Mercedes AMG F1 finally got their first win of the 2018 season and it was a doozy! It was Lewis Hamilton who took top honours in Baku. Behind him were Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen and Force India’s Sergio Perez. Sebastian Vettel finished 4th ahead of Carlos Sainz, Charles Leclerc, Fernando Alonso, Lance Stroll, Stoffel Vandoorne and Brendon Hartley completing the points.
Watch What’s Trending Now!
There was a fairly dramatic start that claimed the cars of Esteban Ocon and Sergey Sirotkin. Nearly 10 laps later, Nico Hulkenberg, who was in a good position, went wide and hit the wall. For a while, there was a lull in the action until it happened. The Red Bull drivers were battling each other and battery charging issues. Ricciardo tried a move but only succeeded in pile-driving into Verstappen, bringing out the Safety Car.
Imago
Lewis Hamilton with the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in a dramatic fashion
While under the safety car, Romain Grosjean found a bit too much grip and slammed into the wall. This kept the safety car out a little longer, much to everyone’s chagrin. When the lights finally went green, Vettel tried an overoptimistic move and locked up. He lost the position to Bottas, Hamilton and his own teammate Raikkonen.
Then it was heartbreak for Bottas as he ran over a stray piece of debris and punctured his tire. Hamilton took over and Raikkonen followed him through, meanwhile, Perez in 4th passed a recovering Vettel for the podium. Everyone held station until the chequered flags waved. Rookie driver Leclerc was delighted with 6th and a strong performance for the Alfa Romeo Sauber team.
Here is how social media reacted to the race
The craziest race of this season! #F1 #AzerbaijanGP
I'd do a race rundown but jesus Christ i need 2080 characters not 280 #AzerbaijanGP
#LH44 may have won. G-U-T-T-E-D tho for #VB77! NO WORDS! #AzerbaijanGP #F1Baku #StreetF1ghters #F1 #F12018 #TwitterSports @LewisHamilton @ValtteriBottas @MercedesAMGF1
This was the most epic and tense race i have ever seen. What a race!!!!!! So many position changes!!!! #AzerbaijanGP #WTF1
Week in week out. Max always finds a way to get into the headlines. #AzerbaijanGP #F1
Oh, and a special mention to Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz. Two world class drives. #AzerbaijanGP
https://twitter.com/Jainam09/status/990598652799397888
Wow what a crazy #AzerbaijanGP #f1 race
https://twitter.com/_lukmannnnnn/status/990598631462920192
in hindsight probably Vettel took too big of a gamble at the restart v Bottas. That's because of his sheer will to win, which is a typical trait of his career and especially his #Ferrari career #AzerbaijanGP #Seb5 #Ferrari
https://twitter.com/yxingforyou/status/990598471651491842
Can we chat about the brilliance of @alo_oficial to score points from this @C4F1 @SteveJones @therealdcf1 ? #F1 #AzerbaijanGP
Poor @ValtteriBottas #AzerbaijanGP Really feel for him 😓 @MercedesAMGF1
What a way to finish this race after a bad start to the season for @ForceIndiaF1, may the force be with you. #AzerbaijanGP #ForceIndia
Although a much need win is grabbed #LewisHamilton #car44 #TeamLH but such a sad sad sad incident to happen with @ValtteriBottas @MercedesAMGF1 what an Eventful race! #AzerbaijanGP
#Hamilton was lucky .. Bad luck for #Vettel and good job #Iceman #ForzaFerrari #AzerbaijanGP
The look on Christian Horner's face when the incident happened was like someone who bit into a karamonk (cardamom pod) #AzerbaijanGP #F1
I don't think anything can top this race #AzerbaijanGP #F1Baku
Watching F1 #AzerbaijanGP be like..
Regarding the @redbullracing incident: earlier in the race @danielricciardo showed maturity and respect to @Max33Verstappen and gave him space. When the situation was reversed, Verstappen was impetuous and gave Ricciardo no consideration. #F1 #AzerbaijanGP #BakuGP
Ricciardo being the bigger man and not commentating on the incident. #F1 #AzerbaijanGP
What a fantastic race! @f1 proving that’s worth every penny! #AzerbaijanGP
Ricciardo:"Just pretty.. down I guess. We're thankful we're allowed to race. Sometimes we're on the limit" #AzerbaijanGP #F1