winning maneuver. When I saw the gap, I did everything to brake as late as possible and secure that position. »
Just stunning, @danielricciardo 💪 #AzerbaijanGP 🇦🇿 #F1 pic.twitter.com/tw2BmFuigB
— Formula 1 (@F1) June 25, 2017
He was then able to take advantage of Lewis Hamilton’s unscheduled stop and Sebastian Vettel’s penalty to take the lead and win his fifth Grand Prix.
His teammate was less fortunate as he was forced to retire due to low oil pressure while he was in third place. This allowed Daniel Ricciardo to significantly widen the gap, with 92 points compared to 45 for his teammate. The Australian is now in fourth place, between Valtteri Bottas and Kimi Räikkönen.
