Sebastian Vettel’s shocking move on Lewis Hamilton in 2017

Going into the 2017 Grand Prix weekend, Sebastian Vettel was leading the championship over Lewis Hamilton after a strong start to the season. However, it was clear that Mercedes had the faster car, and Vettel was under pressure to hold onto his lead.

This became obvious on lap 19 of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, during a safety car period. Hamilton was leading and controlling the pace as the safety car prepared to leave, but Vettel reacted too slowly and bumped into the back of Hamilton’s car.

In the heat of the moment, Vettel accused Hamilton of braking suddenly, and what he did next shocked everyone. He pulled up beside Hamilton and intentionally bumped into his car in what seemed like an act of revenge. It was wild to see a driver use their car like that, something the fans hadn’t seen for many years.

Vettel was given a ten-second stop-go penalty for the move, but still finished ahead of Hamilton by the end of the race. Without this incident, Vettel might have won, as Hamilton later faced his own issues.

Lance Stroll’s surprising podium finish in 2017

By 2017, it was clear that Williams was starting to struggle again. After a brief improvement thanks to the strong Mercedes engine, the team went from regularly finishing on the podium to being a mid-field team. In 30 races leading up to the 2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, their only podium was Valtteri Bottas' third-place finish at the 2016 Canadian Grand Prix.

Bottas left for Mercedes at the end of 2016, and Williams brought in young and inexperienced Lance Stroll as his replacement. Stroll had a rough start, with three race retirements and three more races without scoring points. Meanwhile, his teammate Felipe Massa scored 20 points in the first six races.

By the eighth race, people were already questioning if Stroll was good enough for F1. He finally scored his first points at the Canadian Grand Prix, but still needed a great performance to prove himself.

That breakthrough came in Baku. Stroll out-qualified his teammate for the first time and avoided the chaos of the race. Thanks to several crashes and penalties, he drove well, keeping up with the leaders and holding second place until Bottas passed him right at the finish line. Even so, Stroll’s third-place finish was a big surprise and well-deserved.

Collision between Red Bull drivers in 2018

The 2018 season was a rocky one for Red Bull. Max Verstappen had become the team's unofficial number 1 and that left Daniel Ricciardo feeling frustrated, as he may have felt the situation was unfair, especially since he had performed better in the first three races.

By the time the team got to Azerbaijan, Ricciardo had already won a race in China and had more points than Verstappen. He also out-qualified his younger teammate in Baku and was in great form.

Tensions reached a high during the race, as the two teammates fought fiercely for fourth place. While Vettel, Hamilton, and Bottas led the pack, Verstappen and Ricciardo were locked in their own battle. Verstappen passed Ricciardo early on, and from that point, it was an intense, aggressive fight. They touched wheels multiple times, going side by side into turn one lap after lap. It was thrilling to watch, but things were getting more heated with each lap, and it was clear it wouldn’t end well.

On lap 41, it all came to a head when Ricciardo ran into the back of Verstappen, taking both of them out of the race. The Red Bull team was clearly frustrated, and by the end of the season, Ricciardo left the team to find a new challenge elsewhere.

Charles Leclerc’s emotional radio message in 2019

During the second part of the qualifying session at the Baku City Circuit in 2019, Charles Leclerc crash in Turn 8. The cause of the crash was a driver’s mistake as the Monagasque locked up his front left tire because of what he wasn’t able to get the perfect entry into the corner, resulting in him crashing into the barriers at the same place, where Robert Kubica crashed just minutes before.

Before getting out of the car Leclerc sounded very emotional and disappointed in himself on the radio.

“I am stupid, I am stupid…I switch off everything,” he told his engineer.

Leclerc then had to start the race on Sunday from eight place and because in the streets of Baku it’s not easy to evertake, he managed to score only fifth place in the end.

Verstappen’s tire blowout in 2021

The 2021 season was the first in a while where Mercedes faced real competition for the championship, as Red Bull had finally improved its hybrid engine and was starting to match, or even surpass, Mercedes' pace.

By the time they arrived in Baku for the sixth race of the season, Verstappen was leading the championship by four points over Hamilton. However, it was Charles Leclerc form Ferrari, who had secured an impressive pole position, ahead of both Verstappen and Hamilton, setting the stage for an exciting race.

Hamilton took the lead from Leclerc, as the Ferrari’s race pace wasn’t as good as the qualifying one, by the end of lap 2 and seemed comfortable out front, with Verstappen close behind. But a slow pit stop for Mercedes allowed Verstappen to take the lead on lap 13. Red Bull, who also managed to get Perez ahead of Hamilton during the pit stops, looked set to win the race.

Then, disaster struck six laps from the finish when Verstappen’s tire failed at the fastest part of the track. He crashed into the wall at over 200mph, scattering debris across the circuit. At that point, it seemed like the crash would hugely affect the championship, as Hamilton was running in second place behind Perez.

Lewis Hamilton’s brake blunder in 2021

After a brief pause to clean up the mess after Verstappen's crash, the race restarted with two laps to go. It was a showdown between Hamilton and Perez, with Hamilton knowing a win would greatly boost his championship chances with Max Verstappen getting no points for sure.

When the cars lined up on the grid, there was a lot of smoke coming from Hamilton’s brakes, more than usual. Despite that, Hamilton had a great start and looked like he was going to take the lead into turn one... but it didn’t happen. He accidentally selected the wrong brake mode and went into the corner without enough braking power. He shot straight down the escape road and ended up finishing last, missing a big opportunity to take the lead in the championship, which might’ve changed the outcome of the 2021 season.

Charles Leclerc’s radio message confusion in 2023

Charles Leclerc has quite some reputation because of his radio messages in Baku, however, in 2023 it was because of a different reason than in 2019. The Monagasque caused some concern when he reported a "cut" while leading the sprint race in Baku on Saturday. However, the Ferrari driver later clarified he was only referring to a cat on the track not to an engine problem.

"Absolutely not. I said a cat - which is different,” he clarified after the race.

"There was a cat in the middle of the road and the safety car had to stop, but I think I was probably the only one who saw that. In the exit of Turn 1 there was a cat and the safety car braked."

Lerclerc finished the race in second place, behind Sergio Perez, delivering a great result for Ferrari in Red Bull dominated season.