Since its debut on the Formula 1 calendar in 2016, the spectacular street circuit in Baku has been a stage for thrilling races, extensive car damage, brutal crashes, and clashing egos. From the clash between Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel to loose manhole covers and colliding Bulls, we’ve compiled Baku’s Greatest Hits for you, starting today with part 1.
2017: Red Mist
Sebastian Vettel is a fiery character, who during his Ferrari years sometimes turned as red as his racing cars. In 2017, he saw red in Baku when leader Lewis Hamilton significantly slowed down behind the safety car, causing Vettel to hit him from behind. “He gave me a brake test!” he exclaimed angrily over the radio, complete with accompanying hand gestures. Vettel went to confront Hamilton and steered his car into Hamilton’s. Vettel got off very lightly, with just a ten-second stop-and-go penalty and the FIA deciding, after an apology letter, that it did not need to be further investigated. However, the FIA’s image as a champion for ‘safe traffic’ and sportsmanlike behavior took a hit.
2018: Clashing Bulls
In 2018, Azerbaijan’s capital becomes the backdrop for an unparalleled street fight between Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo. The Red Bull teammates battle wheel-to-wheel for several laps, giving each other little quarter, although Ricciardo initially tries to avoid a collision. With the pit wall failing to intervene, the rivals do not give each other an inch. After some light contact and a successful move by Ricciardo in lap 35, the Aussie finds himself behind again after the pit stops, and then the inevitable happens: in lap 40, the Bulls collide. Ricciardo attempts one of his aggressive overtaking maneuvers, but Verstappen closes the door. “This shouldn’t have happened,” Verstappen admits afterwards. “Max and I owe the team an apology,” Ricciardo concedes. Although they address the issue politely, Ricciardo later admits that he believes it was Verstappen’s fault and that Red Bull should have supported him more.
2018: Repetition
With 179 Formula 1 starts without a podium finish, Nico Hülkenberg holds a regrettable record. In 2017 and 2018 in Baku, he has a good chance of breaking this streak, but instead, he breaks his wheel suspension due to careless steering errors in both editions. The phlegmatic German himself takes it in stride, and Renault team boss Cyril Abiteboul forgives him for his rare mistakes, but when Hülkenberg squanders another podium opportunity in Germany in 2019, Abiteboul concludes that it’s not going to work out with Hülkenberg.
2018: ‘It was Ericsson’
Even three years later, these words remain iconic: “I think Ericsson hit us,” suggests Romain Grosjean, after the Frenchman not only single-handedly, but also – embarrassingly enough – during a safety car phase, crashes his car into the wall. Marcus Ericsson, however, is nowhere to be seen; Grosjean loses control while warming up his tires. It’s a shame, as he had been driving a strong catch-up race and was even in sixth place.
