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2018 Azerbaijan Thoughts

THE BIG PICTURE: Who says Formula One is broken?

TRACK: Just think, in the first year of this race, the track produced one of the all time most boring races in F1 history. However, the next two years produced races which has now given this track a reputation of a can't miss race for F1 fans.

EVENT: There actually were a few fans, just a few, in the meager grandstands that were erected.

QUALIFYING: More action than some races as Vettel recovers from a terrible Friday, Raikkonen tank slaps pole position away, Mercedes did the best they could, Ricciardo edges Verstappen, Hartley nearly causes a Toro Rosso catastrophe, and McLaren is now slower than Williams.

RACE: We went to an F1 event and an Indy car race broke out.

START: The two four-time world champions get off to a perfect start and then the typical Baku carnage begins behind them as Formula Bumper Cars eliminates Ocon and Sirotkin and damages Alonso, Raikkonen, and Perez.

HAMILTON: Sometimes, it's better to be lucky than good. And out of nowhere, an anything but dominant Lewis is leading the championship.

BOTTAS: Valtteri did everything right this time under pressure followed by complete and utter heartbreak.

MERCEDES: At Australia, the safety car lost them the race. At Baku, the safety car won them the race.

VETTEL: His greediness lost Sebastian the championship lead.

RAIKKONEN: How his car survived the first lap smack is beyond us. And then to end up in second...

FERRARI: They can take solace in still currently having the best car.

PEREZ: Two out of three podiums at Baku. Sergio likes the chaos of this place.

OCON: The rules of the road are different at the start. You have to leave more room than usual. Esteban closed the door on Raikkonen who had nowhere to go.

FORCE INDIA: What an amazing turnaround from the start of the season. Once again, this team is the prime example on how to get the most out of the least.

SAINZ: That was fun watching Carlos take it to his former, and unloved, teammate Verstappen. Sure, the tires were different, but their scrapping was fantastic to watch.

HULKENBERG: Once again, Nico makes a mistake at Baku. Once again, that mistake could have potentially thrown away a podium spot. Once again, Nico is still looking for his first career podium.

RENAULT: They have Red Bull in their sights.

LECLERC: Now this is the Charles we expected in F1.

ALONSO: Fernando continues to get results out of nothing. But...

MCLAREN: ...where do they go from here? Because, quite frankly, their car sucks.

STROLL: Once again, Lance put in a measured performance in a chaotic place.

GASLY: A fabulous run most of the race until Magnussen tried to kill him.

HARTLEY: Brandon got a point, but it was probably the least deserved point in the race.

VERSTAPPEN: Here we go again. Max clearly made two moves to block, something many other drivers have complained about, which is against the rules. And, he did it to his own teammate, after earlier running him up against the wall. Once again, it cost him.

RICCIARDO: Perhaps he was (slightly) going for it too hard.

RED BULL: At China, their strategy was brilliant. Here, not so much. But it sure was a heck of a lot of fun for us fans to watch. And it allowed the F1 message boards to meltdown...

GROSJEAN: We're sitting here trying to come up with something to say. We can't. That's how dumbfounded we are.

FORMULA 2: Once again, F2 produces two highly entertaining races (and actually cleaner than F1, relatively speaking). GP2/F2 has always produced high end entertainment, but with the new cars this year designed for overtaking, it's taken it to a whole other level.

GRID GIRLS: Help us out here. Having beautiful women in modest pretty dresses on the grid is exploiting women because ... they don't say anything? But, having a beautiful woman in a modest pretty dress on the grid is not exploiting women because ... she is singing the national anthem? We're just trying to figure out what the rules of exploitation are here...

WORD OF THE WEEKEND: Chaos.

STAT OF THE WEEKEND: ∞ -- The number of times in total cars hit a wall, hit each other, locked up their brakes, and/or slid down an escape road.

HISTORICAL STAT OF THE WEEKEND: Charles Leclerc became the second Monégasque driver to score points since the second world championship race -- the 1950 Monaco GP. That driver was Louis Chiron who finished third in his only points getting result. Chiron's prime was before WWII. He won 18 Grands Prix, including Monaco (1931) and France three times (1931, 1934, 1937) as well as twice after WWII but before the World Championship era (1947, 1949). He won the Czechoslovakian GP three consecutive years (1931-33), making him to this day a household name there where the phrase "drives like Chiron" is used for speeding drivers. He also won the 1933 Spa 24 hours and 1954 Monte Carlo Rally. He continued racing after the war becoming the oldest driver to compete in F1 (1955 Monaco at age 55, finishing sixth which was out of the points back then) and oldest to enter an F1 race (1958 Monaco at age 58 where he only practiced). Most of his podiums came in a Bugatti, which is why the 2016 Bugatti Chiron is named after him. He died in 1979 at the age of 79.

QUOTE OF THE WEEKEND: Valtteri Bottas in absolute dismay, "It just blew up on its own!"

QUOTE OF THE WEEKEND RUNNERUP: Valtteri Bottas on how he plans to handle the crushing loss, "Probably get hammered -- yeah, that's maybe the best."

SCHEDULE: Despite all the excitement at Bahrain, China, and Baku, we probably won't see the same at Barcelona. Or, Monaco. But who knows? The way this season has gone, we may not need to wait till Montreal for another crazy race.

Copyright © 2018 by Deep Throttle. All Rights Reserved.



