A mixed up grid promised an exciting race – but then they promised us that Baku would be exciting too and that was a snooze fest.
It was great to see the stands so full as well, after a Summer of half-full Olympic venues and a few races with less than capacity crowds.
Nico Rosberg started from pole, and got a great start. His front-row companion, Max Verstappen, on the other hand got a terrible start and was surrounded by the Ferraris of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen. The squeeze into the first corner ended up with the three clashing with Vettel facing the wrong way and the other two having compromised aerodynamics.
Lewis Hamilton had to battle through the field, having started on the back row after engine change penalties – a total of 60 places after having a shortage of power units and gearboxes for the rest of the season. Mercedes chose to take a hit here in order to give him plenty for the rest of the year.
His climb from 21st to an eventual third is quite a rarified event too – only fifteen times has someone starting outside of the top 20 ended up on the podium. Four of those were when the Indianapolis 500 was part of the World Championship. Three of those were Hamilton himself (22nd to third in Hungary and 20th to third in Germany – both in 2014).
Finishing on the podium having started outside the top 20 is very rare. This is only the 15th time it has happened, and four of those came in the Indianapolis 500 when it was part of the world championship.
On the second lap Carlos Sainz Jnr’s right-rear wheel erupted along the Kemmel Straight. For some reason, he tried to get back to the pits on three wheels, but succeeded in tearing apart his rear wing and giving up.
The other notable event was Kevin Magnussen’s huge accident. He destroyed his car, the impact removing his headrest, and eventually causing the race the be red flagged while barrier repairs were carried out. Magnussen was thankfully OK apart from a cut on his ankle. Half the remaining cars pitted under the short Safety Car period before the red flag, giving an advantage to Rosberg, Daniel Ricciardo, Valtteri Bottas, Fernando Alonso and Hamilton who stayed out to gain track position.
Alonso had also started at the back after being unable to complete a lap in qualifying. Hamilton and Alonso were in the top five as the race resumed.
Max Verstappen also made another risky move – again involving Raikkonen – which left my heart in my mouth as he moved across Raikkonen’s front wing at high speeds.
In the end though, Nico Rosberg claimed his 20th career victory, equalling fellow Finns Mika Hakkinen and Kimi Raikkonen – the only notable difference is that they are World Champions.
Esteban Ocon joined the field, replacing Rio Haryanto at Manor. He becomes the 71st French driver to start a World Championship race.
