Daniel Ricciardo claimed a sensational victory in a chaotic Azerbaijan Grand Prix on Sunday as he managed to avoid the drama and pilot his RB13 from tenth on the grid to first, whilst Valtteri Bottas – last at one stage – came through to snatch second ahead of rookie Lance Stroll.
Ricciardo was one of a small handful of drivers to have a clean race on the streets of Baku and it paid off for the Australian as he romped to a thrilling win – his first of the season.
Stroll meanwhile looked set for second place, but was passed just metres before the checkered flag with Mercedes' Bottas utilising DRS on the final lap to get just enough of a speed advantage to steal the position from the 18-year-old, who last time out in Canada scored his first points.
In constrast, Bottas didn't have a clean race. The Finnish driver made contact with Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen on the opening lap and dropped to last with a puncture, but fought back through three safety cars, a red flag and multiple incidents to get on the podium.
The start saw drama from the first turn as Carlos Sainz span as he avoided a rejoining Daniil Kvyat who had ran wide. He described his team-mate as a "mad-man". However the Spaniard quickly rejoined the tail of the field with no damage.
Turn 2 saw Bottas clip Raikkonen and pitch him into the wall. The Ferrari suffered some minor damage, whilst Bottas took on a puncture and the pair slowed and dropped back down the order.
Lap 12 saw Daniil Kvyat retire in an awkward position which required a safety car to recover it. That began a sequence of events that would lead to a red-flag as further contact happened at the restart, littering the circuit with debris.
Race control felt the debris required a second safety car, but on the second restart, Sebastian Vettel ran into the rear of race leader Lewis Hamilton who had assumed the role of the safety car. In anger, Vettel drew alongside Hamilton and deliberately drove into the side of the Mercedes.
Hamilton escaped major damage, but Vettel damaged his front-wing during the first contact and that resulted in a third safety car. That eventually turned into a red-flag to give marshals time to clean the circuit.
Prior to that carnage, Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon, third and fourth at the time, hit one another and both suffered punctures as a result. Perez retired with damage to his car and Raikkonen also returned to his garage after a puncture – sustained during the Force India drama – with both retiring.
However their respective teams managed to complete some swift repairs and they were both able to rejoin when the race restarted – both would retire later in the race.
As the race got going again, Hamilton leading Vettel, the Briton was forced to make an unscheduled stop as his headrest came loose and required reattaching. Vettel meanwhile was served with a ten-second time penalty for his deliberate contact with Hamilton.
Vettel would emerge ahead of Hamilton on track in eighth and ninth and the pair would manage to work their way up to fourth and fifth come the chequered flag.
Esteban Ocon recovered to finish sixth ahead of Haas' Kevin Magnussen, Sainz and McLaren's Fernando Alonso in ninth to secure McLaren's first points of the season. Pascal Werhlein completed the top ten.
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