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Five things we learned from the 2021 F1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix

Will Taylor-Medhurst

Sergio Perez was triumphant around the speedy streets of Baku in Sunday’s hectic Azerbaijan Grand Prix ahead of Sebastian Vettel and Pierre Gasly. With plenty of action to suffice, here are the five takeaways from the sixth round of the 2021 Formula One season.

AlphaTauri strong once again

Both AlphaTauri drivers came home in the top 10 for the first time this season as Pierre Gasly scored his first podium of the campaign and Yuki Tsunoda secured his second top 10 finish of the year as he finished seventh – his best result at the helm of F1 machinery.

Both drivers qualified in the top 10 at a track where the AlphaTauri (or Toro Rosso as it was once known) cars traditionally run well at.

A superb drive from Gasly saw him get aggressive where necessary but executed every single overtake cleanly. Even in the chaotic restart, the Frenchman fended off Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris which helped him to secure his third F1 podium.

Gasly’s podium in Baku adds to what has been a good start to the 2021 campaign, and you wouldn’t bet against the Frenchman scoring another podium later this season.

Mercedes misfortunes

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The 2021 Azerbaijan Grand Prix will be a weekend to forget for the German outfit. With Lewis Hamilton’s victory hopes still in the turn one escape road and Valtteri Bottas having a dismal showing as he qualified in 10th and finished in 12th, as well as putting up a shoddy fight at the Safety Car restart in which he lost four positions.

Hamilton had the pace to run at the front, however, a handful of things that went against the Brit halted his victory hopes. Had he not locked up at the restart, he could’ve found a way past Perez into a braking zone at turn one.

If Max Verstappen wins the drivers title, how costly will Hamilton’s mistake prove to be?

As for Bottas, another poor weekend means that pressure will be mounting as he hopes to keep his seat at the Mercedes team heading into 2022.

In France next time out, it will be interesting to see how the silver arrows bounce back from their Baku blunders.

Ferrari finding form

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12 months ago, nobody could see Ferrari competing at the summit of the standings, but thanks to a string of fantastic performances, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz are bringing a welcome splash of red to the lead battles in Formula One.

In Saturday’s chaotic qualifying, Leclerc secured his second pole of the season against all odds, with Sainz qualifying fifth.

In the race, Leclerc finished fourth, narrowly missing out on a podium with Sainz producing an excellent recovery drive as the Spaniard came home in eighth after he was punished by locking up at the castle section.

A note to make from the restart is that Leclerc held off Norris and Sainz beat Daniel Ricciardo. McLaren are dubbed to be ‘the best of the rest’ by F1 fans and pundits, so this result is a huge positive for the Scuderia as confidence continues to ooze through the veins of the Italian outfit.

Ferrari are continuing to develop on a steady upward trajectory, a team who could taste victory before the end of the season.

‘Not bad for a number two driver’

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The Sergio Perez critics have been put in their place after the Azerbaijan Grand Prix as Perez drove a superb race.

The Mexican capitalised on Leclerc’s struggles before making a move on Hamilton. Running second, Perez’s restart strategy was perfect as he helped Verstappen to form a small but comfortable gap to the pack behind. In doing so, Perez fended off Hamilton until the red flag.

With his teammate now absent, he had the hopes of Christian Horner on his experienced shoulders.

Racing resumed and Hamilton, Perez’s biggest threat, locked up and fell all the way to the foot of the field. He then drove two excellent laps bringing home his first victory in Red Bull colours.

Super Sebastian

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From the heartache and anguish of narrowly missing out on Q3 on Saturday, to finishing P2 just over 24 hours later, it was quite a rollercoaster weekend for the German.

His strategy was perfectly executed too. Starting P11, Sebastian Vettel started the race on the soft compound tyre which he took to lap 18. The German dropped down to seventh after his pitstop and fitted the hard tyres which he drove to the red flag stoppage. During this stint, he got himself up to third before Hamilton’s lock-up at the restart promoted him into second place.

Vettel turned his fortunes around with a fantastic and consistent pace throughout the race, as well as a well-executed strategy from his Aston Martin team which saw him achieve his best finish in the sport since the 2019 Mexican Grand Prix.

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