RACE RESULTS
  Driver Laps
1. Hamilton 51
2. Raikkonen 51
3. Perez 51
4. Vettel 51
5. Sainz 51
6. Leclerc(R) 51
7. Alonso 51
8. Stroll 51
9. Vandoorne 51
10. Hartley(R) 51
11. Ericsson 51
12. Gasly(R) 51
13. Magnussen 51
14. Bottas 48
NC Grosjean 42
NC Verstappen 39
NC Ricciardo 39
NC Hulkenberg 10
NC Ocon 0
NC Sirotkin(R) 0

Time of Race
1:43:44.291

Margin of Victory
2.460 sec.

Safety Car
2 for 12 laps

Lead Changes
2 among 3 drivers

Lap Leaders
Sebastian Vettel, Valtteri Bottas, Lewis Hamilton

Fastest Race Lap
Valtteri Bottas

Pole Position
Sebastian Vettel

CURRENT STANDINGS
  Driver Pts.
1. Hamilton 70
2. Vettel 66
3. Raikkonen 48
4. Bottas 40
5. Ricciardo 37
6. Alonso 28
7. Hulkenberg 22
8. Verstappen 18
9. Perez 15
10. Sainz 13
11. Gasly(R) 12
12. Magnussen 11
13. Leclerc(R) 8
  Vandoorne 8
15. Stroll 4
16. Ericsson 2
17. Ocon 1
  Hartley(R) 1

  Team Pts.
1. Ferrari 114
2. Mercedes 110
3. Red Bull 55
4. McLaren 36
5. Renault 35
6. Force India 16
7. Toro Rosso 13
8. Haas 11
9. Sauber 10
10. Williams 4
 
 

2024 Thoughts
Bahrain Saudi Arabia Australia Japan
China Miami Emilia Romagna Monaco
Canada Spain Austria Great Britain
Hungary Belgium Holland Italy
Azerbaijan Singapore United States Mexico City
Sao Paulo Las Vegas Qatar Abu Dhabi

2023 Thoughts
Bahrain Saudi Arabia Australia Azerbaijan
Miami Emilia Romagna Monaco Spain
Canada Austria Great Britain Hungary
Belgium Holland Italy Singapore
Japan Qatar United States Mexico City
Sao Paulo Las Vegas Abu Dhabi

2022 Thoughts
Bahrain Saudi Arabia Australia Emilia Romagna
Miami Spain Monaco Azerbaijan
Canada Great Britain Austria France
Hungary Belgium Holland Italy
Singapore Japan United States
Mexico City Sao Paulo Abu Dhabi

2021 Thoughts
Bahrain Emilia Romagna Portugal Spain Monaco
Azerbaijan France Steiermark Austria Great Britain
Hungary Belgium Holland Italy
Russia Turkey United States Mexico City
Sao Paulo Qatar Saudi Arabia Abu Dhabi

2020 Thoughts
Austria Steiermark Hungary Great Britain Anniversary
Spain Belgium Italy Tuscany
Russia Eifel Portugal Emilia Romagna
Turkey Bahrain Sakhir Abu Dhabi

2019 Thoughts
Australia Bahrain China Azerbaijan Spain
Monaco Canada France Austria
Great Britain Germany Hungary Belgium
Italy Singapore Russia Japan
Mexico United States Brazil Abu Dhabi

2018 Thoughts
Australia Bahrain China Azerbaijan Spain
Monaco Canada France Austria
Great Britain Germany Hungary Belgium
Italy Singapore Russia Japan
United States Mexico Brazil Abu Dhabi

2017 Thoughts
Australia China Bahrain Russia
Spain Monaco Canada Azerbaijan
Austria Great Britain Hungary Belgium
Italy Singapore Malaysia Japan
United States Mexico Brazil Abu Dhabi

2016 Thoughts
Australia Bahrain China Russia Spain
Monaco Canada Europe Austria
Great Britain Hungary Germany Belgium
Italy Singapore Malaysia Japan
United States Mexico Brazil Abu Dhabi

2015 Thoughts
Australia Malaysia China Bahrain
Spain Monaco Canada Austria
Great Britain Hungary Belgium Italy
Singapore Japan Russia United States
Mexico Brazil Abu Dhabi

2014 Thoughts
Australia Malaysia Bahrain China
Spain Monaco Canada Austria
Great Britain Germany Hungary Belgium
Italy Singapore Japan Russia
United States Brazil Abu Dhabi

2013 Thoughts
Australia Malaysia China Bahrain
Spain Monaco Canada Great Britain
Germany Hungary Belgium Italy
Singapore South Korea Japan India
Abu Dhabi United States Brazil

2012 Thoughts
Australia Malaysia China Bahrain
Spain Monaco Canada Europe
Great Britain Germany Hungary Belgium
Italy Singapore Japan South Korea
India Abu Dhabi United States Brazil

2011 Thoughts
Australia Malaysia China Turkey
Spain Monaco Canada Europe
Great Britain Germany Hungary Belgium
Italy Singapore Japan South Korea
India Abu Dhabi Brazil

2010 Thoughts
Bahrain Australia Malaysia China
Spain Monaco Turkey Canada
Europe Great Britain Germany Hungary
Belgium Italy Singapore Japan
South Korea Brazil Abu Dhabi

2009 Thoughts
Australia Malaysia China Bahrain
Spain Monaco Turkey Great Britain
Germany Hungary Europe
Belgium Italy Singapore
Japan Brazil Abu Dhabi


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